A Swedish Wedding (...Dags att prata svenska)

Thursday, July 18, 2024

My alarm went off at 05:30 this morning so I could head to the airport. I grabbed my bags and made the walk from the old town area over to new town, where I took the light rail out to the airport. It’s a wonderful tram service that I use to get to and from the airport each time I visit. I was at the airport by 06:30 and I was soon in the queue for check-in.

The line at Norwegian Airlines was surprisingly long – the longest one in the departures area that I could see – but they kept it moving along at a steady pace. When it was my turn, I checked my bag and was heading for the second floor departures hall, when the check-in agent called me back. The system was stating that I needed to pay for my checked bag, but I showed him on my booking confirmation that it was included with my reservation. He was very helpful and managed to waive the fee and send me along my way.

After clearing security, I grabbed a bite to eat for breakfast while I waited for the gate to be announced. Once I was at the gate and boarding had begun, my heart sank when my name was paged by the gate agent – never a good sign! When I spoke with the man, he asked after my check-in bag again, which surprised me. I couldn’t understand why their system was having so many issues with my checked bag. He asked how many bags I had checked, I told him one, and he did some things on his computer before telling me everything was okay. I have to assume that perhaps the check-in agent had somehow indicated that I had two checked bags, which would explain why the system wanted me to pay extra and why the desk agent was asking how many pieces I had checked.

Once onboard the plane, I quickly fell asleep and napped during the two-hour flight to Stockholm, Sweden. This visit to Sweden wasn’t about sightseeing, but was to attend the wedding of my friends Lotta and Patrik. Lotta and I had met in 2022 when I was walking the El Camino. We met one another on the very first day and it didn’t take long for us to form a little group of fellow Camino walkers. The experience of walking the Camino together really brought us all close together. I had then met her long-term partner, Patrik, a few months later when they came to meet up with me in London. They’re both vivacious and outstanding people – and I was excited to be able to attend their wedding!

Patrik met me at the airport (Lotta was at home with some other guests, preparing for the wedding). Another guest, Patricia (Pat) from Chicago had arrived before me this morning and had waited with Patrik for me to arrive. The three of us walked out to his car (a Tesla!) and began the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Patrik and Lotta’s home in Smedjebacken. Along the way, we had to stop off at a charging station for about 15 minutes, during which time Patrik and I went for a short walk in the nearby forest.

We finally arrived at their home around 15:30 and Lotta eagerly greeted us. It was so good to see both her and Patrik once again! Their home was in the countryside, right near a small lake. The area was stunningly beautiful and peaceful. When I went inside, I was greeted by Katja, another one of our Camino Family. She had flown in from the Netherlands the day before to attend the wedding. It was like no time had passed since we’d been together on the Camino! I also met Lotta’s friends Py and Harri, a couple who lived in the southern part of Sweden. They were extremely outgoing and friendly – I took an instant liking to them both.

After giving me the tour of the house, Lotta and I returned to the kitchen where a late lunch / early dinner was being served. Everyone had been hard at work cooking during the afternoon while Patrik was driving us home, so everything was ready to eat quite quickly. It was all delicious!! We spent dinner getting to know one another better and catching up. It was such a lovely evening together.

Once we had finished eating, I had to get some work done, so I settled in on the second floor while everyone else remained downstairs. When I started my work, my primary cell phone began acting strange. It would no longer connect to a wireless network, nor would it recognize any SIM cards on the phone (physical or eSIM). I tried restarting several times, turning airplane mode off and on, etc, but nothing would fix the problem. When I tried to plug the phone into my computer, it would repeatedly connect and disconnect, over and over in an endless loop. I began to panic slightly because I needed this phone to work during my travels. I spent much of the evening trying to troubleshoot my phone, even chatting with Thinh about possible solutions to the problem. By the end of the night, nothing had worked and I decided to try again in the morning.

I took a break during all of this to head back downstairs and rejoin the group for a short bit. Patrik’s sister had come over (she lived down the road), and we all sat around drinking beers and having some light snacks in the evening.

I eventually gave up fixing my phone and called it quits with work – it had not been a good day with either of them. Katja and I were sharing one of the guest rooms and we both agreed that it felt like we were back on the Camino, staying in some Albergue. By midnight we were all fast asleep though.

 
Friday, July 19, 2024

Katya and I both woke up around 07:00 this morning and we went downstairs to have coffee with everyone. Lotta, Patrik, and Py were already up and making coffee, while Pat and Harri were still asleep. We spent some time chatting while we had our coffee.

I discovered that my secondary mobile phone was no longer charging when it was plugged in – and I tried it with several different power cords. Patrik dove right into helping me get it resolved and tried all sorts of things to get the phone to charge. He had some cleaning spray that he used on the power jack on the phone, which ended up fixing the problem! Patrik saved the day!

The news with my primary mobile phone was not so good though. I tried to force install a software upgrade, but it proved too difficult for me to accomplish. The phone had been doing a software upgrade the previous day when everything stopped working, and I’d tried forcing the phone to finish the upgrade, but nothing would work. I had thought (hoped) I could force the upgrade using software on my computer. Everything I had tried had failed to fix the phone, so I was left with one option: factory resetting the phone. Once the reset had finished, the phone appeared to be working again! I downloaded the backup that I’d stored on my cloud and then tested the phone out – it was indeed fixed!

The only casualty of the reset was my WhatsApp account: I was unable to log back into my old Vietnamese account that I’d had for the past seven years. Vietnam changed the numbering system for the prefixes, but my WhatsApp had remained under the older numbering system. Now I was unable to receive any confirmation/verification code in order to sign back in to my account. It was quite upsetting to lose so much data and history.

Once everyone was awake, we had a very tasty brunch with bread, cheese, eggs, and more coffee. We all then had to gather our things together so we could head out to the wedding venue today, which is where we would be staying for the next two nights. Py and Harri would be driving their car and taking Katja, while Lotta and Patrik would take Pat and me.

We left around 13:00 to make the hour-long drive to Dala-Floda. The route took us through the beautiful, scenic countryside of Sweden: forests, lakes, rivers, etc. I was glad the drive was a short one because we were packed in tight with the bags, etc and it was nice to be able to get out and stretch once we arrived.

We did get some unfortunate news during the drive to Dala-Floda: our friend Mattias from Munich, his wife and three-month-old baby wouldn’t be able to make it to the wedding as planned! The global IT outage that massively affected airlines had caused their flight to be severely delayed. In the end, the airline gave the passengers two options: take the flight but without any of their baggage going with them, or remain in Munich. Since Mattias was traveling with his baby, flying without their luggage wasn’t a viable option for them. Lotta was quite saddened by the news, as was I. Mattias had been another Camino family member of ours and we were all looking forward to seeing him once again.

Lotta and Patrik’s wedding was going to be held at a yoga studio called Yoga I Hagen, which they have both been visiting for several years. We were warmly greeted by the owner, and yoga instructor, Lena, who then took us around the property. It was located in a peaceful countryside area, right along the river. She had several buildings on the large property and Lena showed us where our rooms were located. Mine was in a small cabin at the rear of the property, and no one else was staying in the building. There were two bathrooms for us to use/share, with one of them containing a shower.

When we were all settled into our rooms, the group took a walk over to a nearby outdoor café. The walk took us about 15 minutes and the path took us along the river, which was quite beautiful. The café itself was very popular and most of the tables were already filled with other customers. We managed to snag two tables for our group and we then went up to place our orders. I had an iced latter and two Swedish pastries for an afternoon treat. It was a really pleasant and relaxing time at the café.

The group returned back to the yoga retreat in the late afternoon and soon other guests began arriving for the weekend. In all, there would be around 40 people attending the wedding, but the majority of them would be arriving the following day. Tonight there were around 15 or so people staying overnight. Everyone who arrived today was from Sweden, but they all spoke in English when we were together so the few of us who didn’t speak could understand everything. It was very kind of them! One couple had arrived in a camper van and had setup some tables and chairs in front; they then proceeded to pull out some boxes of wine for us to share!

This evening we had a group yoga session with Lena conducting a “gong bath” as she called it. We all went to the yoga studio to participate in the gong bath. It was a large and peaceful room, with several yoga mats and pillows placed around the room. I took one near the front of the room, close to four large gongs and a gathering of “singing” bowls. I stretched out, placed an eye pillow over my eyes to help block out the light (and to help with relaxing). Relaxing music was played while we waited for Lena to arrive.

When the session began, Lena led us all in some simple stretches and breathing exercises. We then stood up and did some more stretching to help get us relaxed. Lena then had us lay back down and use the pillows to get into a comfortable position for the gong bath. It started with Lena ringing some chimes as she walked around the room, which was followed by light banging on a drum. She used the singing bowls for a bit before moving onto the gongs themselves. It began with some soft banging and worked its way up to louder, more intense ringing. Lena then transitioned back to the bowls and finished the ceremony with the chimes again.

I found the entire experience to be extremely soothing and calming – I could have happily remained there for several hours. As it was, the entire gong bath lasted 90 minutes and I was fully relaxed when we all sat up when it concluded. Lena handed out chocolates and hot tea to everyone to enjoy, while we sat around discussing our reactions to the gong bath. I was surprised to hear a few people had negative feelings during the gong bath since I had found it so serene. It was interesting to hear them relate their feelings and thoughts, and to have Lena provide some insight into those feelings.

At 20:30 the bell was rung to call us in for dinner. All of the food we’d be eating while at the yoga retreat was from recipes that Lotta had provided to Lena, and her kitchen staff did an amazing job with the cooking. Everything was vegetarian since both Lotta and Patrik are vegetarian. The dinner was delicious, and it was nice getting to chat and meet the various new people who had arrived.

After dinner we all hung out for a little while longer before it was time for bed. I was exhausted after the long day and was eager to crawl into bed. My room was delightfully cool inside and the bed was quite comfortable. It wasn’t long before I had drifted off to sleep.
 

Saturday, July 20, 2024

“Lotta’s getting married in the morning…” The song from My Fair Lady had been stuck in my head for the past couple of days, ever since Lotta had played it during our first lunch at her house.

The day of the wedding dawned extra early for me: I woke up at 04:30 and could not get back to sleep for some inexplicable reason. I spent the next couple of hours in bed, watching Netflix and trying to get some more sleep. At 06:30, I got up and ready for the morning.

There was another group yoga session at 07:00 this morning and everyone sleepily dragged themselves up to the yoga studio. There were a few people absent when it began though – too tired to get up so early, I assumed. This morning’s yoga was more traditional than the gong bath from the night before. We began with some breathing exercises and then Lena led us in several stretches. She had us stand while she played some music and told us to shake our bodies for the next 12 minutes. I was worried that the time would seem like forever, but I threw myself into it, shaking my body around and the time flew by! We then did several more stretches and some meditation, which I thoroughly enjoyed! This yoga session lasted 90 minutes in total and we were all hungry by the time it was over.

Breakfast was light, but it was tasty. I had more of the delicious homemade bread, with butter and peanut butter. There was a variety of fruit available, along with a porridge as well. Everyone sat around outside while we ate, which let me get to know some of the other people a bit more. I was enjoying being with Katja again this weekend and we spent some time hanging out together as we ate.

When breakfast was over, we all set about getting things prepared for the wedding ceremony in the afternoon. Py was the lead organizer and had everything planned out, so I offered to help her in any way possible. We moved tables and chairs around in the garden, laid out champagne glasses, got the music ready, etc. I was then sent off with another woman to walk around the area to find wildflowers to cut for table decorations. The two of us wandered down the road in search of some flowers, but found relatively few. We’d been told that there was a house down the street that had flowers we could cut, but when we arrived, we couldn’t find any. It appeared as though people were in the house, so we quietly walked into the backyard and found one blue flower to cut, before scurrying away.

As our preparations continued, more guests arrived and the excitement in the air grew as the wedding approached. I spent some time chatting with Py as we made sure everything was perfect. We took a short break to have lunch in the garden. It was a simple lunch of carrot soup, but it was incredibly yummy – I had four servings! (It may sound like a lot, but the pot of soup was huge – far more than our group could possibly finish.)

The time for the wedding was fast approaching, so I returned to my room to get changed and to cool down a bit. The weather was warm today, but the skies were perfectly clear – Lotta and Patrik couldn’t have asked for a better day to get married!

At 14:00 everyone gathered in the garden for the wedding to begin. Lotta’s friend Christina played the flute while Lotta and Patrik entered the garden together, while the guests gathered around. The ceremony was conducted in Swedish, and it was lovely to watched as they exchanged their vows. At the end, Py handed out small bottles of soap bubbles so the guests could blow them over the happy couple (rather than throwing rice). When it was time for Lotta to toss her bouquet, she shouted out my name and threw it directly to me! It was funny and sweet since my wedding will be the next one (in January 2025).

The champagne was handed out to everyone and we all drank a toast to Lotta and Patrik. Various snacks were put out for us to enjoy while we waited for dinner later on in the day. We drank a few more toasts and then we mingled and chatted for a while. I met Lotta’s brothers, as well as several more of their friends. Everyone took turns congratulating the bride and groom as well. It was then time for pictures and Lotta was eager to have some photos with me and the bouquet. Several people were asking me about why she threw it to me, so I told them about my upcoming wedding.

At dinner time, we all went into the dining text and found our assigned seats – I was across from Lotta, Py and Harri. The first course was a salad of goat cheese and rocket leaves. The cheese melted in your mouth and the dressing over the salad was very good. There were bottles of water, and red and white wine for us on the tables as well (I went with red, while the others picked white). It was getting very warm inside the tent, so we all went back outside to mingle some more while the main course was prepared. By now I could tell that I had gotten a lot of sun during the day – unexpectedly so – so I sought out shade to avoid getting a bad sunburn.

Dinner was a variety of dishes for us all to share: parsley salad, eggplant ratatouille, walnut puree, potatoes, quinoa salad, falafel, baba ghanoush, hummus, and several other dishes. Everything was delicious, but my favorite was the falafel and hummus. All of the recipes came from a Lebanese cookbook of Lotta’s, and Lena’s team did an amazing job cooking everything. We had several more toasts and speeches from their friends and family, which were lovely.

The group again retired to the garden when dinner was done so we could cool down (it was still incredibly warm inside the tent, despite the sun starting to go down). We spent the break playing a guessing game: Py had people provide questions about Lotta or Patrik before dinner and now she would read them aloud for us to try and guess the correct answers (thankfully they were multiple choice!). The question I submitted was “Where did Lotta learn to twerk? If you don’t know what twerking is, Lotta will gladly demonstrate for you now.” Sure enough, Lotta got up and did a proper demonstration for the group… well, a demo on she and I consider twerking, anyways.

Py then brought out a wrapped present and we played a game with it: Py would read out some instructions in Swedish and the person holding the present had to follow them. Each set of instructions told the person how to pick the person they would hand the gift over to. I was given the gift second because I was the man seated furthest from the woman who started the game. I then had to give the gift to the woman with the prettiest dress. This continued until the gift was finally presented to Lotta and Patrik.

When we got in line for the dessert, we met Lotta’s younger half-sister from Stockholm. She was a really friendly and outgoing person and it was really nice to have met her. Dessert was a chocolate mudcake with raspberry sauce and whipped cream – a very decadent and rich dessert that was the perfect way to end the meal.

Once dinner was concluded, the tables were cleared and some lively music was put on so people could dance. Lotta and Patrik started doing a traditional Swedish dance, which Lotta then also danced with one of her brothers. Another group of people went off to the small bar to hang out and have some drinks. I split my time between both places during the course of the evening, though I abstained from drinking any more after dinner (I had three glasses of champagne before the meal, and then three glasses of wine with dinner). It was a very fun celebration, and everyone was having a very good time. I spent much of the evening in the bar talking with Lotta’s friend (and former business partner) Anna and her boyfriend. They were a lovely couple and I really enjoyed getting to know them better.

Around midnight I decided to call it a night because I was thoroughly exhausted after the long, eventful day. Py and I made plans to meet in the morning to take a walk through the woods together. As soon as I was back in my room, I was curled up in bed and sound asleep.

I was so glad to have been able to come to Sweden for Lotta and Patrik’s wedding. It was a very special, incredible day with these two amazing people! I am very happy and lucky to have them as my friends.

 
Sunday, July 21, 2024

I managed to get some better sleep than the previous night and I had just woken up when I heard a soft knocking at my door – it was Py come to meet me for our morning walk. Before we left, she and I stopped to have a cup of coffee in the garden to help give us some energy. The morning was so quiet and peaceful out in the countryside – Py and I were the only ones awake this early to enjoy it!

We set out for our walk without any specific destination in mind. There was a bridge across the river a little bit down the road, which led to an island in the river, which we thought would be a great place for a walk. Py and I spent the time walking chatting away about our lives, getting to know more about each other. Py and Harri were two of my favorite people that I had met at the wedding – super friendly, outgoing, great senses of humor, and all-around good people.

We got to a point on the island where the path led into a field of wet grass, but since I only had my hiking sandals to wear, we decided to turn around and go a different route. Instead, we cross to the opposite bank of the river and walked down to the next bridge, which is where we turned to head back to the yoga retreat. The entire walk took us roughly an hour to complete and we walked around 5km by the time we returned to the retreat!

More people were awake by this point and it was time for breakfast. I had some break with peanut butter again, which was really hitting the spot for some reason (I do love peanut butter!). Lotta and I discussed plans for getting to the nearby train station in Borlange so I could catch my noon train to Stockholm. By happy coincidence, Py and Harri were planning to leave early this morning to for their eight-hour drive home and their route would take them through Borlange! They were very kind and agreed to drop me off at the train station, which I very much appreciated.

I hurriedly packed my bags and then began making my goodbyes to everyone. I spent some time chatting with Katja, Anna, and Lena as I prepared to leave. It had been such a special and magical weekend with everyone – and even more so since I got to see Katja again as well. Finally, it was time to bid farewell to Lotta and Patrik – though not for long because they will be coming to my wedding in Scotland in a few months’ time!

At 10:45, Py, Harri and I set off for Borlange, which was a 45-minute drive away. The time flew by as we chatted away during the drive! I was surprised when we turned into the parking lot of the train station because it felt like we had only just left the yoga retreat. Py and Harri got out with me and we got to say a proper goodbye to one another. I thanked them once again for their kindness in driving me this morning, and that I hoped we would all see one another again soon. Once they drove off, I went on inside to wait for the train.

The train departed just before noon for the two-hour journey to Stockholm. The train was comfortable, except for the fact that it did not have any air flow. A few of the windows opened slightly to let in some air, but overall it was a hot and stuffy train ride. I was grateful when we arrived in Stockholm and I could get some fresh air!

My hotel for the night was just across the street from the train station and I was able to get checked in right away. The room itself was comfortable and large. I took a quick shower before heading out to wander around the city. I have visited Stockholm only once before, back in 2014, so I was excited to have some time to explore the city again. I have only vague memories of the city and sadly I had no time to do much sightseeing as I had only the one afternoon. Nevertheless, I decided to make the most of my visit!

I started by walking along the canals and over the bridges until I reached the royal palace. I knew that I had visited the palace years before, but I couldn’t remember anything of the place. I walked around the main courtyard and the exterior of the palace, which was beautiful, but not overly ostentatious. I then walked down to the waterfront and spent some time having a leisurely stroll there as well.

Heading back into the old town part of the city, I aimlessly wandered through the streets. Everywhere I turned, I discovered statues or picturesque alleyways, fountains, etc. I stopped in one tiny square to buy some Nutella-covered churros from a street vendor. I sat at one of the tables nearby while I ate them, people watching as I did so.

It was getting late as I began my search for somewhere to eat dinner. I couldn’t decide on what I wanted to eat: several things sounded good and I went by many restaurants, but when I arrived, I found I had no appetite. In the end, I had some fast-food for dinner, of which I only ate half (my stomach wasn’t feeling very well this evening). I returned to the hotel, where I spent the remainder of the evening watching Netflix before heading to bed early. I had a very early wake-up call the next morning, so I wanted to try and get some sleep this night!