Montana Wedding

Friday, Sep 18: We ate breakfast at our motel in Missoula, then Kathleen, Amy and I drove the 100 miles to Glacier International Airport in Kalispell to meet Jay and Danielle. The five of us piled into our rental SUV, stopped for lunch and some beach time in nearby Whitefish, then drove 45 minutes west to Star Meadows Ranch, where Niky and Dom’s wedding was being held. We settled into to our comfy A-frame in the woods, then went down the winding gravel road to a welcome campfire, where we caught up with family, made a few new friends and ate s'mores around the large fire pit. Map link: Star Meadows Ranch

Our cabin’s shoe problem

Bonus Question: What is an interrobang? (answer at end of post)

Saturday, Sep 19: After a morning Zumba dance session for Kathleen, Danielle and Amy, we all attended a pre-wedding brunch, then relaxed at the A-frame until it was time to put on our fancy clothes for the ceremony. My brother, Matt, was the officiant—he did an incredible job and was coincidentally celebrating his 34th wedding anniversary with his wife Sue, who walked Niky down the aisle with her dog, Shadow. The ceremony was held outdoors overlooking a stunning valley, in front of about 125 guests. After Niky and Dom exchanged vows and rings, it was time for photos, cocktails, dinner, speeches and dancing. There was an after party that included more dancing and mechanical bull riding, which surprisingly attracted riders of all ages; from under 10 to over 60. 

Hard-boiled eggs from Niky’s chickens

Sunday, Sep 20: We were all awake by 7:00 AM, got dressed and went down the hill to the main pavilion, where leftovers from yesterday’s brunch made for a decent breakfast. We said goodbye to Niky and Dom and families, stopped for lunch, groceries and some beach time in Whitefish, then drove another 20 miles to our rental cabin in Coram, outside the western entrance to Glacier National Park. The Airbnb owner’s directions through the crisscrossed, backwoods roads made no sense and we got lost—thankfully it was daylight and a friendly construction worker nearby helped us out, and we eventually found the way to a cozy, secluded modern cabin, with a lovely front porch. We grilled burgers and vegetables for dinner, watched the sunset behind the mountains and slept well in the comfortable beds. 

 

Bonus Question Answer: An interrobang is a non-standard punctuation mark that contains a question mark and an exclamation point. It is used at the end of a sentence to express both a question and surprise, disbelief or excitement. That’s amazing, right?!

Helena and Missoula, Montana

After only three days at home, most of it helping my mother at a transitional care unit after a hospital stay, we traveled to Northwestern Montana for our niece Niky’s wedding. Everything went smoothly on our afternoon flight from the Twin Cities to Missoula, and we quickly had our luggage and rental car, checked in to our motel, then drove 115 miles east to Helena, the state capital and seat of Lewis and Clark County. The indigenous Folsom people lived here more than 10,000 years ago, while the first Europeans were residents of an 1864 gold mining camp, many of whom prospered during Montana’s gold rush. Originally called Last Chance Gulch, the growing community was renamed Helena, in honor of Helena Township in Scott County, Minnesota, where many early settlers had come from. Today the city of 32,000—the fifth smallest state capital—still produces gold, silver and minerals, with government, healthcare and outdoor recreation contributing significantly to the economy. We arrived in Helena around 6:00 PM, and the capitol was closed for the day and undergoing major renovations to its exterior, making our selfie a bit disappointing. We did a walk-by of the beautiful Saint Helena Cathedral, modeled after the Votivkirche in Vienna, Austria, then ate dinner outside at Old Salt Outpost, near Last Chance Gulch Road, where the original gold strike was discovered. Map link: Helena, MT. We drove back towards the setting sun to Missoula, where we picked up Amy at the airport and spent the night. 

Bonus Question: Without blank tiles or bonuses, what are the highest scoring two-letter words in Scrabble? (two possible answers, see end of post)

Missoula, population 75,000, is Montana’s second largest city (Billings is the biggest), and lies on the Clark Fork River near the confluence of the Blackfoot and Bitterroot Rivers. Lewis and Clark passed through here in 1805 and 1806, but the area wasn’t settled by Europeans until a trading post was established in 1860; called Hell Gate Village, after nearby Hellgate Canyon. In 1865, while still part of the Washington Territory, it was renamed Missoula Mills, after the dominant flour and lumber milling operation—“Missoula” was the Salish name for the Clark Fork River and Mills was eventually dropped. Unlike Helena, it was never a gold rush boom town, and gained steadily, until the arrival of the Great Northern Railroad in 1883 accelerated growth. In 1893, the University of Montana was founded here, in a compromise agreement that awarded the capital to rival Helena. Norman Maclean’s 1976 semi-autobiographical novella A River Runs Through It was set in and around Missoula, as was the 1992 Academy Award winning film adaptation directed by Robert Redford. 

We took a short driving tour around Missoula, stopping at the attractive university campus and enjoying the city’s beautiful scenery—I couldn’t help thinking that much of it remained unchanged and we saw exactly what Lewis, Clark, Maclean and Redford did. 

The University of Montana. Source: umt.edu

Bonus Question Answer: ZA, slang for pizza, and QI, a Chinese life force, are both worth 11 points in Scrabble.

Malmö, Sweden

Wednesday, Sep 9:  Amy, Kathleen and I went to brunch down the street at Cafe Grannen, then we explored Malmö with Mathilda, our host and guide. With a population of 365,000, Malmö is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Göteborg, and is a thriving commercial and industrial center, directly across the Öresund Bridge from Copenhagen, Denmark. Map link: Malmö, Sweden. 

We took a bus to the more modern section of downtown, then walked to the old town and it’s attractive cobblestone square, where we grabbed a drink at an outdoor cafe on a beautiful early autumn day. After that, we walked along the paths and canals to Malmö Castle, a 16th century fortress built by King Christian III of Denmark that is now a public green space, art and history museum and aquarium. 

Malmö Castle

The HMS U3, a Swedish submarine on display
at the Malmö Museum

Amy and Mathilda made us a delicious stir fry for dinner, then Amy opened her canned German Black Forest cake that she received as a gift from her friend Laura’s aunt. After dessert, Kathleen and I were introduced to the Moomins, an animated cartoon series based on the stories and picture books of Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson. Watching the hippo-like troll family was a popular diversion for Amy and her classmates during their two-year masters program. 

Thursday, Sep 10: See Lund, Sweden post link: September 11, 2026

Bonus Question: We adored the sing-song lilt of the Swedish language, but didn’t learn much of it. Mathilda taught us a few fun Swedish words that mean something totally different in English. Match the following Swedish words (A-D) with their English translations (1-4), (answers at end of post):

Swedish    English

A. Fart        1. Dot

B. Slut        2. Good

C. Prick      3. End

D. Bra        4. Speed

Friday, Sep 11: While Mathilda was working, we explored more of Malmö, on foot and by paddleboat through the city’s canals. We ate lunch at Toppgrillen1, a small falafel place that we stumbled upon. My hip was sore, so I went back to the apartment, while Kathleen and Amy rented bicycles and visited the beach and waterfront. Amy and Mathilda made us dinner again, followed by more Moomins cartoons.

St. Paul’s Church in Malmö

The Twisted Torso, an apartment building
rotated 90 degrees from bottom to top 

Saturday, Sep 12: See Simrishamn, Sweden post link: September 13, 2026

Sunday, Sep 13: Our alarm went off at 3:00 AM, we dressed quickly, then met our Uber driver outside to go to Triangeln Station, where we caught the 4:08 AM train to Copenhagen Airport (CPH). Our British Airways flight from Copenhagen to Heathrow was on time, but problems with the airline’s London caterers delayed our American Airlines flight to Chicago O’Hare by 15-20 minutes. In Chicago, we cleared immigration and customs and rechecked our bags, then had to go through TSA security again before flying home to Minneapolis, arriving home around 4:00 PM, after 20 hours of travel.

Bonus Question Answer: Fart = Speed (A-4), Slut = End (B-3), Prick = Dot (C-1), Bra = Good (D-2).

Simrishamn, Sweden

On our last day in Sweden, we took a train two hours east from Malmö to Simrishamn, to attend the Annual Herring Day Festival (“Sillens Dag”), where Mathilda was staffing a table promoting her employer’s edible seaweed startup. Amy and Mathilda left earlier to setup, while Kathleen and I arrived around 10:30 AM, with hundreds of people already enjoying the stalls and exhibits selling crafts, cider, and of course, herring: pickled, canned, smoked, fried and baked. 

Simrishamn, population 6,500, is an adorable seaside town located in the southeast corner of Sweden, on the Baltic Sea. Dating back to the 12th century, it has historically harbored one of Sweden’s largest fishing fleets and is a popular tourist destination. Map link: Simrishamn, Sweden

Bonus Question: What musical instrument name becomes another musical instrument when an “f” is added to the front? (answer at end of post)

We walked among the vendors, who effortlessly switched to English to accommodate our complete lack of Swedish language skills. We ate local seafood and ice cream for lunch, then wandered into town, stopping at the 800-year-old Sankt Nicolai church, which has a definite maritime vibe inside and is named named for Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors and fishermen. 

After the festival ended at 3:00 PM, Mathilda took us on a tour of her nearby office and lab, then we caught the train back to Malmö. Amy and Mathilda went to a party at Mathilda’s sisters’s in town, while Kathleen and I ate our last dinner in Sweden at Fregatten (“frigate”), a neighborhood pub serving Polish food.

Bonus Question Answer: Lute becomes flute.

Lund, Sweden

Kathleen and I woke up in our attic room in Malmö, lounged around for a bit, then went downstairs to Mathilda’s for breakfast with her and Amy. The four of us took a bus to Lund, 30 minutes to the northeast. Established by Vikings around the year 990, Lund was part of Denmark until 1658, when the region was ceded to Sweden. We strolled through the modern part of town, then stopped for morning fika, Swedish for “coffee break.” On our way to the Lund Cathedral, which towers over the town, we discovered an interesting meditative labyrinth set into the courtyard. Map link: Lund, Sweden

Bonus Question: What is the difference between a labyrinth and a maze?

Outside the cathedral, we stumbled upon a very powerful exhibit, called We Have a Dream. In its 10th year in Scandinavia, this traveling display—excerpts from a book with the same name—highlights the courageous stories of people who overcame barriers such as racism, sexism, religious persecution, prejudice, wars and human rights abuses to make a difference. It was incredibly moving, and I think that we all read every word of the 58 stories on display, featuring people such as the Dalai Lama, Malala Yousafzai, Quincy Jones, Patti Smith and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Built in the 12th century, the Romanesque Lund Cathedral is a beautiful church inside and out, and we particularly enjoyed the fascinating 14th century astronomical clock and the underground crypt. 

We Have a Dream exhibit 

Astronomical clock and perpetual calendar

Lund Cathedral underground crypt

We next strolled through Lundegard Park, briefly checking out Kulturen, the local history museum (we didn’t go in), then ate lunch at Coffee Break restaurant. After our meal, we toured the prestigious Lund University, founded in 1666, and one of the largest universities in Scandinavia, with an enrollment of 45,000. We stopped by the beautiful University Library, then visited the school’s design and sketch museum, where we learned that the Southern Sweden Circus Festival was in town, and there would be a a free public show that evening in a nearby plaza.

Runestone outside the Kulturen history museum

Lund University Library

On our way to see the circus show we walked through the 20-acre Lund Botanical Gardens, which is owned and operated by the university and has been at this location since 1862—the original garden dates back to 1690. Then we stopped at Ramklints pastry shop for an afternoon fika before attending the free circus performance. The show featured an acrobatic troupe that combined strength and athleticism as they balanced on ladders and each other. We caught the train back to Malmö, where we got take-out poke bowls and ate them while watching the Moomins, a Scandinavian animated series. 

Bonus Question Answer: Labyrinths have a single, continuous path to the center, while mazes have multiple branches and dead ends designed to get you lost.