Swedish National Day!

Hooray for Sweden! Today June 6th is Swedish National Day. Not quite on the level of craziness as when in the US they celebrate 4th of July--no fireworks for example, or thrown rocks. But then again, Swedes have Midsummer to look forward to. Maybe they are just better organizers.

We went out to enjoy the last day of Smaka på Stockholm and the first day of Love Stockholm 2010. (Maybe we're not such bad planners?) For some reason, even though we are students and have a lot more free time, we decide to go out to events like this on the weekends when they are most crowded. Today wasn't full-scale elbowing people out of the way crowded... But it had it's moments. In any case, we are experiencing some of the best weather of the year so there was a definitely Live and Let Live vibe. For those of you playing from home, Stockholm in June feels like DC during the Cherry Blossom Festival. And it's perfect.

We took a long walk today. From about noon until 5pm we were out of the house and in the festival grounds. Mostly, it was just bluer and yellower out doors with Swedish flags everywhere. But I didn't notice too much overt celebrating... That is, except from... Anne. She proudly wore her yellow and blue t-shirt with a plaid dala häst that of course we bought in Seoul Korea. Naturally.

Smaka på Stockholm was a wonder food fest. And it was great people watching with all sorts of people there from soccer hooligans in jerseys to Indian families in saris. Anne went for a mango chicken wrap but I was happy to have the grilled meat from Aftonbladet. With lemon pepper. I also like that you can order a beer without anyone having to forget that you're an adult (even though Anne did get carded). That is, no silly armbands. I could just order and enjoy responsibly. Also, I liked the irony of being able to choose a Budvar. Americans are used to Budweiser, but Budvar is the real deal.

wikipedia it, go ahead. You know you want to. I'm just feeling too cheeky to paste a hyper link. Ok, I'll do it. See what I mean? Amazing irony, because Anheiser Busch does not taste like that beer, but its usually all Americans can get at large outdoor sponsored events requiring armbands to order beers. And they call Sweden Communist. I digress...

So, it was a beautiful day, and there were horses. The city's getting ready for the royal wedding which I think is silly, but Anne is all about it. But it was cool to see a parade. Made it feel like a real national day to me. Without a parade... It'd just feel wrong.

So, here's Anne demonstrating poor purse awareness, like they warn you about with the looming yellow hand in the posters in the subway. Sorry, but it's my post, dear.

And, that's all. We had a beautiful day!