Lelli's travelling abroad part 2

After the ceremony we stood in the courtyard and waited for the newly weds. We got nice little paper cones with grains and rose leaves to throw when the couple came out. They came out of a separate exit and everybody cheered and threw the seeds. Right after, they organized a guided tour through the castle. Unfortunately at exactly the same time “God’s hand” was facing the “Krauts” far away in South Africa. Tough decision…shall we follow the cultural guided tour and get to know more about the history of the castle or sneak out and sit in a beer garden next door, enjoying the fantastic weather with a cool beer…? Those who know me already know the answer ;-) of course I stayed and followed the tour and even asked smart questions and one time I even had to correct the guide as his explanation was right but not absolutely accurate… Yeah right…! Keep on dreaming dude! The guide was not in the courtyard and four of us were already on their way to the garden! So we enjoyed the game and after the game we hoped to just sneak back in without anybody taking notice of us. I have to mention that the groom “officially” forbid TV stations in the area of the castle ;-) So two of us went back a bit earlier as at the stage of 3:0 the probability that Argentina scored four goals in 10 minutes was almost zero. I stayed with my Spanish pal ‘till the end and after the game we walked back. As I earlier announced myself to hold a speech, the brides best friend who was the master of ceremony was desperately looking for me all the time and asked around where I was … so one of the guys then told her where I was and my whole little scheme fell apart ;-) Sorry N.T. for not having followed you wish…but the world championship is only every for years ;-) So we arrived but the couple was still taking pictures and we joined our friends in the court where they were serving refreshments and small snacks.

Dinner started and we sat together at a table with very nice people we never met before, all Swedish and with all different background. We really enjoyed the evening! Nice company, nice food in a wonderful old dining hall in the castle. Our folks at the table were very interesting. Two of them went abroad as well and were feeling exactly what we were talking about when we were telling stories about our journey in the Middle East. Listening to their stories ours seemed almost harmless as they went to an African country where it was definitely more of a challenge to settle in. It was just very nice to meet all at the table and time just flew by (…and yes, I gave my speech and people even seemed to have liked it ;-)

During summer the sun almost does never go down and so sunset is after midnight respectively I had the impression of always seeing some light at the horizon. Is very special and impressive. I attached a picture taken at 0215 in the morning… Is just beautiful. After the dinner we went one floor down to another hall where a DJ kept us busy dancing ;-) until he turned off the volume at 2 a.m. Knowing Spaniards and Swedish I knew that this could not be the end of this fantastic day! We left the castle and the MC walked us all to the shore where we had a fantastic view of the castle in the dusk. Only thing that really sucked (literally!) were the myriads of mosquitoes! You cannot imagine how many were flying around trying to get a spot of our skin ;-)

The groom and his cousin ended up in the water and took a late midnight bath. It was very funny as the crowd was in a fantastic mood and everybody really enjoyed the moment. As it was getting cold (especially for the two gentlemen who just had taken a bath and started to realize that nobody had a towel handy…) we called some taxis and we ended up in the hotel lobby where friends from Poland (from where else ;-) organized some booze! One employee was already preparing the breakfast… we sat there for a moment and just enjoyed to be in such a nice place and having had the opportunity and the privilege to share the day together. Some friends had to leave already some hours later. Two left Kalmar at 0700 a.m. So no long hours of sleep for them… I guess they did not even go to bed at all. I am too old for such stuff and that’s why I took another day off and planned to sleep in on Sunday and enjoy the day with Katja. The sun was way up when we finally went to bed. Is not such a big deal here as the sun rises around 3ish anyway…

Next day in the morning (thanks real estate in Amman for calling me…!) we got up and Katja and I took a walk through the wonderful small city, walked along the sea and just enjoyed the fresh salty air and the blue sky. Around 1 p.m. we were invited at the bride’s parents place for a brunch. All those who were still in Kalmar gathered and again the weather was fantastic. 32 degree Celsius in the shade! We had to sit under a tree as it was so warm and we were told that this does not really happened too often but it made the occasion even more special…Everything fit together just perfectly! All were in a very nice chill out mood as everybody felt the lack of sleep of the last night. The bride’s parents did a fantastic job. Everything was so nice ad they were so caring that I really felt like being home! A big thank you to L. and P. L. for everything, you are fantastic! (Hope to see you soon in Amman!)

We enjoyed the delicious traditional Swedish food with the excellent Spanish wine (they go together very well ;-) and around 3:30 p.m. we headed back to the hotel as Katja had to leave. Yes, we were not leaving together… here’s the story: earlier this year when I was planning to start May 1 in Amman we decided to take advantage of being in Sweden for Katja to go and see her sister who recently gave birth to a wonderful adorable girl. Everything was booked and set, until the whole trip got postponed and now we found ourselves in the situation that we did not have signed for the apartment yet and the shipping was arriving next week. So we decided to cancel Katja’s trip to her sister to make sure that Katja is around if anything goes really south... But the airline could not change the departing airport so therefore Katja had to fly out of Stockholm while I was flying out of Copenhagen. And as the flight was leaving early and she would not have an early enough connection to get at Arlanda Airport she had to leave one night earlier and sleep one night in Stockholm in order to catch the plane the next day to Frankfurt where we’d meet and fly together to Amman. As I sad… there is always something when we are traveling…

So I spent Sunday late afternoon by myself sitting on my computer on the beautiful terrace as everybody except one couple already had left. As you can see from the length of the blog I really had enough time to write ;-) And the next day I had another three hours in the train to Copenhagen ;-) During the early evening the couple joined me and we had dinner together. After they went to bed, I took a walk through Kalmar…and with all due respect, there is not really a lot to do on a Sunday night there… I finally went to bed and it was still bright. I found it bizarre as you feel tired in a way but the sky is still blue and you think it is late afternoon but it is already after 11 p.m. Of course I woke up at night and thought I missed the alarm as it was already daylight outside but when I checked the time it was only 3:30 a.m. …

I got up and had breakfast and I was the very last from the wedding group to leave as our friends already left at 0700 a.m. I checked out and went to the train station where the train was already waiting and from where I am writing to you. I am sitting in a train and enjoying the scenery. I tell you one thing: I am officially the new ambassador for the southern part of Sweden! It is so green and you get the impression of untouched nature with all those trees and water everywhere. It is just gorgeous! Katja and I will for sure come back here to spend our holidays.

There is one thing I have to mention and trust me I am not the only person to say this (ask my wife ;-) I have never seen so many good looking people as in Copenhagen Airport and in Sweden!! I had the impression that somebody asked all beautiful people to gather here! J

OK guys… that’s it for the moment. This time with a “Director’s cut” extensive blog (please don’t expect me or Katja to translate it ;-) Btw, I guess you realized that we started the thing that I write the English blog and Katja writes the one in German. Does not cover always the same things but I think is OK as you can read my impressions and Katja’s (if you speak both languages of course…otherwise: tough luck ;-)

All in all, it was a fantastic, very emotional weekend with many impression, many good friends and memories that will last forever. Let me here again wish all the best in this world, luck, joy, happiness and health to newly weds! Take good care of each other. Enjoy your honeymoon in my home country and I see you guys in Amman!

Let me also greet all the other persons we met in Kalmar. I hope we manage to keep in touch meet somewhere in this world. Maybe you find a moment to read our blog and follow our adventure in Amman. It was very nice meeting all of you!

Ok, this is now really the end of this blog for today ;-) Take care wherever you are in this world and a big hug, this time not from Amman but from the train from Kalmar to Copenhagen (I am just now in Esloev… guess is in Danmark… ). Ma’salaam! Fab