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!

A trip to Disney.....Paris

It is has been a long-held spring break tradition for the Hurts and Grabers to go to Disney World.  I thought I would never meet another family who was as Disney crazy as I am.....until we met the Hurts.  Therefore, we couldn't pass up a chance to visit a Disney park together.  Disneyland Paris was only a short train trip from Paris and truly turned out to be a magical day.

 

Park Disneyland

We kept the visit a secret from Gretchen and Bo; instead we told them that we were going to a museum that would only be interesting to the adults for the entire day.  Needless to say, they weren't looking forward to that day's activities.  We only revealed to them our true destination once we were standing outside of the gates.  Their reactions were priceless; Gretchen started crying and Bo was really excited. 

Disneyland Paris consists of two parks.  Parc Disneyland, which is the first park that we visited, is similar to the Magic Kingdom.  Just like the Magic Kingdom, it consists of different themed lands and has many of the same rides.



It's a tradition to always stop and get our maps before hading to the park.

 Just like at the Magic Kingdom, you enter onto Main Street U.S.A.

Sleeping Beauty's castle is located in Disneyland Paris.

 On our way to our first ride of the day...It's a Small World for Belle

Waiting in line... 

Wasn't a fan of the ride :(



Gretchen and I enjoyed it

We had barely conquered Parc Disneyland when we realized that to be able to see both parks, we needed to leave and see some of Walt Disney Studios.   This park was very similar to Hollywood Studios as it's focus was on Disney movies.

Gretchen and Bo were excited to go there as it had the Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster.



Toy Story Playland takes you to Andy's back yard where the toys from Toy Story are there to play with. 

La Place de Rémy mini-land, which is like a “Streets of Paris” area based upon Ratatouille.  While I didn't have time to ride the ride here, I enjoyed walking around and exploring the gift shop. 

 

Please pick me up!

At the end of the day, we were all exhausted from our fun-filled, magical day.

The Hurt Family's European Vacation- Paris

After spending half a week in Stockholm, we continued the Hurt's European Vacation in the city of lights, Paris.

  

Belle is ready to go to Paris

Belle's usual way of traveling...zzzzzz

We began our Parisian experience in a French restaurant where we dined on traditional French food.  Doug was the most adventurous one and ordered escargot.  Belle was happy with her pomme frites.

While on our way back to the hotel, we quickly understood why Paris was called the City of Lights.

The Paris Opera HouseThis is the Opera House where Phantom of the Opera takes place

While in Paris, we were able to see all the highlights of this beautiful city.

  

Belle getting ready for a day of sight-seeing

 Cyle and I began our tour at Montmartre.  Located on the right bank, the views from the top of the hill were amazing.  We felt like we could see all of Paris.

Atop the summit of Montmartre, is the beautiful Sacré-Cœur basilica.  

After walking around Montmartre, it was time to meet up with the Hurts.  

Waiting for the subway

Belle's subway tickets

One of the biggest items on our to-do list while we were in Paris was to visit Notre-Dame Cathedral.  I've now seen Notre Dame several times, but every time I see it, it still takes my breath  away.  Notre-Dame was built alongside the Seine beginning in 1163. Restorations and alterations have been made since, but the cathedral still has a similar appearance as when it was first completed in 1345. 

After touring the cathedral, we passed a crepe stand and couldn't pass it up.  

I had a Nutella crepe...it was delicious.

Walking along the Seine.

The Pont de Arts bridge, also known as the "Love Lock" bridge.  A couple writes their names on a padlock and locks it onto one of the bridges. They then throw the key into the Seine River as a symbol of their undying love.  The only way to break the seal of love brought on by this love lock act is to find the key and unlock the padlock, which is almost impossible as the keys are at the bottom of the Seine.

We did not have a lock to add to the bridge.

For lunch, we sat outside and enjoyed ham and cheese paninis.

Our next stop was to visit the tomb of Napoleon at Les Invalides.

This picture was taken atop the Pont de l'Amla bridge, which is the bridge where Princess Diana was killed in a car crash.  The monument, the Flame of Liberty, is a full-sized, gold-leaf-covered replica of the new flame at the upper end of the torch carried in the hand of the Statue of Liberty. 

We of course had to see the  Eiffel Tower.
  

Another must-see on our list was the Palace of Versailles.  The palace of Versailles was the center of political power in France from 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in October 1789 after the beginning of the French Revolution.  The palace was meant built to impress, and it does not fall short of its goal.  

Train ride to Versailles

Belle had to be put in the baby bjorn carrier for our tour of the palace

I’m going to start by saying Versailles is not the most pleasant of places to visit. It’s crowded...Very crowded.  The weather that day was cold, windy and rainy, and we had to line up for 45 minutes to pass through airport-like security to enter the palace.  By the time we got to the palace, we were cold and wet.    If you overlook the crowds, the Palace of Versailles is as regal and lavish as you could imagine. Enormous canopied beds, exquisite artwork, marbled walls, and gold in every direction you look. It’s easy to see why the French felt resentful of the privilege enjoyed by the aristocracy, passionately beginning a revolution.

The Hall of Mirrors

While we were in Paris, we enjoyed some fabulous French food and wine.  However, I was thrilled to find a Chipotle.  I love Mexican food and cannot find good Mexican food in Sweden, so Chipotle tasted exceptionally good.  It was funny because the whole restaurant was full of Americans who were living abroad and wanting to find a taste of home.