June 27, 2007 day 5 SWEDEN Borlange

We had a great first full day in Dalarna, the province in which Borlange lies. I awoke to the greetings of our two aunts, Monica and Gunn, who are vacationing up here in Michael's cabin and came by to say hello. Both of them travel a great deal, and I heard about all kinds of exotic places they had been such as Dubai in Saudi Arabia. We went on the Internet to look at this amazing place. Gunn has been in Italy about 17 times alone. It didn't seem like much about Eden Prairie would be that attractive for her to visit after hearing all the stories, but she did think Las Vegas sounded like a possibility. Well, we do have Mystic Lake . . .

Anyway, the kids slept until almost 1:00, and we spent the early part of the afternoon talking with Michael until we decided to take off for a little tour.

We started by taking a look at the village of Romme.



Michael took us to the favorite Wallenberg swimming lake called Langsjo.

I remembered it well as one of the places we had been when mom and dad first took us to Sweden as a family in 1967 and 1969.

Then we went to see the airport and where the glider planes are (those I also remember well on previous visits with our family; my dad was really interested in those), where the Dala-regiment (the Swedish armed forces were based during the 1800s) and, of course, a stop for ice cream!



Next we went to Stora Tuna Kyrka, where we have our family grave. The church was, as always, magnificent. Simple yet stately on the outer walls, the pulpit and nave are spectacular.




Just about all the Wallenbergs have been baptized, married, and buried in this awesome church.





Axel Wallenberg, my great grandfather was buried there in 1932, and there are 8 Wallenbergs buried including my great grandma Anna, who died in 1970, Last year , Michael's mother, my father's aunt Carin died, and they redid the tombstone so it is easier to read.



Katie and Carina decided to light a special candle and say a prayer for our new baby coming in the family to Scott and Sherry and Kyle and Kody Wallenberg in January 2008 in Boise, Idaho.



Next we went to see Michael and Lena's summer cabin where Gunn and Monica, nieces of my grandpa Folke, were staying.


I have many fond memories of that place also, particulary of my dad being taught by Carin, his aunt, how to find water with a birch stick. Carin said he got the power this way: when they first bought the cabin years ago, she asked a man in the neighborhood where they could find water. He gave her a birch stick and as she held it with both hands, he touched her, and immediately as she walked the stick was drawn to the ground, where water was. When she told my dad this story in 1967, he didn't believe her. He obviously did not know where water was there but tried the stick trick anyway. It didn't work; then Carin passed "the power" onto him by touching him, and I remember vividly that the stick seemed to take on a life of its own. I will never forget the look on my father's face as the stick pulled downward--exactly where water was! I asked Michael if this was really true, and he said absolutely, and that he can do it too since Carin "taught" him. The kids want to see it happen. Oh, there's magic in the woods.



Next we visited a special tourist attraction called Ornastugan. It is a beautiful building situated on a lake not far from the stuga. There, centuries ago, the legend goes that King Gustav Vasa, in one of his many daring escapes from the Danes who were attempting to take over Sweden, escaped through a toilet shoot after the woman of the household kicked him as she called him an old fool who needed to get out of the house and do some work. The Danes thought he really was the husband of the house and let him alone, for who would talk to a king like that. Little did they know that the king was only disguised in peasant clothes as her husband as he dashed upstairs to the toilet and jumped through the shoot where he jumped on skiis and espcaped. King Gustav Vasa is somewhat a folk hero up here in the province of Dalarna where many of our relatives reside.



We came home and were treated to a wonderful dinner of salmon with Michael's famous secret salmon sauce. Both Gunn and Monica were here as well as Michael and Lena's children at various times--Andreas, age 25, Sofia, age 22, and Niklas, age 18. Andreas just got a new job in Stockholm and is very excited about joining the corporate world. Niklas is proud to have gotten his Swedish drivers' license--no small feat here. One has to be at least 18 and pay about $1300 to get a license. Carina, who has been driving on her permit with me for the past month or so, was glad to hear these weren't the rules in the U.S.


Sofia works with handicapped adults and was looking forward to the three-day rock concert, Peace and Love, that Borlange was hosting this weekend. Even Alice Cooper is here to perform!



After dinner, Michael, Gunn, Monica, Katie, Carina, and I spent a long time looking at the family Bible where our great grandmother Anna had meticulously recorded each birth (and sometimes death) of the Wallenberg children.


We compared the Bible record,

my geneological records acquired from previous visits to Sweden and notes from interviews, along with what Michael, Gunn, and Monica remember.



We videotaped everything, and it was fascinating to look at great grandma's own handwriting in her Bible and share all of this with Katie. Great Grandma Anna gave birth to 17 children. All their names and birthdates are written in her Bible. We found out that our name had been changed from Kilstrom to Wallenberg upon recommendation of a priest when Anna and Axel were married to break away from past family associations and much more.



We talked well into the wee hours of the night and looked forward to more stories on Thursday.


Another thing that is baffling is how late it can be and yet so light outside! At 1:00 a.m. Carina and Robby were still wanting to play Kubb!



One could even read a newspaper outside at that time of night. No wonder they call Sweden the land of the midnight sun.