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Published: April 10th 2014
Spring has arrived in Sweden! Though the weather has been
mild since my move here, longer and warmer days have people peeling off woolen
layers and moving their café chairs to chase the sun! I am certainly no exception.
Helsingborg takes great pride in brightening the town with
seasonal decorations. The lights and candles that lit up Christmas are long
gone, but now the streets have enormous planters filled with tulips and
daffodils. And going along with the Swedish tradition around Easter, bright
feathers attached to branches take center stage in various squares.
Beyond the tradition of feathers, Easter in non-religious
Sweden has sweet buns filled with cream, semla
lining the windows of every bakery. Little girls will evidently dress up as
witches and knock on doors where they will be shooed away with an appeasement
offering of a treat. Many of my students mentioned that they were looking
forward to Easter egg painting and hunts, so some traditions are familiar.
A few weeks ago, a
teacher friend from Colorado, Faye, came
out to visit for her spring break! What a treat! We did a little exploring of
Copenhagen upon her arrival. We stayed in another Air BnB than I had the
previous time. This gave me another starting off point and perspective of the
city. We stayed near the lakes and loved walking along them as we headed out or
home from the day. As she had a friend who lived in Copenhagen, we found
ourselves in a hip bar receiving insider tips on how we might spend our next
day in the city. We started the next day with a boat tour on the canals, dined
on exceptionally delicious French fries, and then made our way to Helsingborg.
As I had to work, Faye filled her days with runs around the
city, and far into the countryside around it!, a trip to the Louisiana Museum
of Art, and to Helsingor to see Hamlet’s castle.
To take advantage the weather and my free time in the
weekend, we decided to take the train
to Gothenburg. Again, we found an Air BnB
with a wonderful host complete with suggestions on how to enjoy our days there.
That Saturday, the sun was strong and the air warm, so after enjoying lunch
outside, we rode a tram to the outskirts of the city to catch a ferry. We
headed out in the archipelago with no clear image of where we were
heading…which became clear when we hopped off the ferry at the wrong island.
Whoops! At least we now know what life is like on a tiny little Swedish island!
Once we made it back to the city, kind locals at a coffee shop directed us to a
great bar. Sunday proved mellow as much was closed for the season. I can
certainly imagine returning in even warmer weather to camp, kayak, hike and
wander in the Gothenburg region!
Mostly life here in these last weeks has involved appreciating
the budding trees and sunny flowers. Saturday I head off on a little trip to
visit with friends from my yoga teacher-training program! This will be my first
visit to Bonn, Germany. I am hoping some
cherry blossoms will remain, though I
have missed their peak. We will then head to visit the other woman in
Amsterdam! Again, my fingers are crossed for fortunate timing to appreciate the
tulips!
Hoping this finds everyone happy and healthy in these
glorious days of spring!
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Mom/Jane
non-member comment
I thought you already had your wings!!! Great picture! Mom