So, part 2 of this little excursion ended with Day 5. Actually, Day 6.  Turns out there was a day I forgot to include and if it had been more ordinary, well, I would’ve just kept pressing on and not backtrack.   But, sorry,  I just can’t skip it because we went to the most amazing place!  Absolutely amazing.  We went to Milles Garden.

Carl Milles was a sculptor born in 1875.  His home has been turned into a museum and it is filled with sculptures and beautiful gardens.  It is located on a river and is exquisite, absolutely exquisite. I’ll let the pictures do the talking…

More mountains of beautiful steps.  Was so worth the climb…

Loved this one of a woman about to give birth.  She needs others to help her do what only she can do, and they are there for her in that moment of need when she’s about to do just that.Funny how knowing our need is a gift that allows us to let others in.  Have had the privilege of having some dear sisters with me when I was in labor with Hope, Chase, and Tanner. There in the pain. There in the joy. Encouragement at its finest.

Great place.  Great bench.  Incredible view.   Good to see this one sit down for a few minutes…Excuse the dark circles under the eyes.  I sneezed all morning and when Austin said that we’d better go get allergy medicine, I’m like, “No, I’ll be fine…” (Famous last words.)  He says , “Mom, we’re going to Milles GARDEN …with lots of flowers.”   Again, I stated, “I’ll be fine…” and after sneezing repeatedly, well, he says, ” We’re getting allergy medicine. ”  Yes.  Good idea.  (Wish I had listened to him sooner.)

Made me think of one of my favorite verses, “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms….” (Deuteronomy 33:37).  Carl Milles called this “Hand of God”.

See why I couldn’t skip sharing photos of Milles Garden?  It was definitely one of my favorite places.  So now, I’ll get back to where I left off at the last post.  We were in Malmo, Sweden, a beautiful little town in the south, staying at an apartment with the bridge to Denmark as the front view and the “Twisted Torso” at the back.

The next morning, Sunday, we were going to take  a train over that long, long bridge and beyond the horizon of windmills to arrive in  Copenhagen, Denmark.

The train station was amazing.  Huge structures, tons of details.  As I looked at those floor tiles, I wondered how many  people had walked, run, and strolled them through the years. It was our turn. 

Purple Vans and Purple double decker buses amidst beautiful buildings greeted us. Was quite an eclectic mix all around the city. We walked and we walked and we walked.  We were looking for a certain location but were not having luck finding it.  As Austin checked back on the directions, I was enjoying watching a little guy. He was mesmerized with watching the fountain, and was leaning over the edge.  Pretty soon, his Dad came up…

Looks like Austin and I weren’t the only ones who were lost…  I loved how the Dad just held him and then talked with him. I’m sure there were words of guidance of staying close to him and not going his own way no matter how amazing the distractions were. After all, playing with water/ fountains is a huge pull for any young boy.  But I’m thinking what that boy felt most was the love of the Dad who sought him out and found him.  That hug spoke volumes as I watched. 

It seemed to speak volumes to the little boy as well.  Well, am so glad that at least the little boy was found, but as for me and Austin, well, we were still lost.  And well, my ‘boy’ wasn’t quite as happy as the little guy above.  We weren’t ‘found’ yet…I’ll let the picture of Austin say a thousand words…

We walked on and I loved people watching.  Couldn’t resist doing the next one in black and white background. This man was just going  at it playing the piano, and although no one seemed to be watching him, we all heard his beautiful music.  All around us. It was like the backdrop of the sky, the ground under the feet…present, but not invasive.  Was beautiful.

Red tires. Red feet.

Accordions, guitars, pianos…there was music all around. This mom wasn’t taking a chance at her little guy getting lost. He had fallen and she helped pick him up, dust himself off, and carry on.

As I passed the old man on the bench, I wondered if he was being a ‘guardian’ of sorts to this man passed out on the bench.  Pretty soon, a friend of the passed out man came and tried to wake him up.  Wasn’t happening.  But his friend persisted and the sleeping soul finally woke up and walked off with the assistance of his friend.  Another one found.  In this crazy, crazy world am thankful for people looking out for each other.Swans were everywhere.  Beautiful, graceful, living swans, and huge plastic swan boats.

Austin and I were still lost, and by this point, he was walking a bit ahead and still had a certain look on his face about not being found.  And it got worse.  Because you see, after 4 hours after walking, well, guess where we ended up?  Yep.  The train station.  And as he walked, guess what was right in front of him?  The letters  “M-A-D”.  I’m so sorry, but I just couldn’t resist.  I know why it’s blurry.  I so didn’t take time to focus because he would so not appreciate me taking a photo of him at this moment.  But I knew that we would really laugh about it later, so……

I’m so very glad that he did not turn around at this moment!! (And we did laugh really hard about it a few days later!)  Timing is an important thing.

So here’s the really good news!  We (he) found our destination!!  We had wanted to take a boat tour and had seen lots of them, but we finally found the one he had wanted. So we set out for a “three hour tour”… with our Captain in blue.

This little girl was waving at all of the boats as the woman looked on. 

And here is the first mate answering an Italian Dad’s question regarding EXACTLY what time the boat would pick us up as he pointed to his watch.  You see, there were different phases of this excursion.  We had ridden out to another part of the city and seen all sorts of sights, and we had the option of stopping and sightseeing for a half hour.  We were to be back by 5 for the boat to pick us up.  (Remember this Dad’s face.) There were a few of us that decided to stop.  I’m so glad we did…

We walked for awhile, and then realized it was time to rush back so that we didn’t miss our boat. We rushed and hurried and ran and made it to the water’s edge on time.  So did the Italian family of the Dad, mom, and three young kids.    We waited.  And waited. And waited. And as we waited, the Italian man paced.  His children ran and played and complained and laughed and cried. His wife questioned and talked and wondered.  He paced.  And paced. And I wanted that boat to come and show up more for him than for us.  We could find our way back, but that fearless leader of a Daddy was relying on others to care for his family at that point. That’s not easy.  He had made certain that the mate would be back at that certain time and they weren’t.  And we really didn’t know if we were going to be stuck there, and well, as much as Austin and I didn’t want to end up lost again, this man surely didn’t want to have to be lost with his family at some drop off on the edge of the city no matter how great the scenery was. The family finally sat down and just waited.  We did too.

Just down the shore people were all taking photos of the Lost Mermaid, a famous tourist attraction.   Austin went and got some photos, and I was thankful for the zoom on my camera as I waited by the water. 

And finally, it appeared!  Our captain and his mate were on their way.  Felt a little bit like we were being rescued to be honest.  Being found.  Yes, being found is a good thing for sure.

The Italian Dad was so relieved, and the wife?  The wife went straight up to our first mate as he secured the boat and gave him a bit of a ‘talk’ about why he wasn’t there when he said he’d be there.  The Dad?  He just rallied the troops and looked like the weight of the world had been lifted and got his family on that boat pronto.

The ride was interesting and funny and beautiful. The first mate gave some history and made some jokes.  And sometimes he made jokes when I don’t think he knew he was making jokes and I found that Austin and I were having a difficult time not bursting out laughing. We didn’t do very well with that at a few points.

Once we got off the boat, we actually found the second thing Austin was looking for, Street Stroget.  It’s the longest pedestrian street in Europe from what I hear, and it’s so incredibly colorful .  I took a few photos.  Loved the locks on the gate, the ships’ tall masts, and the sun shimmering off the water. Austin was in photography heaven and disappeared again and again.  I stayed found and didn’t move too far to the left or right. Nope, no more getting lost for me. Not today. As Austin took photos, I saw him on the left side of the street and decided to move that way. Then,  I saw him get on a boat. Not his boat, mind you.  And then, I watched as he got on a chair.  Not his chair, not his boat.  Not his chair on his boat.  And then?  Then, I got lots of flashbacks of his childhood (I’m not kidding…) as he started to put the chair (not his), on a table (not his either) on this boat, (not his).  The table was very close to the railing.  And my mind raced back to memories of my oh-so-smart kid who risked beyond measure and had stitches multiple times by the time he was three. And I don’t care how great the photo he was about to take would have been, when that grown man who happened to be my child started to put that chair on that table, “AUSTIN!!” came out of my mouth. And he knew that limit. Just needed a little reminder that some risks are just not smart at all.  I try not to default to telling my adult children what to do, but sometimes, well, some of us push limits quite a bit.   Maybe that’s why some of us are off doing amazing things in all parts of the world. It’s just that, although some risks are so worth it, others just aren’t.  And to stay on solid ground, sometimes we just need little reminders (at LOUD DECIBELS).  Sometimes I wonder if I yelled his name more than I said it when he was little.  Risk taker from the get-go?  Check.  But oh, the beauty of where that courageous spirit has taken him.

He stayed on the boat, not for 5 minutes, but for more like 20.  I’m sure his photos are AMAZING because as he said, the lighting was awesome, but after that amount of time, I heard sirens in the background.  I said, “Aus, do you think you can get arrested for trespassing?”  Sirens getting closer.  “No…”  The siren went to another part of the city, and Austin finally got down off that boat. I’m not sure which I was relieved about more.

Then, we ate a wonderful dinner of that Street Stroget right at the water’s edge and had a great time. I forget what I ate, but I know that it was really good.

The sun was still up as we made our way back to the train station, but it was descending.  We made our way back to the station for the third time and got our train.  But this time we weren’t MAD.  We got on the train and made our way past the wind mills and on back over that long, long bridge to Malmo, Sweden.

The next morning, Austin had a skype call with a business associate from Dubai, so I relaxed on the back patio as he did his thing.

When he was done, we packed up our things and then ate lunch by the water.  There’s the bridge to Copenhagen in the distance.  We then walked and talked and I took a few last photos. 

We went back and got our bags and took a bus to the train station.  We were early (phew) and so we had some time.  Austin wanted to go see the city a bit more, and I opted to sit by the water.  

But after about 15 minutes, Austin came back and said he had found a beautiful church and wanted me to see it.  I’m so glad he did.

St. Peter’s was built in 1319.  THIRTEEN, nineteen.  Wow.  And when I walked in the church, I can’t really explain it, but it felt so familiar. Like home.  I’m not one for gilded sanctuaries…I think there are much better ways to spend money.  And this one was gilded big-time. But it was beautiful in so many ways.  I think it felt like Home for a lot of reasons.  Believers through the ages have sat in those pews and poured out their hearts to Him and sought Him and His Presence. What we seek we often find.

Well, we made our way back to the train station and took the 6 hour train ride back to Stock’home’.

And with that, well, the blog won’t let me upload more photos (which is kind of amusing in a way, hmmm…), so I’ll need to figure this out before I finish the last leg of the trip to Sweden.  Thanks again for joining in this little (big) venture.  Only a few more days to share because this was the end of day 7 of ten. Once I’m able to upload photos, I’ll share the last few days which includes my favorite place in the Archipelago.  Until then…

Blessings to You and Yours~

Heather

P.S.  Here are some cool verses about being found.

“For the Son of Man came to seek and find the lost.” Luke 19:10 ❤

‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ” Luke 15:31-32  (Last part of the story of the Prodigal Son.)

“If you have 100 sheep and one strays, do you not leave the 99 and search for the one that was lost?”  Luke 15:4

P.P. S.  Here’s a reminder of what being found can look like:

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