Tegelstrand, Västra Götaland, Sweden

‘I urge you – go find buildings and mountains and oceans to swallow you whole.  They will save you in a way nothing else can.’ ~ Christopher Poindexter

‘Jag uppmanar dig – hitta byggnader, berg och hav som slukar hela dig. De kommer att upprymma dig på ett sätt inget annat kan’ ~ Christopher Poindexter

I’ve been bitten by the travel bug and I’m afraid I’ll never recover from it’s effects.  Europe has always been a dream of mine and when the beautiful Elizabeth Wallace invited me along to assist her with a wedding in Sweden I was so excited!  The wedding was beyond amazing (more on that later) but what I truly enjoyed the most was the people.  3 families opened their home to us while we traveled around Sweden and it was truly the best possible way to experience the country. Everyone was so kind and genuine and we felt like part of the family the entire time we were there.

After 18 hours of travel on planes, trains and automobiles (literally!) we finally arrived at the tiny coastal town of Tegelstrand.  Lars and Kristina warmly welcomed us into their cottage on the coast and we spent 3 beautiful days with their family and also celebrated the wedding of Elin and Fredrik.  We made new friends, laughed way too much and ate so much food! Lars is an excellent cook and night after night we feasted on what the sea gave us.  It was truly amazing!

love, a

Lars walked down to the cove and purchased some fresh mackerel and salmon from local fisherman while we were there.  Needless to say it was the best fish I’ve ever tasted!Kristina made some authentic Swedish meatballs just for us.  Ikea has nothing on these!Elizabeth spent 6 months as an exchange student with these sisters, Elsa and Elin.  It was wonderful to see them reunited after 10 years and watch them fall right back in step like no time had passed at all. Heather grows wild here.  It’s beautiful.On the first day, we hiked up to the top of the cliffs and were rewarded with this view of Tegelstrand.  It was spectacular to see those rocky cliffs rising out of the water.Thanks for the photo Elizabeth!We took a stroll around the tiny cove and of course – had to stop for our own mini photoshoot down by the water. With no one else around, we modeled for each other.  Always a portrait artist!On our last day in Tegelstrand, Lars invited us to tag along while he pulled up his crab traps.  It was threatening rain, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity – I had never seen someone pull in crab traps before!  We piled into his little boat and headed out to sea.  Lars had no map, no instruments to follow – just his memory – and he knew exactly where he had left them.  He hauled all 4 traps up himself and was rewarded with 8 crabs fresh from the sea.  Talk about shopping local!

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