Mid Summer

The summer solstice is particularly important in the northern countries of Europe… no doubt this is directly related to a distinct lack of light for a large portion of the year coupled with freezing temperatures, 4-5 months of snow, frozen lakes and seas…. brrrr… I’m probably the only one in Sweden that is actually looking forward to it!

Mid summers is a big holiday in Sweden, a practise run for the long holiday period really. Although termed mid summers, it isn’t really mid summer at all (despite being the summer solstice), but a time when weather patterns settle and the short but warm summer period begins (well, in theory at least). It is a prelude to schools breaking up a few weeks later and most of the country cashing in their long annual leave entitlements and disappearing for months at a time, only to return when the days truly shorten and the excitement of the oncoming winter is experienced by only a sole deranged New Zealander.

In Stockholm, families flee to their holiday homes on the archipelago, mow and weed the erratic spring growth, paint walls, dust down the cupboards, stock them with supplies, make lists of building materials and supplies needed and slowly return to work the following week in eager anticipation of their annual summer migration several weeks later. We were lucky enough to be invited to be part of this ‘prelude’ and stay at the Pehrson family collection of summer homes on the beautiful Island of Blido in the northern part of Stockholm’s archipelago. While Karin rode her bike and the rest of the family drove, Tina, Ana and I took the slow route – the ferry, from downtown Stockholm. We arrived early on Thursday morning, the bus strike (yes a strike in Sweden) not curtailing our efforts to get there by 9am to get a good queuing position in what was to be a busy boat with families heading out to the Islands for the long weekend. We would have been a bit stuffed if the train drivers hadn’t cancelled their strike the evening before, which would have potentially curtailed all our weekend plans; however the train drivers pulled the plug on their planned action enabling our carless family access into the city. Incidentally, the bus drivers were still on strike one week later. Riots and strikes in the space of 5 weeks, maybe Sweden isn’t the harmonious society we were led to believe?

Anyway, I digress. Despite the long line of overloaded prams, cycle trailers, bags and families, there was room to stretch our legs on the boat as it started its two and half hour journey through various inlets of the Baltic Sea stopping at small wharfs and jetties, ejecting people and goods and collected others in replacement. From the boat we could admire the idyllic looking holiday houses - some mansions, some more modest abodes, and the calming effect of green forest meeting blue water, fluttering Swedish flags and boaties of all shapes and sizes darting in and out of maze of islands had us looking forward to the long weekend. It seems no one is really sure just how many islands there are. Some are big, some are so small a solitary tree takes up the entire surface area, while others aren’t even big enough for this. But take a look at a map of the Stockholm archipelago and it is mind boggling. Various sources list 10,000 to 30,000 islands in all. All this in an area of about 100 km by 50 km.

The ferry stopped at the small wharf at Bruket (our destination on the Island of Blido) just long enough for us to extract ourselves and our gear and the small pedestrian ramp was actually pulled out from underneath me as I took my final step onto solid ground… keeping to the ferry timetable obviously the essence of the occasion.

From Bruket, Karin was waiting for us, and we walked the narrow country lane through the forest before we turned off onto a dirt road which become smaller, narrower and rougher and more infested with mosquitoes until we finally reached the end. We had reached the Pehrson posse of holiday homes, a collection of three beautiful wooden houses surrounded by large gardens and bordered by the surrounding forests. The mosquitoes took one look at the fresh city folk and went to work!

The main celebrations kicked off the following day. After a leisurely breakfast (everything was leisurely on Blido) flowers were picked and taken to a large open grassed area where they were attached to a maypole. With cross bar and circular rings of leaves and flowers, the pole lay flat on the ground until the celebrations later in the day saw it hoisted into the air, it’s phallic stature, meant, I assume, to promote virility among the populus.

Tina, Ana, Karin and Anna - One of the many fikas on Blido

Island Walkway

One of Pehrson holiday homes. Not too shabby for a hand-built  job

 However, before the celebrations kicked off it was time for a traditional lunch of pickled hearing and assorted condiments. The extended Pehrson family and few foreign imports (us included) munched away in the early afternoon sun before three o’clock rolled around and families from around slowly started migrating to the pre-arranged gathering place where fika was held before births and deaths since last mid summers were announced, the maypole raised and the real celebrations were ready to kick off.

 

On our way to mid-summers celebrations

Now, in a lot of the world it would be time for the adults to start drinking heavily for an evening of boozy entertainment. What I really like about Sweden, well at least to what I have been exposed too so far, is that it is very family orientated and in what is arguably Sweden’s biggest national day, alcohol did not seem to play too much of a role. Perhaps that is simply what we have been exposed too so far, but the afternoon really centred around the children. A small band played while traditional songs were played and the community danced around the maypole while those not inclined to dance or too tuckered out by too much dancing, sack races or tug-o-war competitions, simply lay on the grass and drank coffee. To say Ana enjoyed herself would be an understatement and by the time we had returned home, eaten a late dinner, bounced (or were bounced) on the trampoline by half a dozen kids a lot older than her for an hour, she virtually collapsed onto the bed at the site of it despite the sun not even giving the faintest hint that it was going to go down that night.

 

Dancing around the Maypole

The following few days revolved around taking fika, swimming, a spot of boating and having a pretty relaxing time all around. Just what we needed after a month of settling into our new lives. Stockholm, work, and the tax office all seemed very far away. It amazed me that the houses we were staying in were practically all built by the family. Karin explained that although on the face it, months idling away on Blido every summer seemed like paradise, the reality was that all through her childhood, the were practically always building; there was always a project on the go. It is hard to believe looking at the houses. Practically the only help they got was the milling of the wood from the trees cut down on the property. The buildings were all at least double glazed, the more modern ones triple glazed, people don’t believe me when I tell them they still build single glazed buildings in New Zealand. It seems the art of building is passed down from generation to generation. If you want a house built, I would recommend getting a Swede to do it.

 

Boating - a favourite Swedish pastime

Island fika spot

Back in Stockholm, we are now living with Karin’s mother until we can move into our apartment. A few more trips to Norway loom for me, to Germany for Tina and Ana, and then come mid-July we move (hopefully for the last time this year) back to Rissne where we can unpack our meagre possessions for the last time and our shipment from New Zealand will arrive and we make a home here.