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Thursday, December 25, 2003: Our journey began on Christmas
Day in Indy, but we took our first photo during our first layover
in Detroit. We enjoyed riding the red train inside the terminal and
watching this fountain. |
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Friday, December 26, 2003: After another layover in Amsterdam,
we had a five-hour layover in Stockholm before our final destination
of Umeå, Sweden. We stored our luggage in lockers and took the
Arlanda Express train to the center of Stockholm to do some sightseeing. |
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We made our way from the train station to Gamla Stan without asking
for directions even once, and our first stop was the royal palace.
We have a distant photo on our previous Stockholm
page, so we've treated you to a close up this time. |
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In Gamla Stan, Jill posed for a photo nearly identical to the one
taken of me in 2002. |
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We're creatures of habit, so we stopped for lunch in the same cafe
we ate at the last time we were in town. |
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Here's another charming photo of the narrow streets of Gamla Stan. |
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Back in the center of Stockholm, we admired the lovely statues of
the city. |
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Shopping! Shoppers! Alas, we could not stay and enjoy it, because
we had to get back to catch our next flight. Once we arrived in Umeå,
we rented a car, checked into the Scandic Plaza Hotel, and finally
got some sleep. |
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Saturday, December 26, 2003: We spent the next day with my
second cousin, Kristina, and her family. Although Elina and Jill could
not speak each other's language, they played with Elina's new Bratz
dolls. As the days went on, they got along quite well, playing hide-and-seek,
rock-paper-scissors, and other funny non-verbal games they made up. |
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Edvin is crazy for hockey, and he and Tom played a game on his brand
new hockey set. |
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David and Kristina cooked up several delicious meals for us, including
Christmas porridge and sandwiches for lunch, and chicken pasta for
dinner. Then, we had to dash, so we could make it back to the hotel
to watch "Expedition Robinson" - the original Swedish version
of the American show "Survivor." Although it was completely
in Swedish, we were able to follow along fairly well. It helped that
Kristina had filled us in on some of the characters. Here's a scene
from tribal council. |
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Sunday, December 28, 2003: We drove to Örnsköldsvik
to visit my mother's first cousin, Karin, her husband Bert, and her
sons Daniel and Robert. We had tea and a delicious dinner of pork,
with ice cream for dessert. It was a nice visit, but we were sorry
that Karin's sister, Eva, wasn't able to make it, due to the icy roads
from freezing rain the night before. Karin and Eva's father was my
grandfather's twin brother. My grandfather and his twin both came to the U.S. when they were
young, but only my grandfather stayed, so all of my relatives on my
grandfather's side are Swedish. |
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Monday, December 28, 2003: We spent the day with Kristina
and David again, heading to a mystery destination. We stopped several
times along the way to Bjurholm, including at this outdoor fireplace.
Elina, Edvin, and Jill immediately started playing in the snow at
each stop. |
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Tom and I were surprised and delighted to find that our top secret
destination was an elk ranch called Älgens
Hus (Elk House). In North America, the animal we refer to as "moose"
is actually an elk, and what we call "elk" is actually a
type of deer. For our American readers, I'll refer to them as moose
here. The owner, Christer Johansson, was very kind and opened during
the Christmas holiday just for us. One other family joined us after
a while. |
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When Tom and I visited Kristina and David in 1996, we wanted to
see moose, so they took us out driving one night until we spotted
some in the woods. This turned out to be even better. The moose were
tame and gentle, and we all got a chance to pet them before heading
inside to view the museum and have some tea. |
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Here's 6-year-old Edvin on his papa's shoulders, watching the moose/elk.
After our visit, we headed back to their house for a tasty meal of
capercaillie, which David had hunted himself. |
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Tuesday, December 29, 2003: We headed across the street from
our hotel in the morning to do some shopping in Umeå. It was
still fairly dark out as we walked past this statue to buy some clothing
at H&M. |
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In the U.S., we do not get a warning when the light is about to
turn green, but in Sweden, they do! Here's a photo of the phenomenon
occurring. |
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We spent the day with Kristina's family again, but this time we
headed to Burträsk, the town where my grandfather was born. His
brother, Einar, is Kristina's grandfather. Kristina's father, Gunnar,
was recovering from the flu, but her mother, Birgit, joined us for
the day. Birgit, Eva, Karin, and my mother are all first cousins,
and this is their grandfather's family grave in the church in Burträsk. |
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The church in Burträsk is large and beautiful, both inside
and out. It stands at the end of a large lake and is one of the first
things you see as you approach Burträsk from the other end of
the lake. Here is the interior. |
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Next, Birgit treated us to lunch and a visit to Ostens
Hus (Cheese House), a cheese museum which recently opened in Burträsk.
King Carl Gustav and Queen Silvia were present for the grand opening
in May. The museum shows the history of Vasterbottens cheese, which
is made only in Burträsk. It's a light, airy building, with fun
exhibits. |
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There's an observation room where visitors can watch the cheese
being made, and can enjoy a sample of the cheese. We had some every
morning with breakfast at our hotel. After returning, we started to order it once a year from food importers to enjoy at home, but one glorious day we found that IKEA sells it so we stock up when we shop there. |
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After a great lunch of meat and cheese pies (like tiny quiches),
we posed for a group shot with Birgit, and then headed back to Umeå.
It was so nice to see Birgit again. |
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Kristina, David, Elina, and Edvin joined us for dinner
at our hotel on our last evening together. It was hard to say goodbye!
Ice Hotel Visit >
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