Saturday 7/20/13
Took off early to take our luggage to the train station so we could walk around town easier. We found our train and headed over to the east side of Berlin where we decided to go on a tour of Sachsenhausen. It was the second concentration camp that was built under the third reich. Winston Churchill's nephew was there as well as Joseph Stalin's son. This camp was a working camp where they made bricks. It was also used to exterminate people but that was not the main purpose.. Jews were brought there as well as gypsies and political prisoners. It is very sobering to view and very grateful that our country stepped up at that time. We finally went back to Berlin and walked the city, we also ate at a cafe. We had till 22:30 in town and then we would get on our train and head towards Malmo Sweden. Malmo is where my grandfather when he was 1 year old boarded a ship with his mother and headed to america to meet up with his father. We found our beds for the night on the train and met our berth companions, Paolo from northern Italy and Jessica and Kimberly from Goteburg Sweden. They were all very nice and wasn't as awkward as it may seem because we are all in the same boat. We went to sleep around midnight with no A/C but awakened around 03:00 as the train was entering the hull of the ferry that would take us from Germany to Sweden. Pretty cool to watch, it also saved us some money because our ferry and lodging were combined.
Sunday 7/21/13
Well Mark was not able to sleep so he went up on deck of the ferry was joined by Gloria tried to wake Kjersten but couldn't so she slept. The view was of the Baltic Sea with many ships and a beautiful sunrise. Went down to the train and slept for around an hour and then the hustle and bustle on the train picked up so it was time to arise. We were in Sweden at 08:30 and no clue where to go or what to do. We were very surprised to find free wifi at the train station so we tried to find lodging. While Gloria was on the computer Kjersten and Mark went exploring and found a tourism office open and got some maps and some public transport info. Swedish money is in Krona which is 10 krona for around $1.50. We noticed and were told that Sweden is very expensive ie. Burger King whopper meal for $10.80. We got a bus pass for 24 hours for 65 krona. We figured out how to find our campsite and headed to the bus stop. We arrived at the campground and were amazed that it was right on the BalticSea. Lodging was a bit pricey but hey we're here, so we will enjoy it. First on list to do is laundry we have a slot allotted to us from 14:00 -16:00 to get 4 loads of laundry done for the 3 of us. Laundry is done so we thought we would get our moneys worth out of the bus pass so we headed to town to find food and some entertainment. We found an India restaurant that had a burger, fries and a drink for 50 krona so why not. The food was great. We decided to find this park we were told about that had free concerts. Tonight was Flamenco night in Sweden. 5 ladies from Barcelona sang played instruments and danced, they were very good. We left and found the bus and went to anther section of town where they had this impromptu music for the night. It was called Goodnight to the Sun. The music was good, the view was amazing as we watched the sun go down over the Sea. We finally headed back to camp and looked forward to sleeping outside, it has been a few nights since we last slept in our tents.
Monday 7/22/13
Well after a good nights sleep we packed up and headed to town to find the archive building. We made a grocery store stop to grab some supplies for the next few days. We finally arrived at the archive bldg. It was around 10:30 and we had no clue what to do or where to even start. There was an information place so we asked if she could help us. Again we were at the mercy of having to ask for help. Karin was very helpful and put us on the right path. We were able to find the name of the ship my grandfather came over on, it was the Argo. We were able also to trace one side of his parents back to my great great great grandparents. Pretty cool to do, I think we could have gone further but the man who was helping Mark his computer needed to be recharged and we had a train to catch. Upon leaving this place Mark was thinking how important it is to leave a good legacy for your kids and grandkids. We could have stayed there for a long time but we needed to move. So here we are on the train again heading to Goteburg and Boras where some more family history awaits us.
Well we arrived at Goteburg (Gothenburg) and had around 20 minutes before the info. place closed. We were able to get bus and tram passes and find a campsite. We had to walk around 1.5 kilometers to our camp but found it very nice.
Tuesday 7/23/13
Well we slept in this morning till around 08:45. It was a very cool night which made for perfect sleeping conditions. We got ready and took off around 10:15. Our first stop was to the train station to get wifi and contact a relative of Mark's. His name is Anders Hudberg and we have been talking about getting together. We are planning on meeting him in Gavle which is a town north of Stockholm.
After the train station we decided to go to the city archives bldg. We found it without to much difficulty and proceeded to find out more about the Hudberg side. We had a birth date and a possible birth location which made it easier to locate them. Everyone we have talked to has said that the name Hudberg is very unusual (maybe that explains why Mark is the way he is). We did finally find them around an area called Hudene. Hud in our name means skin or hide. We did find that our family was involved in weaving fabric (skins or hides). The name could have also come from the area Hudene an area of weavers. The books are very interesting to view, some are very neat and orderly, some not so much and some are even alphabetized. The hardest part is trying to figure out the Swedish. The archives over here are very helpful. They allowed us to borrow a book for translation and we made a few copies with our I pad camera. The archives here are all free. People have been very helpful to us and very encouraging when we get stumped.
We were able to go back to Mark's great great grandfather in 1831. The names of children and parents is very helpful even for some of the pictures we have. We have located other members as well but have found that we don't have nearly enough time to do it properly. We left the archives around 13:20 and only had around 1 hour and 15 minutes till our train left for Gavle which goes through Stockholm and Uppsala.
We decided to do a quick tour of Goteburg by tram and go to the old town and wander. We found many antique stores which Gloria and Kjersten love but had to be quick so no shopping. We made it back in time to get some ice cream a favorite of Mark's and a subway sandwich for the train. We actually did not know we needed reservations for this train because it was a high speed train so in ten minutes we had to get reservations. We did it so, Amazing Race, here we come.
We have traveled from Goteburg to Stockholm and have boarded another train from Stockholm to Gavle. We should arrive by 19:40 and then we try to find camping again.
Just another side note, the country in Sweden reminds us of northern Michigan and Minnesota so wondering if that is why a lot of Scandinavians went to those areas when they immigrated. It is a very pretty country with lots of lakes and trees. The towns have lots of parks in the middle of them and are very pretty and used a lot by joggers, walkers and bicyclists.
We made it to Gavle but had no idea where to go. Well, we must have looked pretty helpless because the Lord brought a man and his wife to our aid. Their names are Ronny and Agnetha Nellfors. They saw us looking at the tourist info. building and it was closed. I looked at him and he looked at me and I asked him if he knew of the camping area but it was pretty far out of town and we couldn't find a bus to take us there. So they recommended a hostel just around the corner. They knew the man who ran the place, so they walked us to the door and we then parted ways. The Lord has an amazing way of introducing us to people and helping us out, pretty awesome.
Well our hostel has a kitchen with refrigerator, stove and sink plus a toaster. We are having our own pizza and chips with a 7-up. Pretty american huh. Tomorrow we will do our own breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, apple juice, ham and yogurt. The girls are very happy about being in the kitchen. Once we are done we will be going to bed . We are sharing the hostel with 60 people from Poland, they just gave each of us a polish meatball what a treat. There was only one room left in the hostel - the Lord saved it just for us. He is amazing!
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