Midsummer Festival Time
I´m still in Sweden.
In fact, Friday is the Midsummer Festival, which takes place on the longest day of the year over here. Although, since every day that I have been here has lacked any darkness whatsoever, I am not entirely sure what to expect. One Swede informed me that the festival commemorates the potato harvest, another said it was the end of the season for making hay to feed the horses. However, most of the Swedes I have asked have simply admitted that they had no idea what the Midsummer Festival actually celebrated.
I have been invited to a ´traditional´ celebration during the day, which apparently involves dancing around a burning pole in the middle of a large field while singing old Croatian folk songs and drinking shots of the Scandanavian liquor aquavit. This odd event is then followed by a dinner of smoked salmon, herring and gingerbread cookies and a party at a golf course. I´ll let you know how that one goes.
I have now visited several castles around Lake Malaren and have hiked across some if its islands. I toured the Vasa – an old naval ship from the early 1600s that sank 20 minutes after leaving its dock for the first time. But it was then rediscovered 338 years later and raised to the surface, 97% in tact, its excellent condition attributed to the low level of salt in the region´s waters. Only in Sweden would they build a massive museum complex to proudly display what has to be one of the most embarrassing naval disasters of all time.
And so, as I continue to observe people purchasing ice cream by sending text messages on their cell phones and as I continue to contemplate why packages are delivered to the supermarket for pickup instead of to your home or the post office, I can not help reaching the conclusion that Sweden is an even stranger place than India. Honestly, nowhere else do people purchase such high quantities of bag-in-a-box wine.
But regardless, I do plan to remain in this quirky, yet lovable land until Monday, the day when I will jump on board the elongated yellow Swebus Express and travel across the country to Oslo. I will spend two days there before catching my flight back to the states, giving me a week and a half to mentally prepare myself for my stint back on board the ship.
And before I end this entry, I want to wish my sister a most happy birthday today!
Tags: Sweden
dbaron
I have to say that the boxed wine is the only thing in this post that doesn’t puzzle me – but I will say that the festival sounds a blast. Enjoy!