We had one more place to be before heading our faithful servant, Skoda das Auto, towards home. Earlier this year, planning our road trip took a rather unexpected turn when we heard that my dear husband’s favorite cousin was getting married. We didn’t want to miss out on this long-awaited event, so we decided to make a detour and a short pit stop in Väddö, Sweden, on the way home. Now if you take a look at the map you’ll notice that it is really not a shortest way from Finland to Switzerland… our poor kids, their butts were doomed. But we decided to go.

So instead of familiar Helsinki – Travemünde route we drove Skoda das Auto into another ship, Silja Galaxy, and sailed from Turku, Finland, to Stockholm, Sweden. Perhaps we were getting a bit tired about all traveling and late nights – it was a day ship but nevertheless, we all took a long nap in our cabin. Some three hours of sleep was definitely needed after early morning (6:00am) wake up and somehow we survived all the way to Väddö. There we had our own red cottage waiting for us, grandma had mercifully fetched the keys for us since we arrived late. Her red cottage was right next to ours, how convenient. Kids were thrilled to see her again and were running back and forth between the two cottages.   

Our little princess had an honor to be a flower girl at the wedding. Soon after arriving to red cottage, someone brought her dream dress over, and of course she immediately had to try it on. The dress fitted perfectly and she was nothing less than thrilled about what was to come. Every little girl’s dream job – isn’t it? Anyway… finally we were settled in and somewhat calmed down after all experiences and excitement of the day. So we slept. And the red cottage was entangled in the gentle last rays of midnight sun….

The Wedding Day. Weather report was promising sunny and steaming hot. And so it was. After lunch we got ourselves ready. Little Prince Charming was giving me a headache by refusing to wear his festive clothing. Yes, this adorable little guy can be a real handful at times… After tiring negotiations and some coercive measures he was finally dressed up. Angry and sweaty, little blue tie hanging somewhat sideways. But dressed up. So we loaded ourselves in the car and left the red cottage behind. We had to be on time to give our princess enought time to go through her part in the ceremony. Wedding was taking place at Karls Kyrkoruin (Karl’s Church Ruins), which was a beautiful place but outside in the steaming hot sun. Little Prince Charming fell asleep at the backseat and we figured it was best to let him sleep as long as possible, so I stayed in the car with him while Princess and her father were practising her part in the ceremony.

Finally, it was time. I woke up our little Prince Charming, who had turned into a little Mr Dragon somewhere in the middle of his nap. He was so not happy to be awaken in the middle of sweet sleep… I ended up carrying his fire-spitting self to the ruins. It was rather hard to find a shadowy spot but somehow we managed, and really, here is where I got lucky. Mr Dragon decided to continue sleeping at my lap and therefore the ceremony went quite peacefully for him. And naturally for me too. Our little Princess was walking down the aisle in front of the bride and groom, throwing flower petals into the air from a little cute basket. Being her perfectly adorable self, she definitely melted my heart and a few others too, I assume. The groom was handsome and the bride was a stunning beauty. Every guest was sweating and I couldn’t help but wonder who was going to faint first…? well, nobody did. The ceremony was beautiful even thought I didn’t understand a word. Okay, I used to understand some Swedish, but this time the dialect was just too much for me. Sorry guys! I am sure the priest spoke important and beautiful words and everything that needed to be said was said. As for me, they could have as well spoken Chinese. But. Atmosphere was beautiful and so was the music. And bride and groom got each other, I assume :) Happy ending with another foreign language!

After ceremony we headed to Kröns Trädgård, which was the place for the party. Enchantingly beautiful it was, a garden, green house and restaurant combined. Only it proved to be rather tricky place to be with little Mr Dragon, who had just about had enough of heat, party clothes, waiting and hunger. Piece of wedding cake didn’t help. It just made him more grumpy. He was angry, spitting fire into all directions and not getting any better because I was constantly telling him not to touch this and that and keep his fingers off from just about everything. It was all just too much for the little fellow. Still, somehow we managed until it was time for appetizers… exactly then he dropped a glass, which naturally broke into million pieces. This little fellow hates it when things don’t work the way he wants, and I could see his upper lip starting to tremble. Knowing what was to come, with a speed of express train I grabbed the little monster and headed towards doorway, making it only half way through the greenhouse when he had reached his full volume. Out we went, little guy totally loosing his temper. A screaming, kicking and hitting child in my arms I made a fatal mistake and walked too close to the coffee table that was positioned outside. Guess what? We almost knocked over the whole table! Some last second acrobatics saved us from bigger problems and we rushed between the bushes in beautiful garden to calm down and catch some fresh air. After calming down, little Mr Dragon was so ashamed of himself that he totally refused to go back inside. I had to use all my negotiating skills again, and luckily this time I knew which string to pull. I promised him a juice box as soon as we were back at our seats.

Meanwhile the appetizers had gone into better mouths (our table had mercifully saved some pieces for us!) and little princess was busy making new friends, neverminding the fact that she couldn’t (and still can’t!) speak any Swedish. She found a place where wedding guests could make selfies of themselves and she was having a blast! Probably made a selfie with most of the wedding guests… :) Finally my little Mr Dragon had turned back to Prince Charming and I was free to concentrate on surroundings, food, program and coffee (!!!). I still couldn’t understand a word but obviously everyone was enjoying themselves. Program seemed to be pretty similar to what I’ve seen in Finnish weddings. Food was delicious. Coffee was… well… not too bad. Rest of the evening me and my dear husband were constantly glancing each other trying to figure out what was being said. Little Princess was having a time of her life… and little Prince Charming was getting bored but behaving himself. Heat of the day was turning into a gentle warmth of the evening.

We departed relatively early and headed back to the red cottage. Time for bed. Another early morning and driving through Sweden ahead… in no time we slept. And the red cottage was again entangled in the gentle last rays of midnight sun…