Emily's Escapades » travel

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

emily — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:00:30 +0000

Cuddling a Koala was the only thing that I REALLY wanted to do in Brisbane (other than seeing the Smiths.) I was super hot and sweaty, but Dan did a decent job of getting a photo anyway! He was really cuddly, just like a teddy bear.

Swedish Cruise

emily — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:40:00 +0000

We took a one-day cruise in Sweden that went from the Stockholm archipelago to an island in the Finland archipelago. Since alcohol is SO expensive in Sweden, a lot of Swedes go to other countries to get it. So, it was basically a beer run!

(photo by Jon)
We had a couple of hours in Stockholm before we left, but it started POURING rain, and we’d left our umbrellas with our luggage. Jon and I sat down at a pub and watched the weather and had a couple beers.

It finally stopped raining as the ship left Stockholm.

Celia, Hanna, Andreas, Henrik and Jon in the dining room. We ate a couple smorgasbords. All very traditional Swedish food like herring and salmon.

Enjoying a last drink.

Celia the movie star… looking fabulous after a nice relaxing massage.

Henrik bought Hanna a Canon DSLR for a wedding present. What a sweet guy! She loved it. We teased them about bringing 4 extra people on their honeymoon, but they claim that the honeymoon isn’t until they go to New Zealand in December.

More of the Swedish summer home

emily — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Cute little cabins that just sleep two.

Cute little nook – perfect for a cup of tea in the morning!! I want one.

There was dew or rain every day.

Hanging out by the lake, drinking beer around the fire.

The diverse group of people staying a few days after the wedding: Mattias and Anna (they are Finnish, but are part of the 5% of Finns who speak Swedish as their native language); Sven (German); Celia (Kiwi living in England); Andreas (German)

Sweden seemed like the cleanest, most peaceful place on earth compared to China!

A Swedish Wedding – Part II

emily — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 00:55:00 +0000

After the ceremony, a massive party commences. (It even said on the invitation: MASSIVE party to follow.)

As soon as the groom leaves the head table, all of the guys rush up to kiss the bride. The girls all kiss the groom if the bride leaves the table too. Not just once – every time either of them leaves.

There are a lot of songs sung by everyone, usually ending in a toast. We also saw lip-sync performances, many speeches by their parents and siblings, and various fun activities by friends.

During one traditional game, they had to answer questions about which partner had more of certain traits by holding up the shoe of that person.

After the dinner, toasts, games and general fun, we went to another building for coffee and cake (this was at 11 PM. Swedes love their coffee!)

The dance then started about midnight. I think it was 3:30 AM when we left. It was certainly a massive party!

A Swedish Wedding – Part I

emily — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:28:00 +0000

An excited bride! Hanna was one of the most expressive (and fun!) brides I’ve ever seen.

We all got on a boat to take us to the castle grounds.

Approaching the castle… it was actually the summer home.

A simple ceremony was performed outside. Because they had so many international guests, it was in both Swedish and English.

Silhouettes in a castle

emily — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:39:00 +0000

These were taken in castle ruins about 20 minutes from Jonkoping. It was raining and the sun was setting.

Wedding

emily — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:31:00 +0000

We just got back from a week in Sweden. Our best friends, Hanna and Henrik, tied the knot. We had a wonderful time and you’ll be seeing photos from it for several days!!

They asked me to do a reading (in English) during the ceremony. It was really an international wedding, so a lot of things were both in Swedish and English.

We’re off to Sweden!

emily — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:56:00 +0000

Today we’re leaving for Sweden! Our friends Hanna and Henrik are getting married on the 4th of July… at a castle. OK, maybe not a fairytale castle, but the summer home of Swedish Royalty.

We went to Jönköping University in the Spring of 2003. Six full years since we’ve been there. We’re very excited to go back for a visit. We’ll be traveling around for few days with Hanna, Henrik and a few other international guests.

Henrik, Hanna, me and Jon at the international students good-bye dinner

We lived a couple blocks away from Lake Vättern.

The view over Jönköping.

I’m having some posts publish while we’re gone, so there will be new content while we’re gone.