Midsummer Part 1

Although going to Sweden in the summer is a usual tradition for our family, this year we flew in from all directions to celebrate. Benjamin (read his blog for more details) flew in from India after visiting his friend Donny in Bangladesh and then a brief visit to India and the Taj Mahal. My mom and Thomas were already there, leaving basically right after Thomas' last day of school, while my dad and I flew in a couple days later from Berlin.

Our first excitement was on Wednesday night, when Sweden had a soccer match in the European Cup. We were all rather disappointed when they lost.

The next morning, my mom and I went to the airport to pick up Maribeth, whom I met in Chile, and who was coming to visit for Midsummer in Sweden and then coming back to Berlin with me for a week. Shortly after we got back to the house, my uncle and aunt, Ake and Helene, came to pick us up and take us out to Ake's summerhouse, where the festivities would be taking place.


[a whole suitcase full of American food in the front, and all the other packing]

Maribeth and I slept most of the car ride so we were ready when we had to take the boat across to the island.


[Helene driving the boat, apparently something was funny]

When we arrived, we were the first ones there and had a couple minutes to relax. But not too long after, everyone else started to arrive. This meant a couple of things. First, everyone had to be ferried over to the island, which is quite a task when 15 people came on Thursday and another 15 were yet to arrive. On top of that, everyone was quite loaded down with all the food that we would eat over the weekend. Then, we had to began setting up tents and arranging sleeping locations for everyone. This began the process that our family knows too well of about two people actually doing a task and everyone else watching on and giving advice.


[Maribeth and I waiting for dinner]


[Family sitting outside after dinner, still very light out at around 11:00]


[Ake and Louise trying to put up the wind-cover walls, while everyone was looking on, adding their two cents]

The first night it rained, but we managed to stay dry in our tent, but it was the only bad weather that we had all weekend. Otherwise it was sunshine and warm for Sweden weather.

Friday was the big day, when everyone else would arrive, and it was actually Midsummer. The day began with a late breakfast, and then helping Cornelea slash around in the pool. She loves to play in the water and was having a good time in the pool.


[Cornelea playing in her little pool]

Then I became part of the ferry team that was sent to first only pick up my mom, dad and Benjamin as they were coming across. But every time we got there, someone else had arrived at the dock that needed to be taken over!


[Waiting for lunch]

Finally almost everyone was over, and we began preparing for lunch. Everyone had their job for the afternoon...


[Maribeth, Thomas, and Arne working on the Midsummer (May) Pole]


[My dad and I working on the hoops]


[Helene announcing how to use the new burn-your-poop bathroom]

We finally had lunch, where everyone loaded their plates with potatoes, pickled herring, meatballs, and other typical Swedish food.


[Maribeth taking chances on bizarre Swedish cuisine]

Then we had a relaxing meal, singing cheers songs that Johan had published into a little booklet and enjoying the sunshine.


[Everyone at the table]


[Singing a cheers]

After lunch it was time to begin the "traditional" Midsummer activities.


[The men raised the May Pole]


[Typical Swedish... sunshine, May Pole, and little red house...]


[We danced around it... although the baby doesn't seem to find it very fun]


[Then we had a "tips promenad" or a team-question walk... where we walked around in teams to answer questions for prizes]


[The winning team]


[But Cornelea was a much more interesting subject, note the UMBC sweatshirt!]


[And some Kubb]

After that we were all pretty exhausted and ready for a sauna. The ladies had sauna time first, and it was so relaxing and nice to be in the sauna and then jump into the cold water!


[Natalie, Maribeth, and I in the water]

In the evening, it was time more an American touch to the Swedish holiday. Our family had been commissioned for the dinner-meal, which was supposed to be American food. Of course, we had burgers, potato salad, coleslaw, and baked beans and the final touch was marshmallows and smores for dessert. All this food had to be specially brought from the US. Needless to say, the bags were checked before they even left the US. I'm guessing it was because either they thought it was hilarious that someone was bringing all this food or maybe they were genuinely worried about the metal cans that were there...


[The Swedes standing around trying to perfect marshmallows for delicious smores!]

Boat Trip Day 2, Part 2

After passing through the center of the city, our trip got more relaxing as we passed through Charlottenburg and the Wannsee.

In Charlottenburg, we passed by the Schloss Charlottenburg, a 17th century summer palace. We couldn't get that great of a picture of the acutual castle though.


[Palace gardens]

We also picked up Jurgen's mom, so that she could come a long for the ride.


[Jurgen's mom even drove the boat for a little while]

As we were passing through another lock, the captains began to get a little worried. It was already 1:00 oclock and we had to get all the way through Spandau, the Wannsee and make it to Potsdam by 6:00. Based on the calculations our captains made, it looked like we would really have to go top speed (which was rather slow) all the way in order to make it in time.


[The captains contemplating]

Once we were on the Wannsee, it was a little more uneventful, since it is such a big lake. There were lots of sailboats out, but we were too far away to see anything on the shore and were just out in the open water.


[On the Wannsee]

After we had been boating for a while, we realized that we were actually ahead of schedule and our calculations had been wrong. This gave us time to go on the "Kleiner Wannsee" or smaller Wannsee, where we got to see some pretty amazing villas.


[One was a boat house]


[Others were just ridiculously large properties]

Once we went through the Wannsee, we started nearing Potsdam.


[While Cliff drove, Jurgen got to take a little break]


[The Babelsberg Castle and grounds]

We ended up pulling up to the dock around 4, way ahead of schedule. Luckily, we were able to get the boat in before the rain came again. This gave us time to get back to town and go out to dinner, ironically at a restaurant that was a boat!


[The Resturant]


[Jurgen's meat-meal]


[Jurgen, Marjena, and Dad giving a cheers!]

Boat Trip Day 2, Part 1

On the second day of our boat trip, we had a big day ahead of us, since we were going through the center of the city and had to be back in Potsdam by 6pm. We started by heading north through Friedrichshain. Our first landmark was the Molecule Man, a sculpture of three men interconnected with holes, a symbol of the reunification of Berlin.


[Back in the boat...]


[The Molecule Man]

As we passed along the banks of the river around 8:30 am, it was pretty amusing to see the beach bars still in full gear after a long Saturday night. We then passed under the bridge at Waschauer Strasse. We were now at a point where one side was in the East and the other in the West. This is also the bridge that you see Lola run across in the German movie, "Run Lola Run."


[One of the beach bars that we passed]


[After going through...]

From there we continued into the city, following along the S-bahn tracks and getting closer to Alexanderplatz.


[The Fernseherturm in the distance]

Our next big task was to pass through the first lock. Since Dad and I had no experience going through locks (other than at the historical museum at the C&O Canal) and Jurgen was out of commission, I was a little worried. But Jurgen told us exactly what to do, and it worked fine.


[Waiting for the lock to open]


[The first lock]

From here, we were right in the heart of the city and got to see the Berlin sights from a whole new angle.


[Palast der Republik being dismantled, slowly but surely]


[Berliner Dom]

The next big area that we hit was the Reichstag and the Regierungsviertel. Although there was a message that said private boats needed a short-wave radio to communicate that we were coming through this sensitive area, we had no radio. We got kind of apprehensive that some police boat might track us down and get us in trouble, but nothing happened. We went right by some of the most important buildings in Berlin without being checked at all. We were surprised.


[The Reichstag]


[Government offices]


[The Federal Chancellery]

From here, our journey got more relaxed...

Boat Trip Day 1

On Sunday, my parent's old friend Jurgen invited me and my Dad to take part in a boat trip tour of the different canals and rivers that flow through Berlin. Although I didn't know the plan at first, I ended up finding out that Jurgen had rented a boat in Potsdam (southwest of Berlin) and had planned for us to navigate through the city and eventually get back down to Potsdam on Sunday.


[Dad getting ready to head out to Jurgen's]

We went out to Stralau, where Jurgen and his wife live, and where our starting point would be. We got there a little bit early and decided to walk around Stralau for a little while. The neighborhood was quite interesting, lying technically in the neighborhood of Friedrichshain, but secluded on a peninsula from the city. It was very pretty with the water, the park across the water, new houses, and lots of trees, but it was almost a little bizarre for me to be in the city but feel as if I were in a little town.


[Stralau peninsula map]


[Quiet street]


[Soccer field, where it seemed like some sort of semi-professional team was playing]


[Along the water]


[Interesting new houses]

We had a very nice breakfast a Jurgen's, but we also got the bad news that he had suffered an injury to his back and was having trouble sitting down and standing up and bending over. Of course, this made the plans for the boat tour more complicated. We decided it would be best to take a shorter trip today to see how Jurgen was feeling rather than push the limit.


[The view from Jurgen's balcony]


[Filu, their very cute but interestingly-tempered dog]

We began by going southeast towards Kopernik. Although the weather wasn't to die for, most of the time it wasn't raining. Here are some pictures from along the way:


[Captain and First Mate]


[This one is for Ben and Donny - there were a crazy amount of rowers and scullers out on the water and boathouses everywhere. Here a particular group of children seem to be getting yelled at by their coach]


[A boathouse along the river... this is a rowers dream city, I believe]


[Dad driving the boat]


[Looking apprehensive as I try to steer down the river]


[Our view approaching Kopernik... the weather wasn't too great, as you can see. A couple of times we had to pull the roof of the boat down so that the rain wouldn't get in. But even with the weather it was still a nice trip]


[Garden sheds turned summer cottages in Kopernik]


[I felt like I was in a parade...]




[We finally got some sunshine]