Glad Midsommar!

It's a weird feeling walking out of a dark dance club at 3am and watching the sunrise.  

Also Brexit happened.  But today is Midsommar.  There are too many other things to do than dwell on the implications of Britain's leaving the EU.  The Swedes will consider that tomorrow.  

This morning the strawberry cake was topped and flowers were put out.  When it was time, we donned our white dresses and headed down to the field to dress the maypole and make our flower crowns.

Our strawberry cake :)

Then the rain came.  Which is apparently expected on Midsommar.  What I didn't expect was the sharp temperature drop and the strong wind that came with it.  We were all shivering, but we stuck it out, and finally it was time to raise the Midsommar pole and dance and sing the traditional Swedish Midsommar songs (I didn't sing for obvious reasons).  The main one is små grodorna (small frogs).  In Svenska: 

Små grodorna, små grodorna är lutiga att se. Små grodorna, små grodorna är lutiga att se. Ej öron, ej öron, ej svansar hava de. Ej öron, ej öron, ej svansar hava de.  Kou ack ack ack, kou ack ack ack, kou ack ack ack ack kaa. Kou ack ack ack, kou ack ack ack, kou ack ack ack ack kaa.

Which translates to in Engleska... 

Small frogs, small frogs, they are funny to see
Small frogs, small frogs, they are funny to see
No ears, no ears, no tails have they.
No ears, no ears, no tails have they.

Kou oh oh oh, kou oh oh oh,
kou oh oh oh oh kaa.
Kou oh oh oh, kou oh oh oh,
kou oh oh oh oh kaa.

Up it goes

There it is

No one is sure exactly where this song came from.  But everyone young and old knows the lyrics and jumps around the midsommar pole like little frogs.  Traditions are incredible.  

We headed back up the hill for a late lunch of sill (it's ok but not my favorite - really unique, fishy, vinagery, weird taste.  It's pickled Herring), potatoes (of course), salmon, watermelon (they have yellow watermelon here)...  My favorite part of lunch was the three desserts.  All of them with jorgubbar (strawberries).  I love strawberries.  

We sat at a loooong table outside (everyone had gone to get their sweaters), and as we were eating the sun decided to break out from the clouds and honor the weatherman's predictions of 28°C and sunny for midsommar.  We all took our sweaters back off.  

I somehow was talked into trying Swedish snaps (another singing tradition followed by taking a shot of very very strong liquor).  Anja and I took maybe a quarter of the actual amount, and it nearly knocked me out of my seat.  I spent the next 2 minutes eating potatoes  panickedly and drinking bubbly water to try and lift the taste out of my mouth.  Everyone was very entertained because they finally got an expected reaction from me when trying something "typical Swedish."

Vanessa, Vendela, and I with our flower crowns after lunch

Lunch was a long affair that lasted until it was dinner time, and then it was time to head to the Kneippbyn Krogshow and Swedish dinner buffet.  I tried some little bites of everything, but I couldn't put much more food in my body. 

The show was spectacularly entertaining.  Though it was mostly in Swedish (really hard for me to follow lol), the 6 entertainers were so engaging that sometimes I felt like I knew what was going on.  They put on several different acts (I was too busy watching to remember to take pictures of each costume change) over the course of the evening and worked from about 7 until 10:30.  Their stamina was incredible.  There were so many people there to watch that the hall felt a bit like a sauna and I was sweating.  I can't imagine how they felt. 

After the show ended, we sat out on the porch of the restaurant and watched the sunset (kinda - there was a little bit of an orange glow in the sky all night I'm pretty sure).  Then Vanessa decided it was time to head to town and take me to the club.  

After the show off the back porch of Restaurang Solsidan (Sunny side)

Now, many of you know that is not typically my preferred scene, but it was interesting and Vanessa had fun with one of her last days off before she starts work.  So I'll say it was worth it.  We danced (I mostly bobbed) our way through all 3 floors, each with a different "theme": the first floor was top 40, the second was hiphop and rap, and the top floor was an odd mix between techno and both the other categories.  Each had too many strobe lights and too many people.

At 3am, when all the bars closed we joined the melee of Midsommar celebrators that spilled out into storatorget (the main square) to wait for cabs home.  The sun is up now, and it's hard to go to bed, but I'll be useless tomorrow if I don't at least try.  

Outside of Gutekällaren (the club we went to) at 3am

God morgan :)