Midsommar in Sweden

Apart from Christmas, Midsummer, Midsommar, is the most important holiday in the Swedish calendar.  And for some, the very most important.  The successful Midsommar never-ending lunch party formula involves flowers in your hair, dancing around a pole, singing songs while drinking unsweetened, flavored schnapps and downing a whole load of pickled herring, still served with delightful new potatoes, chives and sour cream.  All in all, a grand day out!

Given Scandinavia's long, dark winters, it's not surprising that the arrival of summer is a big deal throughout the Nordic countries.  In Sweden, Midsommar's Eve is one of the most important days of the year, rivaling Christmas with its festive spirit and traditions.  Traditionally, Midsommar was celebrated on June 24th, the feast day of St. John the Baptist, but the holiday has its roots in a pre-Christian Solstice festival.  Rather than trying to stamp out such pagan festivals, the early Catholic Church found it useful to associate them with Christian celebrations.  Biblical sources suggest that St. John the Baptist was born six months before Jesus, meaning that his birthday could be equally conveniently associated with the pagan festival of Midsommar.

There were many festivals in Sweden this weekend.  Ljusne is fairly far from cities that would have really big celebrations, so Marion and I took the Hoffman kids to a nearby village, Maråker, to celebrate.  Here are some of the pictures from our outing!

 Maypole

Pretty ladies and girls with flower wreaths

Alisha and a friend 

There were lots of games for kids and adults

Yari and Erik (left) and Enno and Alisha (right) at the fishing booth 

This was a Nordic Cross Country Ski Race for a team.  There were two teams and one team never moved....the other team got moving but one of the team members fell out...Enno (red shirt) jumped in his place and they won!!

Here is the adult race....they really had teamwork!!

In the end, we went for a hot dog....in the US we complain that the bun is always too big for the dog, unless you buy longer buns....well in Sweden, it is the other way around!

Later we went to another Camping Ground, Stenö and the boys and Marion played mini-golf and Alisha and I went to the horseback riding event. 

 Look at this really neat old Scandinavian boat.

Hiking up the Hill to See the Hollywood Sign, I mean the Ljusne Sign

Marion, Enno, Yari, Ambra (dog) and I went for a hike to see the highest point in Ljusne and the Ljusne (Hollywood) sign.  It was kind of like climbing Pinnacle Mountain.  It was a great climb and beautiful views.

The Climb

Neighborhood Views

Ambra at the peak

Ljusnefors Camping

 Gulf of Bothnia, arm of the Baltic Sea

Enno and Marion

Meeting New People Every Day - GLADA HUDIK

Hudiksvall

There are so many different people who come to Ljusnefors Camping on the Ljusnan River, to camp, fish or just overnight.  There have been Finns, Norwegians, Swedes of course, Germans, Australians, Swiss, English, Czechs, Danes, French, Poles, etc.   Last night a large tour bus came with people from the Czech Republic and they were delighted that our host, Martin, speaks Czech.  

Marion and I had a day off and we took the train to Hudiksvall, which is north of Ljusne and Söderhamn.  We almost missed the train in Ljusne and had to run to catch it.  A 24 year old in great shape is much more able to run than a 67 y/o in so-so shape😐.  So glad the train personnel waited for me!

Hudiksvall is in Hälsingland, Gävleborg County, Sweden, pop: 15,016.  It's also known as Glada Hudik (Happy Hudik) because of its friendly hospitality and lively social life.  It is on the east coast of Sweden deep inside the bay Hudiksvallsfjärden (now you know exactly where it is!!)  The picture above is of the Fisherman Houses.  During the summer months, fishing would be done from one of the islands out towards the bay.  The women would row several kilometers back to Hudiksvall to deliver the fish to sell.  In the winter, the fisher families would reside in these houses.  This is the typical architecture and atmosphere of Sweden some 200 years ago.  Many have been turned into shops and restaurants.

We went down to the harbor and here are some pictures of the boats and the bay:

Some pictures from the town

Look at these beautiful artichokes

The Old Texas Saloon

Marion and I found a lake with many different birds and geese with lots of babies!

We took a bus to Malnbaden to see a recreational area.  It was really pretty.  School was out, so there were teens playing sand fütbol and swimming.

Loveletters in the sand

At the end of the day, Marion and I sat at an outside cafe to wait for the train!  It was a fun day!