The long Scandinavian twilight summer nights peak today, June 21st. Swedish Midsummer Eve always falls on a Friday close to the old Midsummer Eve on June 24th. After long winters and slow springs, Midsummer is when Swedes head out to their summer cottages, invite friends over, eat herring, small fresh potatoes and strawberries, drink and dance all night long. If you are a tourist in Sweden, make sure you understand how closed down everything is and I mean EVERYTHING. Restaurants, coffee shops, stores, currency exchanges, and pretty much everything else. I got married on Midsummer day. One of the foreign guests had to borrow money for a taxi since they had not managed to get Swedish crowns. “I didn’t think it would be THAT closed”. Well, it was. Watch this if you don’t believe me!
This summer, I have the fortune to be working and blogging from Europe. Early summer is a lovely time when nature erupts with leaves, flowers and sweet scent of lilac and “hägg” (prunus padus).
Last week, I had the pleasure to to show my kids what a Swedish high school graduation looks like. The white caps “The Student Caps” originated among college students in the 1840’s to mark the affinity to their universities. At that time they were used daily, today they are rarely used outside of graduations and college ceremonies.
Happy Midsummer!
Elisabeth
