Dalarna to Hälsingland

Getting up today we realize this is our last morning at Ulla's home. We take photos of the home to remember.

Her kitchen is our favorite spot. We remember this from all the visits since 1988 when we first came as a family. Karli was just a baby then, now she is 21 and fluent in Swedish. We remember mostly the wonderful times around the kitchen table that has a drawer in it that stores the hard bread.

Arvid especially enjoys the Swedish bench next to the table. We often long for one in our house. We have taken many photos of them throughout the years. They are so practical for extra seating and for relaxing. There are many different kinds, antique and modern. We keep hoping IKEA will come out with a model!

The living room is so nice too. We remember dining at the table with everyone when Karin was home. We remember the photos in frames reminding us of the relatives in the past. We remember the fireplace where we have roasted korv or the fish that Brenden and Ulla have caught. See what I mean? Memories.

It takes quite a while for us to pack. Not sure why, guess we are so nostalgic, down deep we do not want to leave! We get gas and the man there totally changes our route to Söderhamn. He suggests we go through Orså. We want to stop in Nusnäs to see the Dala häst so we do want that detour.

We eat in Mora at an Åhlens. It is a store that has a restaurant upstairs. It is great. It overlooks the walking street and has cafeteria style meals. It has 5 daily specials so we try 3 of them so we can all try something different. Karli loves trying different things. They were basically the same things... meat, sauce, potatoes and salad from a salad bar. The meats are prepared all differently, could be pork, could be beef or fish. Then you have a choice of potato, like here.

The drinks are fun options too. Löka is a brand that has sparkling waters with hints a flavor. They are not sweet like in the U.S. I have guava-strawberry for example. The town is very crowded. It is their last shopping day before Christmas here. They always celebrate on Christmas Eve, so everything is closed then.

We drive on to Nusnäs and it is almost 2:30. Getting dark of course, but it is snowy and beautiful. We buy some things at the 2 stores here, take some photos of the experience and take a short drive through the village.

We remember that many of the people who carve or paint the little horses live in this area. We also see a person driving a horse and buggy!

On to Solveig's! The radio comes on again, so loud that it scares us all. It is warning us of an accident again. We exit to Sörljusne. She has the traditional candles in the windows and also some candles in lanterns close to the ground at the stairway. That is a tradition we had never seen before. In the winter, people and store owners put candles and torches that appear like candles outside their entrances. They say it is to welcome people. Isn't that wonderful??

We have cabbage soup and smörgås. The soup is wonderful. It is so good to see them. Hans goes to get Albin from the train. Albin was 21 years old, yesterday. He evidently took the wrong train and got there a bit late. He is so tall and very talkative. How great for all of us to be able to have this time together. Thank you Solvieg. This is like a dream come true for us for sure.

We sleep upstairs where we have slept before. We love it. We are so happy. We miss everyone back home of course. Wish they were here! We drift off to sleep feeling content and very lucky to have the opportunity to be here at Christmas. Tomorrow Ella will be here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This should have been 2 or maybe 3 posts. With pics, it is tooooooooo long!