Midsummer in Sweden

Happy belated 4th of July.  There was not much mention of our independence here in England, of course, but I was quick to remind my English co-workers that it was the day that we defeated those Brit "Wankers."  I also told the Frenchie on my team that I am pretty sure that is the last war that they actually showed up to fight.  She takes my French jokes pretty well.

I am finally getting around to documenting our fantastic trip to Gothenburg, Sweden to see Ann's cousin Derek and the Swedish Diener contingent for the Midsummer festival two weekends ago.  Thank you so much to Derek, Elisa, Noelle, Linnea, and most importantly Hansy Baby and Terttu (Elisa's Parents) for being incredible hosts and inviting us to stay in their beautiful summer cottage by the sea.  Our pictures really do little to capture the serenity and tranquility of the West Coast of Sweden.  It is every bit as remote and beautiful as you can imagine.  The "Wet Coast" moniker unfortunately held true that weekend, but the rain did not stop any of the festivities.  Elisa's brother was visiting from Australia, so he had invited some Aussie friends as well as a few of his Swedish friends, so it was quite a party.  Everyone was so kind and welcoming.  Upon our late evening arrival on Friday, we were greeted with the first of many shots of Swedish Snaps.  As we came to find out later in the weekend as well, we were treated to a most memorable Midsummer serenade by Hansy Baby on the accordion.  Apparently, this is incredibly rare and Ann and I were so lucky to have been witness.  That really set the tone for the evening as the Snaps and beers continued to flow.  At one point, as we were commenting on all of the different nations being represented at the Bjorkland Midsummer's party, we all sang each of our national anthems (Sweden, Australia, Canada, and the US).  It was highly entertaining.  I was truly in my element as well because there is nothing that I enjoy more than sipping cocktails and having good random conversations all night long.  I was proud to be the last one standing and when I went to bed at 4am, not only had the sun never set, but it could have still been about 8 in the evening.  Saturday morning, Ann and I took an awesome walk out along the coast and over the rocky shores.  The surroundings were just so extraordinary.  After a big breakfast, we loaded up in a 4 car (Volvo of course!!) caravan and headed north to a small fishing village called Smogen.  It is this quaint summer town on the Swedish Coast.  It is known for its long wooden piers filled with shops and restaurants in these old fishing huts.  We had a fantastic fresh seafood lunch.  We spent the afternoon walking around there and then came back to the cottage for a BBQ.  On Sunday, Elisa's parents were so kind to watch the girls, so Derek and Elisa drove us in to Gothenburg to discover the city itself.  We had so much fun walking around and had a remarkable lunch.  We still had yet to sample the local delicacy, pickled herring, and it was well worth the wait.  Most importantly, we enjoyed so much just getting to spend some time with Derek and Elisa.  When we are all back in Fond du Lac for some occasion or another, it is hard to spend an extended period of time with anyone, so it was so nice for the 4 of us just to hang out.  We are hoping that they are able to make a quick weekend trip down to London before we head back to the States.  Derek has promised that he will sport his "bass" sweatshirt all weekend and Elisa promises a lot of "flipping," whatever that means;)!!!!!  Ann and I really hope that we can return to Sweden one day because it is a beautiful country.

Cheers
Kevin