My Swedish Birthday

Grattis På Födelsedagen

For my birthday, I wanted to celebrate with friends and incorporate as many Swedish traditions as possible. To celebrate my 33rd birthday, I ended up having three celebrations. My first celebration was Friday evening at Ewa and Bartek's (who are from Poland) apartment. They had invited us over for a night of sampling Polish vodka. 

Cyle had brought a princess cake to celebrate my birthday (although this cake is technically an Opera cake as it is pink instead of green). 

A princess cake (prinsesstårta) is a traditional Swedish cake consisting of spongy layers of cake alternating with jam, vanilla custard and whipped cream. It is then covered with marzipan and dusted with powder sugar. 

The history of the cake dates back to the 1930s, when Jenny Åkerström published a cookbook, Prinsessornas Kokbok: Husmanskost och Helgdagsmat (Princesses Cookbook: Home Cooking and Holiday Food) that contained a recipe for a cake called grön tårta (green cake). Åkerström, who was also a tutor for the Swedish princesses, would often make the green cake for them as it was their favorite. Because of the princesses' love for the cake, the cake became known as the princess cake. 

Belle and her favorite friend, Natalie

I think Belle has a crush on Ewa and Bartek's son, Adam <3

Saturday evening, we met friends for dinner at Mondo's Tapas Bar and a night on the city. 

That evening happened to be culture night in Stockholm. To celebrate the city's history and diversity, all the museums, libraries, cinemas, clubs and attractions were all open until midnight and were free to visit. We chose to visit City Hall, which is where the Nobel dinner is held every year. 

Sunday, which was the day of my birthday, was spent together as a family. The morning began with Cyle and Belle cooking a delicious breakfast of French toast and fresh strawberries. At breakfast, Belle gave me the present she and daddy had picked for me. They got me a book and movie about the Vasa ship, which was a perfect gift for me. 

That afternoon, wanting to enjoy the sunny and warm day, we enjoyed a picnic lunch by the water before taking a boat tour of Stockholm. 

I couldn't have asked for a better (Swedish) birthday!

A Hole New Way to Fika

Dunkin' Donuts has arrived in Stockholm! We can now find American style donuts in Sweden.

Cherry Blossom Festival

Kungsträdgården (“The King’s Garden”), which is one of the city’s most popular parks, is home to the city’s biggest display of soft pink cherry blossoms. In 1998, sixty-three Japanese cherry trees were planted, a gift from Japan. To celebrate the gift and the blooming of the pink buds, Stockholm,in conjuction with the Japaense embassy, holds a cherry blossom festival. This year the festival was held on April 18. 

The festival allow the people of Stockholm a chance to get outside after being indoors after the long, cold winter, enjoy the warm weather, Japanese culture and each other's company.

A visit from Nana and Papa (Cyle's Parents)

In April, Cyle's parents made the journey to Stockholm to visit us, or should I say to visit with Belle! Therefore, it was not much of a surprise that most of their visit centered around playing with Belle. She was so excited to see them and never left their side. She loved going to the playground with Papa and story time with Nana.

Her favorite part of the book was making the horses go "clip-clop" and waving at the Queen 

Between story time and playground visits, we manged to show them the highlights of Stockholm.

Visiting the Royal Palace

The streets of Gamla Stan with City Hall in the background.

A trip to Stockholm wouldn't be complete without a visit to Ikea (and Belle got to try out her new backpack! ;) )

We attended a Medieval Festival with Mike and Allison.

Visited Drottingholm Palace, the residence of the King and Queen of Sweden

We enjoyed their visit, and Belle can't wait to see them more once we are home.

Easter Witches, Giant Eggs and Feather Trees- Happy Easter?

Glad Påsk!  Happy Easter

As usual, Sweden never ceases to surprise me with some of their traditions and celebrations, and Easter did not disappoint.  While there were many of the familiar traditions; such as candy, colored eggs and Easter egg hunts, I was thrown off when I started seeing witches and feathers tied to birch branches adorning all of the stores in Sweden. What?!?...what do witches have to do with Easter?  I was even more confused when Cyle's colleagues warned him to have candy on-hand as it is common for children to dress up and beg for candy the Thursday before Easter (much like we do at Halloween).  

Easter Witches

Many of the holidays that are still celebrated in Sweden have origins in the pagan times before Christianity came to Sweden. One of the more pagan traditions that is still celebrated is the Easter Witch. Folklore alleges that witches flew off on broomsticks to dance with the devil at a legendary meadow named Blåkulla on the Thursday before Easter (Maundy Thursday). On their way back, Swedes would light fires to scare them away, which is a practice honored today by the bonfires and fireworks that can often be seen throughout Sweden.

Today, it's a mix of old and new traditions as it is common to see children dress up in rags and old clothes, too-big skirts and shawls and go door to door with a copper kettle looking for treats (much like American trick-or-treating).

Påskris: Easter Twigs

Several weeks before the Easter holiday, I started noticing that every flower shop was selling twigs decorated with brightly colored feathers.  Soon, almost every home, store and restaurant had vases with the brightly decorated twigs.

Again, this is a tradition that is combining old and new elements of long-held customs.  In the 17th and 18th centuries, it was common to flog one another with birch branches to symbolize the pain and suffering of Jesus.  Starting the 1800's, the tradition of flogging disappeared and instead turned to more a symbolic decoration with the brightly colored feathers being a tradition that was imported from Germany in the 20th century.

I chose yellow feathers as I was told that was the symbolic color of Easter

Giant Candy Eggs

It is common for Swedish children to receive giant, decorated paper eggs filled with candy at Easter, and the eggs are often the reward at the end of an Easter egg hunt.  Rather than hiding dozens of small eggs, which is the tradition in America, Swedish children instead embark on a scavenger hunt with the paper eggs being their reward at the end.  

Seeing as Belle can't read or follow directions yet, we opted to give her Easter egg at breakfast.  

Belle was disappointed to find that instead of candy, her egg was filled with clothes.

Our Easter Holiday

For the Easter holiday, Cyle was off the Thursday and Friday before Easter as well as the Monday preceding Easter.  For Swedes, the long holiday provides a chance to go to their summer homes after the long winter to begin preparations for the upcoming summer months.  Consequently, Stockholm was almost a ghost town during the Easter holiday.  

To celebrate the holiday, we met Nico and Delfi at Skansen to celebrate many of the traditional Easter customs.

 While there, we shopped at the traditional Easter market,

sampled classic Swedish food,

visited the zoo with Scandinavian animals,

and enjoyed the views of Stockholm.

Easter Sunday, we met Michael and Natalie for an Easter Church service.  The church we attended was affiliated with the Church of England.  While we were not accustomed to many of the traditions associated with the church service, we all enjoyed the experience and message.

After church, we met Nico and Delfi for an Easter brunch.  The brunch had many of the traditional staples that are enjoyed by Swedes at Easter.  It wasn't much a surprise when we discovered pickled herring was at the heart of the Easter meal, but this time was accompanied with eggs with a variety of toppings including shrimp and caviar sauces.  Another traditional dish that we all sampled was 'Janssons Frestelse' which translates to ‘Jansson’s Temptation’. It is a creamy casserole including potatoes onions and anchovies.  We all decided we weren't big fans of this dish.

  

Like other Swedish holidays we have celebrated, it was fun to combine our American traditions while experiencing the traditions of Sweden.  It made for a fun and memorable Easter holiday.  

Glad Påsk from the Graber Family!