Germany

Friday morning had Evan and I riding our first train in our travels. All went well and Emelie, the girl I used to work with, took us back to her home in Velbert, Germany. There we celebrated, Midsummer, along with her family and and a few friends. They are native to Sweden so we had a feast filled with various Midsummer Swedish traditions. We ate a variety of dishes of veggies, breads, cheese, and fish. The meal was accompanied by songs that the entire family joined in on...Evan and I tried our best to keep up. Keep up not only on the songs but on the shots of vodka that they passed around to cheers to at the end of each tune. The amazing dinner was finished with strawberries and cream. After the dinner we (all of the ladies) danced and sang around the maypole, the centerpiece of Midsummer celebrations, then played a German card game that even we could understand.
The afternoon and night flew by, but is was a great time. It doesn't get much better than dining outside, laughing and cheering, all while being submerged in two new cultures. Throughout the night the German and Swedish language was used just as often as English and I could have listened to it, even without understanding, for days-it was enchanting!!