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Published: July 11th 2005
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Another weekend where I was overcome by a wave of tradition.
Tommy picked Linn and I up from work at 3:30 on Friday and we drove up to Leksand to meet Ylva (her and a few friends from the choir had rented a house for the week prior to the concert). We dropped Tommy off and then Linn and I headed to Mårsgården.
Everything looked exactly as I remembered it... We ran into the usual problem of not knowing which house to go to (there are 24 buildings)... Finally after a few tries we located Kiki and Bengts house, only to discover that they weren't home. While we were pondering what to do, they arrived (had only been down swimming). We had a lovely dinner with them and they spoke mostly Swedish (and I understood!!). They're house is gorgeous and they are all so nice. We were pretty tired, so after a quick walk to the water, we went to bed. Linn and I were staying in the old house where our great-grandparents were born. It is beautifully decorated with so many antiques...
We woke up very early to begin our shopping. First we headed out to Nusnäs
(about 20 north along the lake) to see where they make the Dalahästs (Dala horses). Then we went into the town of Rättvik. By around noon, we had to leave to go back to Leksand to see Ylva's concert. It was super hot (30 C) and the concert was outside. There were 260 people singing in the choir, along with an Argentinian band and a local musician from Dalarna. It was a really good concert... wonderful music.
After the concert we went back to Mårsgården... I went for a swim in Lake Siljan (which, by the way, was not freezing... it was fabulous!! About 23 C). Then we had dinner with Kiki, Bengt, Kerstin, Maria, Mats and his girlfriend (who had arrived during the day). Kerstin will start her second year in machine engineering at university in Linköping, Mats will finish his PhD in physics (also in Linköping) by the end of the year, and Maria is still working for Aromatic in Stockholm. We went swimming again after dinner and then got dressed for the evening. There is a huge old abandoned mine about 7 km north of Rättvik that they have converted into an outdoor concert hall. It
Lake Siljan
On the first night we arrived. was absolutely amazing (the accoustics were perfect)... we watched 'Jesus Christ Superstar' - in Swedish. The choreography and vocals were great (even though I didn't really understand what they were saying, I knew the storyline). There were 4000 people at the sold out show....so you can imagine the traffic trying to leave at the end rivalled the Corel center... We didn't get back to Mårsgården until well after midnight, but the Blues festival that was going on this weekend was in full swing! We stopped by for a few minutes.. but were both so tired that we left to go to bed...
Sunday we woke up and Kiki drove us (Ylva and Tommy had taken the car back after the concert) to the place where they load up the church boat. When we arrived, they were looking for some people to help row... Of course... in a loud voice, Kiki volunteered me and Linn. Ha!! I rowed with a bunch of Swedish people in their traditional outfits, across Lake Siljan. It was fantastic!! There was a guy sitting at the back playing traditional music on his violin... the water was very calm (it was super hot out). It took
The Beach
Taken from the change house. us about 30 minutes to cross the lake (from the town of Rättvik to the church). . We wandered around the church and looked at all the graves, then headed back to Mårsgården to pack up. Ylva and Tommy arrived at 11:30 or so... we all went for a swim and then had coffee with everyone before leaving.
On the way back home, we stopped to see Karl Larsson's house (famous Swedish artist)... and I bought a print. Actually, I spent way too much money this weekend... and bought a lot of stuff...
I can't even begin to describe how beautiful it is up there at Mårsgården. There is so much history. I found out that every time someone died (and children inherited the land), they simple cut it in half. This includes the houses... So, some houses were cut in half and moved to different locations on the property where they were rebuilt. Birgit's house is an example of this... you can see the
old section and the new section. Birgit is the sweetest lady... she very much appreciated the gift and even started to cry when I said goodbye to her. She kept repeating 'kom tillbaka' (come back) and I promised her I would... but she's turning 89 this November... SO... the big message here is that Grandpa Morse had better get his butt over there soon. ALSO, there are 3 buildings for sale... some part of the family that owns them has decided to sell them since the old man who used to live there died (Birgit's cousin)... I think Birgit is very sad about this... Bengt mentioned that they were thinking about having a huge family reunion at Mårsgården in 1 or 2 years... and told me to bring the rest of the family from North America (hint hint).
Anyway, I can't thank them enough for their hospitality... it was a really nice weekend...
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Aunt Linda
non-member comment
Hej Katie, I very much enjoyed all the pictures of your visit to Marsgarden. It sounds as though you are having a wonderful time! I have been keeping up with all your entries & they are certainly keeping you very busy. Please give my regards to everyone & I am already thinking of how to get Grandpa over there. I spoke with him tonight & he is getting a little forgetful....when I mentioned that Birgit was 89 in November...he said 'Oh so she is 5 years older than me'.....then laughed when he realized how old he really was!! Continue to have a great time & encourage them to plan a reunion....I would love to go & would love for Chris & Alyssa to go as well. I sent your email to them both. Alyssa is having computer problems but hopefully she can check out your travel log on someone else's computer. Ha det så bra! Aunt Linda