 Welcome to Blue Ocean Studios  Around the World
Our week in the states went very fast. We raced around seeing family, and of course, spending time with Brendan and Danielle to ensure a great ceremony. In case you weren't aware, I was the officiant (yes, Reverend Mario), at B&D's wedding! Officiating a close friend's wedding was something I was wanting to do for a long time - and it was a huge honor (and fun) to be able to marry Brendan and Danielle - surprisingly - I wasn't nervous at all! Maybe because of our endless amount of trials during our trip, there had to be an adventure with the wedding as well :). We had an issue with the tires on the car :) - and ended up with a flat on the way to the wedding (with the groom and officiant in the car!). Brendan, being the car expert, got out and started changing the tire on his wedding day - calm as any other day. Wow! :)
CONGRATULATIONS (AGAIN) BRENDAN AND DANIELLE BRENNAN!
After eating way too much food for dinner, we passed out - trying to get some sleep as we arrived at 6am local time in London. We spent a few hours in the Scandanavian Airlines lounge and even got some sleep in the quiet room. It was a 2 1/2 hour flight from London to Stockholm, and we had our first Swedish meal of salmon, potatoes and cheese on the plane. Upon arrival, our immigration was the best of the trip - no landing cards!!! Our first impression of Sweden was, of couse, the airport. The floors were a beautiful dark hardwood and the entire terminal had an ultra modern feel to it. I also noticed that everyone had blue eyes (and many blonde hair). I remembered that Veronica, the Norwegian girl we met on the Great Wall of China, said that everyone had blue eyes (in Norway as well - of course she had blue eyes and blond hair :)). She also mentioned that everyone wished they had brown eyes - which makes us laugh - as it seems "the grass is greener on the other side" holds true around the world - people always want what they don't have (ie, Asian's wanting to not tan, and Westerners wanting to tan, etc)). We purchased round trip "Arlanda Express" train tickets which takes you to downtown Stockholm in 20 min at 200 km/h for $52pp. Hopefully you just said to yourself, "wow - that's an expensive train". Get used to saying that - everything's expensive here!!! Stockholm's one of the most expensive cities in the world.
While we weren't feeling that hungry (because of the jetlag), we figured we should get a bite to eat to help adjust to the timezone. We ventured out, and ended up at the Pelikan, a Swedish restaurant with a German beer hall feel. Of course, Swedish meatballs comes to mind when people think of Sweden, and I was about to order it when I realized I was not going to be able to down such a heavy meal, and we ended up with just light dishes to hold us over until breakfast. A friend of mine from Compuware Sweden had told us that Thursday was a holiday - so we're not sure what to expect for tomorrow. Also, the 25th of each month is payday for Stockholmers, and we've read that the days following this grand day each month result in many people out at restaurants, bars, shopping, etc. It should be interesting :) Day 139 - Kyoto and Wrapping up Japan < | Index | Photo Galleries | > Day 150 - Stockholm © 2007 Blue Ocean Studios, LTD. All rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Services | About | Contact Prints | Return Policy | View Cart World Travel Galleries | World Travel Blog | Links |
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The ceremony went very well - while I kept the jokes to a bare minimum (which, of course, was very difficult for me), I think the funniest part was when I asked Brendan to repeat after me during the ring exchange, but then read way too many words for someone in that situation to repeat. He began to laugh as I ran too far with words, and gave it his best shot to repeat the words. He added something like "and whatever else he said..." at the end :). But other than that little bit of added fun - the ceremony was perfect - a serious 5 minute personal speech about love and marriage by me, a few readings from B&D's friends and family, and of course the vow and ring exchanges. Gathering from the feedback we heard that night, it was a more personal wedding than the traditional church service and everyone had a great time at the ceremony (not to mention a fabulous reception!). Oh, and I have to add that Jaimie took some great photos while I was busy officiating - maybe we'll end up offering a photography/minister package when we get back? We'll be available again after July 7th :). 
After the wedding, and some time with family and friends, we were off to a full day of travelling on Tuesday - driving the car back to Washington Dulles from Philadelphia (a "fun" 4 hour drive). For some reason, Dulles was the worst I have ever seen it - the security line wrapped around more than Philadelphia does (which was our previous winner for worst Airport security line). It took about 50 minutes to get through the winds and bends of the TSA security line - but we made it - luckily we had planned to be there early to account for any extra traffic. We even had an hour in the lounge to relax before our flight. We used United Airlines miles to get a free business class flight to Sweden and back from Austria. When we arrived at the gate, they had upgraded us to First Class - our first time up front in a 3 cabin airplane - we were very excited! :) The food selection was better, more gourmet (and an endless amount), the wines as well, the seats had a bit more space (although not flatbeds :( ), and of course, the service was outstanding. The funny thing was that on the entertainment system, it had an option for tape - and a tape player built into the arm rest. We laughed, and said, who would bring their own tapes on the plane? That's an obvious sign of first time first classers, the tape was for watching your own movie from a large selection they brought around!! Nice! (Although, unfortunately, Jaimie's video tape player didn't work - it only played the sound). 
We arrived downtown and paid $3pp for a 5 minute subway ride to our hotel - the Clarion Hotel ($180 per night). The hotel is another example of Swedish ultra modern decor. In fact, the subway was too, and it looks like everywhere we turn, Swedish design is staring us back in the eye. Maybe that's why everything's so expensive ? :) 