A Rehearsal and Wedding, Finnish Style

     It seems that we are traveling all over the world to witness our friends tie the knot but no complaints.  Our own wedding took place in Mexico under a gazebo on the beach.  The next destination wedding we attended took place in a castle in Ireland.  This destination wedding in Finland occurred in the largest wooden church in the world.  Thank you for giving us a reason to travel and see and experience so many new things!  I am looking forward to many more destination weddings (already have one on the calendar for January).

     So after the long hours of traveling and brief tourist outings, the wedding festivities quickly arrived.  On Friday evening, we attended the rehearsal at the church, dinner at the father of the bride's house, and drinks at a local place.

The groomsmen....and I thought PDub was tall...

The groom and PDub.

Rehearsing.

The lovely couple.

      On Saturday, we attended the ceremony and reception.  The wedding was absolutely beautiful and was held in the Kerimäki Church that was built between 1844 and 1847 and can hold 5,000 people.  Although the rumor has been disproven, the size of the church was blamed on a miscommunication between the architect (working in centimeters) and the builder (working in inches).  Ah, the beauty of having different measurement systems.  After the ceremony, we went to the reception venue, which overlooked one of the many lakes.  The dinner was scrumptious with the best reindeer meat I have had (tasted like a cross between pepperoni and salami); plus, this Fazer guy really knows how to do good chocolate.  Paul's speech was fabulous (no really, it was), and the band even learned how to play country music.  You couldn't have asked for a better evening!

The largest wooden church in the world.

The groom's family.

Before the ceremony....

The interior of the church.

After the ceremony.....

Rice.

More rice.

A happy couple.

Another happy couple...wait...same people.

Cheers!

The boys gave the groom a ball-and-chain keychain.

Caution: Suspenders.

Every wedding needs a kick line.

Two-steppin' for their first dance.

My favorite picture that their photographer took....really captures the beauty of the area (and the couple of course).

Savonlinna, Finland

Savonlinna, Finland

     On Thursday, we slept in attempting to recover from the previous day.  However, our travels were not over as we had to catch a 5-hour train ride north to Savonlinna (wedding location). While waiting on the train, PDub asked me if I thought they would allow him to drive the train; I guess he thought his degree in engineering meant more.  Thankfully a true engineer (conductor) drove us through the rocky hills, forests, and lakes of Finland and landed us in the beautiful Savonlinna, which happens to be a chain of islands on several lakes.  We checked into our room at the Sokos Seurahuone Hotel that overlooked the lake.  Downfall: we had two twin beds, which made us feel like we were back in the 50's questioning if we should push them together.

"I got my degree in engineering...Let me go ahead and take the wheel.  Plus I look pretty snazzy with this cup of coffee."  Thankfully I've trained him out of using the pinky-up drinking technique.  Great improvement, PDub.

Our first train ride....ever.

The view from our room.

     After only having some mini homemade donuts at the train station in Helsinki, we were starved, so we headed to the lakeside Restaurant Kalastajan Koju for some fried muikko fish, a recommendation from the bride and a local favorite.  Just like the newest KFC commercial with the dad saying, "I ate the BONES!" you actually did eat these bones; something strange for both PDub and I, but you couldn't even tell they were there.  I am not a seafood fan by any means, but these were pretty good.  After a walk by the lake and stumbling upon a castle (that we visited the next day), we ate some ice cream and headed to bed to watch some Finnish television (highly populated with tall blondes), a Julia Roberts movie, and finally deep sleep.  Unlike anywhere in the continental USA, Finland does not find darkness in the summer nights and instead only a dusk color if and when the sun goes down.  It makes you feel like you can stay up into the late hours and by far does not help with those of us who have issues with time changes.

Bbbbbeer.  Koff....a Finnish thing.

More beer....and a photo bomber in the background.

Fishie!

At the restaurant overlooking the lake.

Our scenic walk.

More scenery....and I'm not referring to PDub.

I found a Castle!

The Savonlinna Castle

     On Friday, we headed to meet the bride and groom (and all other visitors) for breakfast at the local market.  Over apple pastries and hot cocoa (coffee for PDub), we became acquainted with the families and friends of the bride and groom.  A group of us then headed to the castle (the northernmost medieval stone fortress still standing) for a tour.  In Finnish, "Savonlinna" translates to Castle of Savonia, and well named, seeing that the city was built around the Olavinlinna castle back in 1639.  The castle was founded in 1475 to protect the Swedish border (Finland was then a part of the kingdom of Sweden) from their Russian adversary.  During the Russo-Swedish War (1741-1743), Russia captured this castle and remained there until 1812 after which they granted the city and castle back to Finland.  The castle still stands today, and the city still prospers around it.

Olavinlinna Castle

More castle!  He was going to storm it, but I convinced him  he didn't have the manpower.

     During our tour of the castle, we were told to remain with our tour group seeing that some doors would be locked behind us to prevent unguided tourists from entering into certain rooms.  Generally, I follow rules with no exceptions, but you see, we bought this really awesome camera....Needless to say, one of my new friends (from the wedding party) and I lagged behind a bit and ended up with a door separation between ourselves and the rest of our group.  I pulled and pulled on this door (mind you, the thing was extremely old), and it wouldn't budge.  We shared a moment of panic before she attempted it herself (push....dur), and we happily reunited with our group (no worries, we were missed, so they may have found us eventually).

Inside the church of the castle.

One of the three keeps (rounded and thick to withstand canon fire).

Playing with the camera...

Getting left behind...

Across the Atlantic: Part Kaksi/два/Deux (Two)

     On a Tuesday, I finished packing 19 days worth of clothing into a backpack, said my goodbyes to Maya, proceeded to cry in front of a large man in the elevator, and headed to the airport for yet another trip across the Atlantic.  Doubles Shark-Whisperer dropped PDub and I off two hours early where we then checked in, headed through security, and fought several tour groups, all composed of either old people or Asians (this turned out to be a running theme throughout the rest of our trip).  We boarded our two story airplane and sat at the gate for an additional hour because AirFrance actually waits for passengers who run late (when I own my airline I won't be so lenient).  After 6.5 hours of flying, 3 movies, and two meals, Tuesday turned into Wednesday, and we landed in Paris for a 5 hour layover.  Luckily, the layover was long because finding our gate felt like a treasure hunt; we somehow went through immigration twice (with no wrong turns).

"Packed" up.

Largest airplane I had ever been on...two stories.

At Dulles airport geared up for some traveling.

     Once at our gate, I slept for an hour while PDub fretted over a speech he was scheduled to give.  I guess I should share with you the reason we headed back across the Atlantic, seeing that Ireland had been only a few months prior; we had yet another wedding to attend, and PDub was dubbed the best man so no backing out of this one.  Anyway, once we boarded this smaller FinnAir plane, we sat on the tarmac for yet another hour because the Paris air traffic controllers were on strike (still not sure who directed us on the runway...do they hire amateurs and hope for the best?).  After 2.5 hours, a short nap, and some book time (Game of Thrones which supplemented my castle viewing later in the trip), we landed in rainy Helsinki.  From the airport, we took a thirty minute bus ride to the city center where we walked to Hotel Finn.

The first night of our trip.

     Now if you have ever traveled as long as we had (18.5 hours), by this point you are ready for a shower, a good meal, and a comfy bed, and we did all three in the best way that we could.  The shower was the bathroom, as in everything got wet (toilet, sink, toilet paper, trash can, etc); something completely new to PDub and me, but we got by.  Our dinner consisted of traditional Finnish food: a Long Drink (on tap at any restaurant or bar), a reindeer appetizer (these exist but don't fly, FYI) with a mushroom salad (reminded me of ham salad only with mushrooms), and pork with tar-flavored gravy (no, it didn't taste like blacktop).  After dinner, I crashed, and PDub worked on his speech, go figure.  There ends the longest day of my life.

The showertoiletsinkroom.

The Finnish Long Drink....very sugary!

Time Zones

     My family has lost all sense of time.  For the past 19 days, Maya has been trained to stay up into the wee hours of the night and sleep throughout the day, and PDub and I have been jumping time zones like they are going out of style.  Hence, why I fell asleep last night at 7pm and woke up this morning at 4am.  While PDub still sleeps and Maya follows me around our apartment with the heaviest of lids, I decide to relax on my little love seat, watch some music videos on CMT, and finally recover from my time hopping.
     You are probably wondering where PDub and I were, as well as our little pup.  Maya headed to Doubles Shark-Whisperer's home to hang out with her best bud, Phoebe.  Shark-Whisperer works nights; therefore, Maya had to alter to her schedule.

BFFs....We should probably get them friendship collars.

"Do you realize that it is 4am, and we are still not in bed? C'mon guys.....it's time."

It may appear to be a turd in the picture; however, that poop impostor is really Moose's arm that Maya amputated and left to suffer.  She loves toys and must have all of Phoebe's out. 

Snuggle time!!

Heading to the airport to reunite with the rest of the Dubs.

     PDub and I traveled from DC to Paris to Finland to Russia and then back to Paris and finally DC, over four different time zones.  Note: I can hardly handle daylight savings time, let alone large time changes.  We used planes, trains, buses, cars, metros, ferries, and most often our feet to get around.  From twin to queen to twin-shoved-together beds, from extremely small to extra large to public showers, from 5-star hotels to hostels to rented apartments, we barreled our way through Europe and created many memories along the way.  Over the next week or more, I hope to share some of these adventures and of course show you some pictures!

AAPL 2013 and My Parents' Visit

     My mom works as a landman for Shakespeare Oil Company based out of Salem, Illinois. Growing up, I had no clue what she actually did and was quite frankly upset that she had a man's job; come on, "man" is in the title.  Little did I know that it was not just a man's job; that's just a title, and although there are very few women in the field, there are land(wo)man.  My mom, in particular, has become a prominent individual in the field, and I envy the career she has made.  Sometimes I wonder if I will ever have what she has when I am her age.  I only hope that I will.
     So, what is a landman?  In general, a landman is an individual who usually works for an oil company, determines ownership of land and minerals, and then negotiates a lease to be able to explore and/or drill on a particular piece of land.  If it weren't for people like my mom, drilling on American soil would never happen.  Every year, her national organization, AAPL, holds its annual meeting, and typically (if I am good), I get to join my parents and enjoy the perks of this conference (city touring, food, booze, and fun company).  This year's meeting was held in Washington D.C., a short metro ride away.  Here are some pictures of the Opening Reception, after-party, and the President's Ball.

My mom and some of her colleagues.

My family headed to the Opening Reception.

My favs for the week.

The midwesterners....gotta love Illinois and Indiana!

At the Hotel Washington rooftop bar that overlooks the White House (bright building in background).

I felt like a proud parent taking pictures before prom (President's Ball).

My parents at the President's Ball. 

PDub and I in front of the dance floor.

How many drinks do I really need....rum and coke, water, tea, and wine.  I would say that's a drinking problem!

Enjoying our evening!

     After the conference was over, my parents stayed a day longer to spend time with PDub, Maya, and me.  One of the highlights during this time was our trip to Great Falls National Park.  We even brought Maya along.

My parents at Great Falls.  It had rained quite a bit, so the water looked really dirty. 

Adorable: Pops asked for Maya's leash several times, so he could be the one walking her.  They inevitably got tangled each time.