Day of anticipation – July 24

Yesterday was such a lovely day. A lovely, looong day. Hard to believe that this is only our third day in Sweden. Feels like a week! It helps that the sun doesn’t set until about 10pm. When we were driving back to town last night at 9:15pm, the sun was just dipping in the sky. Summer means light here in Sweden:)

Last night, I uploaded about 100 pictures of the day (it was hard to edit it down, and I figured I’d include lots for Kaleb’s friends and family who can’t be here). Unfortunately, the internet connection here is slow enough that I’m not able to include pictures in the post, so you’ll have to click here to see my Day 2 gallery. (July 27 update…I’m posting pictures now that I’m back in Stockholm!)

Yesterday morning started with an amazing breakfast at the Scandic Continental hotel in Stockholm.  I’m not sure if a breakfast counts as a smorgasbord, but that’s what I would call it.  There were grains and meats and breads and pate and caviar in tubes (photos provided).  I was impressed that right below the corn flakes and bran flakes were big dispensers for flax seeds and pumpkin seeds.  I loved the creamy apricot yogurt poured from a pitcher, and the coffee was thick and dark.  Just the thing to jump-start our sleepy brains.

I’m glad we were able to stay awake all day yesterday.  Made it so we slept well through the night, and we didn’t feel much jet-lag effects on Day 2.

After breakfast, we checked out of our hotel and headed across the street to meet Kaleb and his family at the train station.  We all had seats in the same car (which seemed a lot like most train cars I’ve traveled in).  Bryan and I got seats facing Kaleb and Karin, and you’ll find an excessive set of photos of their little three-month-old baby Arvid in the gallery.

The landscape heading west across Sweden from Stockholm is flat, lush, well-treed, and covered with farm fields and lakes.  It really reminded me of Minnesota.  A lot.  I’m not surprised that Swedes settled in Minnesota and Wisconsin.  As we got farther west, the landscape became hillier.   The hill-tops were covered with pine trees, the lakes became more numerous, and the farm fields gave way to forests.  It reminds me a lot of Wisconsin’s Up North here in Varmland…the lake district here in western Sweden.

Our train took us to the town of Arvika, where we all trundled out of the train in one large, clearly touristy mass.  Arvika is a small, lovely town with two main shopping thoroughfares.  Karin paid for the wedding cake, and she picked out flowers for the reception tables, and we all enjoyed a lunch outside the train station.  Bryan and I were unsuccessful in obtaining a rental car (probably one of those things that would have been good to reserve ahead of time!), so we explored the town for a while, and Kaleb drove us the 20 minutes to the town of Gunnerskog where the wedding will take place.

Town is probably too strong a word for Gunnerskog.  It’s probably more like a hamlet or a hollow or a section of country unified by a church and community center.  It’s beautiful.  The barns and houses in this part of the country are often red with lovely architecture.  The countryside rolls, and there are lakes around every turn.  Birches, oaks, and linden trees cover the countryside.  On the drive out, Bryan spotted cranes.  Cranes!  I believe they were Eurasian Cranes, and it was one of the highlights of the trip for me to see that pair in a farm field, pecking away just like Sandhills do in the states.

The reception is going to be held at an outdoor historical site.  The dinner will take place in a lovely open-beamed barn-type building, and the dancing will be held outdoors within a great, enclosed trellised area.  I was delighted to be asked to design the flower arrangements for the tables.  I also helped Karin, her friend Anna, and her mom decide upon the table decorations.  I just love doing all that kinds of thing!  Karin and Kaleb were wonderfully calm and connected and peaceful during that busy day.  I was so glad that Bryan and I could be here to help and to spend time with them.  Bryan, Kaleb, and baby Arvid spent lots of time walking around together and enjoying each other’s company.  Many thanks to Granny and Grandad for having our kids this week.  There’s no way we could have been as helpful if Andrew and Sylvia were here!

I’ll be taking photos during the wedding ceremony, and Bryan’s the best-man, so mid-afternoon, a group of us headed over to the church (a 10-minute walk past a picturesque lake) for the rehearsal.

The rest of the evening was finishing the reception and hanging out.  Kaleb’s family spent the afternoon traveling over to Norway…apparently it’s not too far from here.

Now we’re packed and ready for Kaleb to pick us up for the big wedding day!  Catcha later!

~Althea