Thanksgiving 2011

More photos......

The fun continued. Friday, the Hammerbergs had everyone over for a champagne tasting and dinner. What fun is that? Karin, we did our best to pick the sparkle-ing-est! It was hard work, but someone had to do it.

Lucy made a delicious squash soup that I wouldn't mind having the recipe for, hint, hint. Also, pork loin and the best ever pecan pie and pumpkin! So yummy! Lots of talk and catching up! Great times!

Thanksgiving 2011

Happy Thanksgiving from the Scheidts! What a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! But you know, Kris, Dad and I were saying that we need to start documenting the "who, what, where and why" of family holidays. This resulted from the family discussions that always occur during such gatherings. It begins with someone asking "where did we have thanksgiving (fill in the blank) year and who was there. So Dad assigned me the job of archivist; this is the first entry.

We had a good portion of the family together but missed some important family members. Peter spent the holiday in Vermont with Anna and her family. Hannah ate turkey in Ketchum, Idaho. She just started her new job with ScotteVest. Karin and Asa celebrated with Asa's family in Massachusetts. Karl and Andrea celebrated alone together in Bloomington. They have been traveling a lot recently and were looking forward to the "together time". Erin, Erik and Priska (5 months old) spent the weekend in Paris. They live in Basel.

Erik, Erin and Priska in Paris

Peter, Anna and Gosie in Vermont

Asa and Karin in Massachusetts

Mom and Dad drove down from Door County. They arrived on the Weds before Thanksgiving Day. Kurt is living in New York and works for WGSN. He flew to Indy on Friday before tday and drove up with us. Camille is in school at Scripps, CA. She's a senior. The last of the grandchildren to be in college. Craig is working in DC and really likes his job. He also had a week off! Clint lives in Breckenridge, Colorado. He coaches football, skis and is working towards a teaching license. Clint did a super job carving the turkey!

Beautiful Basel

The fun continued with Erik and Erin! We spent almost a full week together and the whole time was packed with activity. We visited Germany and France, as well as exploring Switzerland. I want to thank them so much for being such great hosts! Erik provided me with an e-bike so that I could keep up with Erin on our daily treks. How was I so lucky?

One weekday Erik was scheduled to take the train to Freiburg, Germany to meet with some folks. Erin and I decided to ride along with him and explore this old historic city while he worked. The German trains are super clean and modern and super quiet. Erik was picked up at the train station. Walking, Erin and I easily found ourselves in the middle of this wonderful cobblestone city. The city was preparing for a wine festival that was beginning that night so there was a bustle of activity. Go to Erin's blog for some really great pictures of Freiburg. I loved the little rivulets that ran down the small streets. Freiburg is considered one of the most bike friendly cities in Germany and you can get a small glimpse of that through the video I took of bicycles parked outside of the train station. And this was just a fraction of all that were there.

One day we decided to drive to Alsace, France to visit their vineyards and lovely landscape. The wine was lovely and we enjoyed a relaxing meal sitting outside a very parisian restaurant.

On a quiet Sunday we drove to Lake Lucerne, Switzerland for some swimming and picnicking. This has got to be one of Switzerland's most beautiful cities. Erin said that it is her favorite. The flowers (and pillars of flowers) were breathtaking as was the loooooonnnng Chapel Bridge. It seemed to go on for ever.

But I have got to say my FAVORITE thing to do while in Switzerland is swimming (floating) down the Rhein followed by a good old fashioned picnic. After a hot ninety degree day, jumping into the icy cold water of the Rhein and floating for a good mile (?), one can't help but be rejuvenated for the rest of the day! Folks walk upstream as far as they desire, take off their clothes and tuck them into a waterproof bag, jump in and proceed to float down the river. When you have had enough, you begin to work your way back to shore, open your bag, dry off, dress and rendezvous with friends. I saw young men in dress suits, apparently on lunch break go through this procedure. When they were done, they stripped down, put their suits back on and went back to work without skipping a beat. So cool! And refreshing! I am so glad that I had a chance to experience this. Thanks again Erin and Erik for a memorable time!

Thank you Sweden!

(Kris took this pic at midnight from hotel room.)

I can't believe that it has been more than a week since we left Sweden. The last two days we returned to Stockholm and stayed on Gamla Stan the oldest part of the city. I think that all of us felt a little overwhelmed by the commercial side of this area and weren't prepared for that after spending two weeks in the more rural and less populated areas of Sweden.

Gamla Stan has narrow cobblestone streets and some buildings dating back to pre-16th century. On one of the narrowest streets you can touch both buildings as you walk down the street. The old square Stortoget (video above) was where Christin II beheaded eighty political adversaries in 1520. Gruesome! It is hard to believe such an event took place in such a quaint setting. The event is fittingly referred to as the "Stockholm Blood Bath".

The three of us felt compelled to visit Skansen Outdoor Museum one more time. We were so glad we did because it put together some of the pieces and answered some questions that we had while visiting. The interpreters at Skansen are so helpful and knowledge about Swedish history.

One of the incredible things we learned (at least to me it seems incredible) was about the traditional dress of the woman in the Darlarna province. The woman of this area would walk to Russia to do trading. I know, can you imagine walking to Russia from the central part of Sweden???? Boggles my mind! There they would trade for these beautiful scarves (among other things), like the one in the picture below. The scarf became somewhat of a status symbol showing others that you had been to Russia. Eventually the scarf became an important part of the traditional costume of this region.

We heard many stories like this that impressed me with the resourcefulness and hardy spirit of our ancestors. They had to eke out a living in some pretty rugged conditions. On Oland, there was not much but limestone rocks, scrub and wind....lots of wind from the Baltic and the little island was always vulnerable to attack from other countries. In the southern region the population became too great to be sustained by the land and as a result twenty-five percent of the population emigrated. In the central part of Sweden, the industry was iron and copper mining and timber-cutting, a difficult way to make a living. In addition, long winters and rocky soil added to the challenge.......but so so beautiful with lots of water and pines. All parts of Sweden are scenic and the people warm and friendly. It was hard to leave but all three of us feel as though we'd like to return someday.

The three of us parted at the Stockholm airport. I'd say we were a pretty good traveling team! Mom and Kris returned to the states loaded with stories and pictures of our journey. I went on to Erik and Erin's in Basel, Switzerland.

Hammarberg Area

We spent the weekend in Hammarberg territory and it was beautiful! Here are a few of the many pictures that we have taken. This is iron country and very mountainous. The houses in this area are typically two stories high and seem bigger than the southern part.

This is where the Hammarberg name began and traces back to the late 1600's. Johan Parsson had eight sons and they all took the name of Hammarberg. "Hammar" meaning hammer and "berg" meaning mountain. It would make sense that with iron working, there would be blacksmithing or the use of the hammer. At the kyrka (church) in Logdo Bruk we found indications of iron working. I have included some pictures of the grave markers that are wrought iron (Mark, I know that it isn't technically wrought iron but I am not sure how else to refer to it.) It was so artistic and beautiful. I had never seen anything like it.

I know it seems odd that I would include pictures of a cemetery.....but hey, we did spend some time going to them and looking for ancestors. At Timra, where Carl Eric Hammerberg was born, we saw more unique grave markers......the area in front of the headstone was sand and each one had a pattern raked into the sand. Very artistic.....and in this region, there is a lot of sand.

See that car in the background....the one behind Kris....well the calculations are in and that car got an unbelievable 67 mpg. I know you won't believe it, but it is true. It is diesel, manual, ISG (idle stop and go) and Kris said it was a dream to drive. Kia Ce'ed Eco. I wonder if they sell it in the states.

Check out this trio of beautiful Hammarberg horses.

We wanted to share with you a little of the roadside lupine....but I suggest that you turn the sound off because all you can hear is my jacket whipping in the wind. LOL

Midsommarsafton

We left our little cottage in Falun today and drove north to Sundsvall. It was midsommarsafton (midsummer's eve) today so we could see signs of celebration as we drove along.

We saw a daddy with a wreath of flowers on his head riding a bicycle toting his daughter. At gas stations birch branches were tethered to the pumps. You could see people in the fields collecting bouquets of flowers for the maypoles. Traditionally girls collect seven to nine different flowers in a bouquet and put it under their pillow to dream of the one they are to marry.

We came across this wonderful man and his horse coming home from festivities. He had birch boughs tied to his cart. If you look closely you can see the wild flowers in the horse's mane.

Ever since we started driving in Sweden, we have seen these signs.........

and finally, today Kris spotted this moose in a field. We circled back and luckily he was still there so that we could take this picture!!!!! So cool!

Then to top it off, there was a double rainbow tonight after a light rain!

We are going to travel to the Hammerberg area tomorrow and look up some of the home towns of Hans Eric and Charlotta. Good night for now!