We have been home for a week from one of the nicest vacations I have
ever experienced and I am struggling to put it into words.

We left mid-morning August 8th from Denver and arrived in Stockholm the
next morning at 7:30AM. After gathering luggage and renting a car, we
drove 2+ hours to the province of Dalarna where our Swedish partner has
a beautiful summer house, called Starbo, where his daughter's wedding
reception was to take place on the Saturday.

We encountered Lars, Angelica and family members whom we'd met before
plus sisters and their spouses: his sister from Milan and her sister
from Paris whom I had not met. Both were warm, friendly, and very
welcoming. We spent the next few days helping with wedding details with
a side trip to Sanborn, the home of the painter Karl Larson.

Sweden was at its best this summer because of a mixture of unprecedented
heat and enough rain to make everything bloom with a vengeance. Flowers
were spectacular and Starbo's gardens were lush with both red and white
raspberries, rad and black currants and gooseberries.

The terrorist threat to Heathrow airport was a factor since the groom's
family were all coming from England and many had flights delayed or
cancelled. In the end, everyone who had planned to attend did manage,
even though the groom's parents arrived with less than two hours to
spare. We counted guests from 16 different countries, as far away as
South Africa and even four from Australia. Many were college friends of
the couple.

We spent the wedding morning picking flowers and helping the bride's
father make somewhere around 30 elegant little bouquets for the tables,
mostly yellow and blue. Six of us formed a production line and folded
napkins into vertical fans under the caterer's instruction. I can now
do this with my eyes closed.

The wedding was held in Smedjebaken in a church which dated from 1109,
if I recall correctly. It was stunning. The bride, Maria, was lovely
and sophisticated beyond her 26 years. The ceremony was mostly in
English for the benefit of the guests although the English groom speaks
quite fluent Swedish, having lived in Stockholm many years.

After the ceremony, we all recessed to Starbo where a cocktail party was
held at her grandparents' manor house (the foundation dates back to the
1500s) on the front lawn which sloped down to the lake. We drank German
sparkling Riesling, labeled "Cuvee Mark and Maria, Extra Dry 2004",
bottled at her great uncle's vineyard, with a sketch of the manor house
on the label. It was delicious. Three or four different hors d'oeuvres
were served including smoked salmon, pate, and shrimp.

Dinner for 125, a feast of four courses of "local specialties", was held
in a huge windowed tent on the Starbo lawn:

Red onion cheesecake with Kalix bleakroe (caviar)
Wine: Lieserer Niederberg Helden Rieseling '04

Local venison cutlets in a red wine sauce with chanterelle
potatoes and seasonal vegetables
Wine: Thanisch Pinot Noir/Spatburgunder '04

Assorted cheeses* with Angelica's fruit bread and gooseberry marmalade
*English, Italian, French, and Swedish, brought by family members.
Wine: Masi Costasera Amarone -01

Fladerblom/elderflower ice cream (outstanding!) with freshly picked
berries (red and white raspberries, wild blueberries) and a delicate cookie.
Wine: Bernkasteler Lay Riesling Auslese '03

Wedding cake was served at midnight and consisted of five (I think)
round single-layer cakes on a stepped pedestal. I remember flourless
chocolate cake, caramel cheesecake, carrot cake, and strawberry
cheesecake, with more champagne.

Dancing began at about 10Pm and lasted till 4AM with a live band and a
kilted DJ ("Scotty") to play in the intervals. The eldest, bride's
grandparents in their 80's, left at about 2AM, pleading tiredness.
The rest of us partied on.

The next day at noon, a buffet brunch was held in the same tent for out
of town guests. They called it a typical Swedish Sunday lunch,
pitte-panna, which I had heard about but never tried before. It was
meat-and-potato hash, very tasty, with a fried egg atop and pickled
beets and various other side dishes.

The whole five days were a whirl of fun, laughter, helping, and
friendship. We were made to feel like family when we pitched in to help
and it was a wonderful experience. I particularly enjoyed meeting and
talking with the bride's aunts, and seeing her her two younger brothers
(early 20's) whom we have known since their early teens. They are
turning into fine, handsome young men.


We left on Monday morning for Bergen, Norway, to begin a coastal fjord
cruise. More in Episode II.

gloria p