Tour Bus, Highway, Sweden
June 25, 2017

We woke up to a quieter day after a high energy midsommar’s eve. We began with contemplative sight singing of Da Pacem and Nu Grunskar Det (one of our Swedish songs) while observing long boats come to shore for the Midsommar Service. It’s quite a fascinating tradition watching these very old boats slowly approach us with people wearing their traditional Swedish clothing.

Once at the shore, we moved to the church to sing the prelude in the Rättvik Church (kyrka), built in 1200. The midsommar holiday is high point of cultural and religious celebration in Sweden. Families from different villages wear their traditional clothing with designs specific to their town. The choir loft was filled with orchestra, a organ, and choirs. It was stunning to behold.

Unprepared to play the organ, Abby did not have her organist shoes. She made due though!

After lunch, we trekked into town (in the rain!) and went to the only two open shops- the artisan souvenir shop and the ice cream stand. Both did a good amount of business with us.

The longest pier in Scandinavia is right in Rättvik, so after ice cream we made our way over to check it out. It’s long!

The rain comes and goes in waves here. In one of the sunnier moments, almost all the girls took a dip in the lake. Fun fact: the lake was created by a meteorite almost 400 million years ago. The water is pretty shallow almost a kilometer in, only coming up to your knees.

After a quick dinner, the girls changed into concert attire and ran rehearsal for our evening concert. The run came out for just enough time to take some photos with the beautiful scenery.

Our concert was well attended! It’s a joy to share our music with the Swedes, especially the American folk songs and spirituals. We feel lucky to have the opportunity to sing in such beautiful venues with such a rich history.

We enjoyed post-concert sandwiches and sang for our host and dining staff. A round of happy birthday for our friend Mathais as well!

We are so grateful for the wonderful hospitality we received here in Sweden on this unforgettable tour.

We’re back on the bus back to the Stockholm airport now and will be home in Philadelphia in about 16 hours! We’re ready to be reunited with families but certainly are not looking forward to the Philadelphia summer that awaits us! It’s been comparatively chilly here but we aren’t complaining.

Thank you for following us while on tour! We’ve had a phenomenal time here and we loved sharing it with you. Tack!