Sweden
The trip was coming to its end when we got to Sweden, which was sad, because I was having such a great time. But it was also great to see so many people I hadn't seen in forever. Pete's dad was in the hotel lobby when we got there, and not much later, Les and Dawn Wilson arrived with their kids Allison and Colin. Matt and Sima Jackson got there later, and really I saw everyone except for Pete and his sister Katie.
For the first night we went to dinner and stayed out late, talking to locals and enjoying the vivid nightlife that Goteborg has. Since the wedding was the next day, I only had time in one morning to get pictures, and so my scope is limited. But I got some good ones in from the city center, like this view of Vallgraven. And as you can see, the sky is cloudy: it rained hard most of the morning, and I wasn't able to get out until past noon, with a 330p wedding time.
Two things I will always remember about this trip: all the people riding their bikes to work, and all the trams. Typically, the trams run along with traffic seperated from the street. One of the nice touches of these tram lines, though, is that the city plants grass around the tracks in many places, rather than the typical stone and rails that most cities use. Grass is much more appealaing than concrete, and I give the city high marks for that decision.
I don't know where exactly I was when I took this picture, but the general location was the city center region, which I happened to be exploring at lunch hour on a thursday. So there were a lot of people and a lot of shops open. Like Berlin, Goteborg had some major shopping plazas; here it was Nordstan, which is fed by a number of pedestrian-only streets like this one. Great setup, very social, and very scenic.
This building looked cool and so I took a picture. It's the Saluhall, but I have no idea what that means, and no idea of its function. I didn't see too many people around here, it was a lousy day and most people were working, I'm sure. One thing that was here was a little bowling alley that had been set up, and it wasn't the only one I saw; evidently bowling is pretty popular in Sweden!
A city with all this water couldn't possibly be lacking in bridges, and sure enough, I found this cool suspension bridge. The Alvsborgsbron is the westernmost major bridge in the city spanning the Gotaalv, which is the major waterway here. All the canals and side channels flow into the Gotaalv, which then empties into the Kattegat, which is the waterway between Denmark and Sweden that borders the North Sea.
And that brings us to Peter McDonald's wedding. Ann-Sofi was staying on another floor of the hotel, so that Pete and the boys could get to the church first. Naturally, Pete was running late - all the McDonalds are notorious for their tardiness - but somehow he got out of the hotel almost exactly on the mark. Problem is, in a Scottish wedding, the groom is supposed to be an hour early. So everything was running as expected.
As I told you he would be, Pete was in a kilt, and so was most of his family and the entire wedding party. (I was not; it would be hard to find a kilt my size at last minute like that, and at great expense.) From left to right: Lorne, Kevin (best man), Peter, Pete, Greg, Alistair, and Dave (Pete's brother in law).
What would a Scottish wedding be without a piper? Nothing. And so wisely, a piper was brought in - and he was excellent. Always in tune, and played for quite some time. I think he played the Cadence five times, and I had no problem with that at all. And we never had a piper down!
And here's where it was all happening: St. Birgitta's, a church overlooking the water in the Sandarna section of the city. Conveniently enough, it was also across the street from the hotel where Pete was staying. Beautiful church, with the ivy climbing up the side (although that's not good for structural integrity according to my friend Amy, who knows about these things).
Here's the bridal party arriving shortly after. Does it look chaotic? Well, of course - isn't it always? Since it had rained all day, they needed to be sure that Ann-Sofi's dress didn't get wet or mudded up. They succeeded. Also, the beautiful woman on the far right of the picture is Katie, Pete's sister and married to Dave. A lovely couple, whose wedding in Santa Barbara a few years ago was a blast!
The patriarch, the main man, the Most Valuable Player: Pete's father, Peter Angus McDonald, followed by Peter Andrew McDonald. Anyone who knows Big Pete will attest to him being one of the greatest characters ever in reality. And he has the distinct honor of being the only person to scare the living crap out of Jim Bethune. Ask him about it sometime!
Ann-Sofi walked down the aisle with...? I have no idea. Nobody ever told me. So when someone sees this and goes, Oh, that's..... and emails me, I'll fix it and write more. But the important part is, Here's Ann-Sofi!
I didn't take any pictures during the ceremony for three reasons: One, I was too far away for my flash to work, and I didn't think of setting the ISO option on the D70 to 1600, which would have allowed me to take pictures without using a flash. Two, it was so hot in there that I was sweating buckets - literally. Fortunately, Sima had napkins in her purse, so that saved me from being completely soaked before they got to the ceremony. Three, all the babies were screaming the whole time because it was so hot, and I was laughing my head off because they would start their tantrum at the perfect times, like when they were blessing the baby.
But I thought it was very important to get Pete and Ann-Sofi together on the way out, so here they are.
After the ceremony, we boarded a boat to go to the reception, held down in the Saltholmen area. There are Les and Dawn's kids, and they're cuties. And both behaved themselves perfectly in the ceremony, which was an added bonus - especially since I kept teasing Dawn, telling her every time a baby screamed, Colin was going to start up. But he never did!
Another one for the ladies: Here are all the guys in kilts, and in the middle? Rosanna, who asked for a picture with all of them. We took several shots, but I decided that this one was best, because the other ones don't have Rosanna in them.
Soon afterwards, dinner began, which includes a lot of toasts and songs (the Swedish traditionally sing songs all together at weddings, all followed by drinks). It was a lot of fun, the food was delicious, and it wasn't long before Kevin Cronin started with the speeches. His was brief but entertaining, as he always is. And yes, ladies, he's single.
And of course, what would a McDonald wedding be without a shot of me and Big Pete? Nothing. But unfortunately, there was a third person who screwed this shot up by putting their face in the picture, and so I have eliminated that digitally. That's why we look weird, but it's the only picture I have of me and Mr. McDonald.
Finally, it was cake time. They behaved very well, no kilt or nice wedding dress getting caked on. And from that point on, the evening was in the dark and away from the camera. We were out until 330 in the morning, and then I returned to the hotel, called a cab, took the taxi to the airport, flew to Paris, then flew to Los Angeles non-stop for 10 hours (I love Air France). Three-hour layover at LAX, then take a small turboprop to Santa Barbara. After some brief confusion, my dad comes to pick me up from the airport, to take me to my mom's house and see my grandparents and nieces, and I shower and dress for my class reunion, to which my sister gives me a ride. Up til 4am with the class of 85 at DPHS, and after celebrating grandma's 92nd birthday the next afternoon, flew overnight back to Hartford and went to work. That's how my trip to Europe ended.
Kinda anticlimactic, no?
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