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Midsummer in Sweden is a popular holiday weekend, with Midsummer Eve always celebrated on a Friday, which is not officially a public (bank) holiday, but generally treated as such a day anyway. Traditionally it is celebrated with people gathering in the afternoon and/or evening to play and dance around a pole decoraded with leaves and flowers. City centres are practically deserted, while the coast and anywhere near a lake is likely to be crowded.
Sometimes in the past I've visited afternoon midsummer celebrations at our museum park with old cottages; but not since the pandemic. The only photo I'm able to find just now is this one below, from 2014 (possibly even older).
They had a similar event in that park this year too, in the afternoon of Midsummer Eve; but I was tired and did not feel up for neither the walk there and back again, nor for mingling with a lot of people. Although this weekend hasn't really been excessively hot, I still soon get enough of being out and about during the hottest hours of the afternoon.
What I have been enjoying this weekend though, is the (relative) quiet that comes with quite a few neighbours being away... Not all of them: there have still been kids playing in the nearby football field until late in the evenings. But, for example, a wall-to-wall neighbour and their 'menagerie' (consisting of a frequently screeching bird + a sometimes howling/barking dog) have been away for four days, and that does make a difference...
And a general fire/barbecue ban (because of the drought) also means no one has been throwing parties on the lawn just outside my building.
My own balcony is still way too hot all afternoon, though, so I've not been out there much except to water my plants (usually late in the evening).
The flowers in the top photo, with the flag, are not mine; it's a photo I snapped during one of my walks. They belong to an apartment complex (condominium kind) down by the river.
Yellow water lilies are in bloom in the river itself.
Before the weekend, I bought some ice cream. My vegan favourite when I can get it is vanilla ice cream made from oats (brand called Oatly). Not only because they sometimes come with "questionable words of wisdom" hidden under the lid... ;-) The other ingredient in the glass above is a mango/passion sorbet (of other brand). - What's your favourite?
15 comments:
The celebrations you describe, and in the photo of people dancing, look like great fun. Questionable wisdom, ha ha. I used to favor rum raisin ice cream when I bought ice cream; now I buy ice cream bars for portion control, not so many flavors but much enjoyed by me.
Terra, most of the year I try to resist keeping ice cream in my freezer, because I know that "if I have it, I eat it"... For summer heatwaves and special occasions/holidays I sometimes allow myself to make exceptions from that rule, though! ;-)
I have not had ice cream for over 6 years, being off sugar. if i were eating it I always go for French Vanilla, never had mango sorbet or even seen it. i do love lime sherbert, might be similar. I enlarged the dancers and inspected their costumes. very intersting, I would be where you were, away from the crowd taking photos of the crowd. the flowers that are not yours are beautiful and look so good with the flag. sorry about all the heat. happy you have some peace from noisy neighbors.
This celebration sounds like what we call May Day here, on May 1st. I have seen this Oatley ice-cream here in all the drug stores. Seems like it would have quite a bit of fiber. My fave flavors are chocolate chip and mint chip.
Oatley products are very popular in Germany. O.K. usually buys their „milk“ for his coffee, but I don‘t think I have ever had their ice cream.
It‘s been in the low 30s here, and apart from the wedding we‘ve been to all Saturday, we have not done much this weekend.
In the past we've likened your Midsummer celebrations to Mayday (1st May) in the UK.
Normally I'm not a great fan of ice cream and there is rarely any in my freezer, but this very hot weather is a good excuse for one or two bars. My favourite is salted caramel, but right now I have Nuii - a box of six, with 3 Australian Macademia and 3 Nordic Berry. They are ideal because they are a very small size.
Sandra, looking it up I learn that the difference between sorbet and sherbert is that "sorbet contains no dairy whatsoever, while sherbet contains a little cream or milk to give it a richer, creamier texture". The sorbet (and I suppose also the sherbert) does contain sugar, though - so you're probably better off with your own mix with fresh/frozen mangoes as you've blogged about... :)
Ginny, yes, I'm guessing your May Day and our Midsummer celebrations probably have the same origin if one goes back far enough in history. (Much too early in our climate for that kind of celebrations on May 1st though...)
To call the Oatly ice cream rich in fiber is quite an exaggeration, I'm afraid. (Checking the carton: 0,8 g per 100 g...) It's vegan (so dairy free and thus also lactose free) but I'm not sure it's all that much healthier in other respects (like sugar content).
Meike, as I'm lactose intolerant I also eat their "yoghurt" made from oats in the mornings. I also use oat "milk" (but another brand) instead of regular milk. Unopened, these oat products also keep for months in the fridge, which makes it easy for me to stock up when I'm shopping with home delivery.
Carol, as I also replied to Ginny above, I believe your Mayday tradtions and our Midsummer are probably of common origin.
I never keep ice cream bars at home but sometimes buy one when I'm out walking in hot weather. As I'm lactose intolerant and allergic to nuts, that narrows my choice down quite a bit, though. I usually stick to just vanilla with a plain dark chocolate cover - which experience tells me is ok together with a lactase tablet...
Rum and raisin in a cone from the kiosk on the beach and salted caramel at home in the freezer. Love the idea of questionable wisdom!
It's rained all day here so far so it's good to see your sun as a reminder of the weather we've been having too. I like vanilla whippy ice cream and lemon sorbet. I'm very boring and predictable.
They're smart but sneaky - taking advantage of the fact that it's hard for people to make wise decisions when it's hot... ;-)
Nothing wrong with knowing what one likes, Graham! :) (It's the ones who can't make up their minds that cause the most problems in the queue...)
I thoroughly enjoy learning of other countries traditions. Thank you so much for sharing yours. The photos are lovely! My favorite ice cream is pralines and cream.
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