I wrote several Genea-Musings posts about our vacation travels all over the United States and some foreign countries, but they are all in my "Engineer-speak" and "Just-the-facts" writing style. One of our most memorable trips was to Scandinavia in the summer of 1999.
I wondered if my AI-assistant Anthropic Claude could turn it into an engaging story about our 1998 vacation trip to the mid-Atlantic states. Here is Claude's version of the story:
A Summer in Scandinavia
Part 1: Sweden and Finland
July 29 – August 11, 1999
Some trips are just vacations. This one was something more — a journey into friendship, family history, and the breathtaking landscapes of northern Europe. When Linda and I finally boarded our United flight from San Diego on July 29, 1999, we had been planning this adventure for months. Our destination: Sweden, Finland, and Norway, three countries that would prove to be every bit as beautiful, warm, and unforgettable as we had hoped.
The trip had many threads woven through it. In 1994, we had hosted two Finnish exchange students — Mia Henriksson from Tornio and Anne Karhunen from Kuopio — girls so enthusiastic about shopping that we cheerfully dubbed them the Olympic Shopping Team from Finland. They had stayed in our home, and now their families were inviting us into theirs. Meanwhile, Linda's roots ran deep into Norwegian soil: her great-grandparents, Torger Sjurson (Liland) and Anna Ellingsdatter (Natvig), had emigrated from the Voss and Sogndal areas of Norway in the mid-1800s, settling in Dane County, Wisconsin. I had spent years researching both family lines, and Norway promised the chance to push that research further — maybe even meet distant cousins. We set off with full hearts and an email account on Hotmail so we could keep in touch with family back home.
🇸🇪 Stockholm, Sweden | July 30 – August 2
We touched down at Arlanda Airport in the early morning after flying through Chicago and onto an SAS transatlantic flight. Bleary-eyed, we boarded the bus into the city — nearly an hour's ride — and found our way to the Hotel Gustav Vasa, a modest place about a mile north of the downtown core. Our room was barely wide enough for the two beds, with a small balcony that looked directly onto the Gustav Vasa Church. It was cozy in that charmingly European way, and we didn't mind a bit.
That first afternoon, after a restorative nap, we dove straight into the city. We took the subway downtown, marveled at the central station — an underground city in its own right — and splurged on a boat tour around Djurgården island and Gamla Stan, Stockholm's storied old town. The waterways glittered, the old buildings leaned together like good friends sharing secrets, and we were instantly smitten.
Saturday brought more sightseeing. We crossed the bridge to the Royal Palace on Gamla Stan and watched the changing of the guard in the central courtyard — a proper bit of pomp and ceremony. From there, we hopped on a bus tour that wound through Stockholm's diverse neighborhoods: Gamla Stan, Södermalm, Kungsholmen, and Östermalm. Each had its own character, its own skyline and waterfront. We burned through film on our cameras at every overlook.
In the afternoon, Linda made a beeline for Junibacken, the Astrid Lindgren museum — a must for any admirer of Pippi Longstocking. I headed next door to the Vasa Museum, where the massive warship that sank on its maiden voyage in 1628 loomed in the dim, climate-controlled air. Pulled up from the harbor floor after 333 years, it is one of the most extraordinary things I have ever seen. We reunited at an outdoor café, tired and hungry, then ended the evening with hot dogs at a stand in the central station before doing a little window shopping.
Our final full day in Stockholm was spent at Skansen, the famous open-air cultural museum on Djurgården. Farmsteads and old buildings from across Sweden's countryside had been reassembled here, staffed by docents in period dress who brought the past vividly to life. We wandered through historical homes, watched craftspeople at work, admired the livestock and wild animals, and ate a proper Swedish dinner at an outdoor restaurant before making our way back to the hotel. It was a wonderful introduction to Scandinavian culture — and a warm-up for what was to come.
On August 2nd, we flew from Stockholm to Luleå in northern Sweden, where Kalle and Mia Henriksson were waiting at the gate. The drive to Tornio — right on the Finnish-Swedish border at the top of the Gulf of Bothnia — was about 100 kilometers, and the landscape grew wilder and more beautiful by the mile.
The Henrikssons' home was large, warm, and beautifully finished with wood paneling and hardwood floors. Kalle and Aila, both professionals who spoke excellent English, generously gave us their own bedroom for the week. Their hospitality was extraordinary from the very first hour. Aila guided Linda through the garden while Kalle and I toured Tornio by car, driving out to the Tornio River to watch fishermen working their nets and stopping at a dockside snack shop for fresh fish.
The food alone would have made the trip worthwhile. The Henrikssons introduced us to Finnish cuisine with gleeful enthusiasm — cloudberries and lingonberries, blueberries and strawberries served as spreads and desserts; dark, dense breads; reindeer meat; smoked salmon so delicious it almost made me weep. We had Finnish vegetables (which, I discovered with delight, are actually sausages). Mia let me use the family computer to check email and — I confess — keep tabs on how the Padres were doing.
On Tuesday we visited the beautiful Tornio church and graveyard, then drove to Kemi to see its church and visit Aila's family. Her father, Erkki Wallen, plucked a blueberry sprig fresh from the morning's picking and offered it to Linda — a small gesture that perfectly captured Finnish warmth. We also visited Kalle's sister Kaisu and later his brother Mikko's family, including four-year-old Vilma, who was utterly charming.
The highlight of the week, however, was our day trip to the Arctic Circle. We drove to Rovaniemi — home of Santa Claus Village — and saw real live reindeer up close, posed with Santa himself, and had our photo taken with one foot on each side of the Arctic Circle marker.
At a lakeside cabin belonging to Kalle's aunt and uncle, Leena and Nisse Henriksson, we had our first authentic Finnish sauna (though we did not brave the cold lake afterward). Kalle and I settled in for an Olympic darts match — USA versus Finland. Finland won, I'm sorry to report. I also split my head open on the outhouse crossbar, which provided everyone else with considerable entertainment. Linda cooked Finnish pancakes over the open fire, thin as crepes and absolutely delicious. The drive home through rolling hills and across sparkling rivers was gorgeous.
🇫🇮 Kuopio, Finland | August 6 – 8
On Friday the 6th, the whole group of us — the Henrikssons and Linda and me — set off on a 400-kilometer drive south toward Kuopio, in the heart of Finland's lake district. We stopped at Mia's new university apartment in Oulu along the way, where we met her roommate and explored the campus.
Anne Karhunen's parents, Jussi and Raija, welcomed all six of us into their home with extraordinary generosity. Though Jussi and Raija spoke limited English, the girls served as lively translators, and the warmth of the welcome needed no translation at all. Once again, our hosts gave up their bedroom for us.
Kuopio is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. On Saturday, Jussi and Anne took us to the open-air market in the town center — a riot of color and local produce — and we took a short tram tour of the harbor. The guys wandered to the church and watched a wedding in progress, then sat at the harbor over ice cream and a cold drink. After the girls rejoined us, we all boarded a two-hour harbor cruise through the lakes that ring the city. The landscape was simply stunning: dense green forests reflected in still water, gentle hills, streams threading between islands. In the evening, we drove up to the Puijo Tower for panoramic views as the sun began to set. Raija had spent the day cooking an elaborate dinner that was different from anything we'd eaten before and utterly delicious.
After dinner, we all hiked to the top of the hill near the house and watched the sunset fade in long, slow Nordic twilight. Linda handed out Olympic socks as gifts to Mia and Anne, who immediately — and I mean immediately — announced they wanted to go shopping while wearing them.
🇫🇮 Helsinki, Finland | August 8 – 11
The long drive to Helsinki on Sunday gave Mia time to subject me to Finnish language lessons. By the time we arrived in the capital, I could count to ten, manage basic greetings, and announce what I had eaten for breakfast. I felt like a reasonably well-trained seal. Meanwhile, Linda helped Mia with her Spanish — remarkable for a young woman who already spoke Finnish, Swedish, German, and English fluently.
Aila had arranged rooms for us at the Finnish Red Cross hotel on Tehtaankatu, right next to the Russian Embassy in the elegant embassy district south of the city center. The rooms were bright and spacious. That first evening, we walked to a nearby Italian restaurant and then strolled through the embassy neighborhood to the beach area, where we watched bungee jumping, ate ice cream, and returned through Kaivopuisto park.
The most adventurous day was a catamaran trip to Tallinn, Estonia — just 60 kilometers across the Baltic. After clearing passport control (an hour's wait), we dove into the outdoor market, rode a taxi to the old town, explored medieval streets and churches, and had lunch at an outdoor café. The guys climbed up to the castle while the women shopped in the old town below; we all reunited for drinks before making the somewhat impractical decision to cap our evening in Estonia with McDonald's. The return voyage was rough — Baltic winds had kicked up, and the boat pitched and rolled. Both Aila and Linda were sick. I clung to my armrest and tried to look nonchalant.
Tuesday was a comprehensive city tour of Helsinki — the remarkable underground Tempeliaukio Church carved directly into bedrock, the Sibelius Monument with its great outdoor organ pipes, the Olympic Stadium, the Opera House, Finlandia Hall, the Cathedral and Senate Square, and the onion-domed Russian Orthodox Uspenski Cathedral. In the afternoon, the men took a boat to Suomenlinna, the sea fortress in Helsinki harbor, while the women resumed shopping operations. We ended the Finnish chapter of our trip with dinner at the Happy Days restaurant, then packed our bags with heavy hearts. After nine remarkable days with the Henriksson family, saying goodbye at the airport was genuinely emotional.
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Part 2 will be posted next week about our Norway experiences.
Here is the AI Google NotebookLM Video Overview of both parts:
Claude followed my blog post very well, and also added some interpretation and description to the narrative.
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Links to my blog posts about using Artificial Intelligence are on my Randy's AI and Genealogy page. Links to AI information and articles about Artificial Intelligence in Genealogy by other genealogists are on my AI and Genealogy Compendium page.
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