In 1955, Ake Viking was a Swedish sailor who decided to relieve his boredom at sea one day by writing a letter. “To someone beautiful and far away,” he poetically inscribed it. After giving his home address and a brief description of himself, he added, “Write to me, whoever you are,” and signed his name. With that, he tucked the paper into an empty bottle and tossed it overboard. Two years went by, and upon his return from another voyage, he found a letter postmarked Syracuse, Sicily. The message was in Italian, which one of his shipmates agreed to translate. It was from a 17-year-old girl named Paolina, who wrote: “Last Tuesday I found a bottle on the shore. Inside was a piece of paper bearing writing in a strange language. I took it to our priest, who is a great scholar. He said the language was Swedish and, with the help of a dictionary, he read me your charming letter. I am not beautiful, but it seems so miraculous that this little bottle should have traveled so far and long to reach me that I must send you an answer.” Paolina and Ake exchanged photographs, and in 1958 they exchanged vows. The event attracted so much attention that 4,000 people celebrated their wedding. The couple remained married until Ake’s death in 2001.
