Summer for Midsummer

Last weekend was Midsummer, a long weekend and the big summer holiday in Sweden. We spent all day Friday with some friends. In the morning we went down to the fishing village of Kåseberga. The weather was absolutely perfect: mostly sunny with highs in the 70s and a slight breeze. Wildflowers bloomed on the hillside. A group of accordion players performed traditional music, and we ate fresh fish for lunch.

After lunch, we had ice cream then we walked up to Ales Stenar. I've always enjoyed that place--the view and the history. I like to imagine how the place has been used over the centuries, and undoubtedly the summer solstice was an important occasion. This time I particularly enjoyed the variety of activities going on there. There were para-sailers, a group preparing for a wedding, tourists from a variety of countries, and cows. Yup, they use cows to keep the grass low, but cows always seem to introduce a bit of whimsy to the situation, especially since some of the tourists were scared of them.

From here, we drove to a traditional Midsummer celebration. We were running a bit late, so we stopped instead in Skillinge. Here there was live music and some of the traditional dancing, but it was just audience participation (no folk dancers). Most people chose to just watch, and the participants were mostly children (and sometimes their mothers).

This didn't last long, then we went across the street to the Baltic Sea. It was a rocky beach, and the water was cold, but my daughter and the two other girls went in. The older kids (all boys) and men engrossed themselves with skipping stones.

We went back to our friends' house where we ate the traditional dinner: beer, snaps, several varieties of pickled herring, boiled new potatoes with sour cream and chives, meatballs, small sausages, bread, strawberries, and whipped cream. Considering that I don't eat strawberries or herring, it's a good thing that I really liked the potatoes.

The girls played in the hot tub, and the boys went in and played computer games. Later we had the peanut butter brownies I made with coffee and tea. For me, this was the highlight of the menu, and I think most of the others really enjoyed them too. When it was well past the girls' bedtimes, we sent them in to watch TV, and the adults got a turn in the hot tub. I think this was the first time in ages that I got truly warm all the way through. At first my feet tingled painfully. Eventually even I got so warm that I had to stand up. We had a lovely end to a lovely day and got home around 1 AM.

Budapest, day 9: Berlin on the way home

It was a shame to have to leave Prague so soon. We'll definitely have to go back some day.

Road construction had forced us unto a detour through a rather scenic canyon area in the Czech Republic, and I was looking forward to going through there again on the way home. However, the detour in this direction took us through a different mountainous region. It was also very scenic and a nice drive. I found it interesting that the landscape was mixed industrial and agricultural even quite far from any towns. On the German side of the border what we saw was either agricultural or urban.

We decided to go into Berlin for a late lunch since my husband had never been there. I'd been there with a friend last December, but we took a bus there and paid no attention to highway navigation. I had a map book which was excellent for navigating the highways between towns, but showed Berlin only as a yellow blob. Following the signs for "zentrum" didn't work too well. I thought I was aiming for the former west-Berlin as we exited the freeway, but we passed an airport with clearly Eastern European architecture, so I must have been wrong. The worst thing was that there was some sort of street fair going on there, and most of the streets were closed without any warning. The streets were lined with cafes, but there was no chance of parking. None of the other cars seemed to know how to get around this either, so we eventually went back to the freeway.

This time I decided to try for Charlottenburg. I didn't make it there in December, but I thought it might be a nice place to find lunch and be able to park the car. This time I was right. We found a lovely cafe on a quiet tree-lined street. We were also thrilled to discover that they even had a special asparagus menu. Based on what I'd eaten in the US, I thought I wasn't particularly fond of asparagus, but the Germans have wonderful white asparagus that they know how to prepare so that it isn't the least bit stringy. Yum!

After lunch we took a quick look around the outside of Charlottenburg palace, but we didn't stay long since we didn't want to risk missing the ferry which goes once every other hour from Rostock. As it turned out, we got to the ferry about an hour early, but especially considering that we didn't have reservations, it's good that we didn't take any chances. We finally got home in Sweden around midnight.

The media frenzy reaches its culmination

After many months of hype, I had completely lost interest in the Royal Wedding, yet when it came down to it, I found myself in front of the TV anyhow. My daughter is obsessed with Crown-Princess Victoria because they share the name, and since she's with her grandmother today who's TV doesn't work, I agreed to record the Royal Wedding for her. I could have just started the recording and turned off the TV, but I found myself strangely entranced.

Victoria's dress was incredible, and she and her Daniel looked so happy. The gowns, the jewels, the tiaras... I didn't think I cared, but I was impressed. (Link to pictures--obviously not taken by me.)

They say 500,000 people packed the streets of Stockholm to catch a glimpse of the happy couple. Around the country, people were having wedding watching parties. I imagine they ate their official royal wedding chocolates, with the official royal wedding cake and official royal wedding pastries. They probably also burned the official royal wedding candles and cleaned up with the official royal wedding dish soap. Between the marketing and the media hype, it will be a relief when all this is over.

There's been a lot of debate in Sweden about the continued existence of the Royal Family. Is there a place for royalty in modern society? Clearly this wedding cost a fortune, and there's plenty of other causes worthy of the taxpayer's money. I think the monarchy is a lovely celebration of the nation's history, and they do well representing Sweden to the world. They also free up the prime minister to do his job instead of attending events all over the world.

In a perfect world, the royal family would be self supporting instead of taxpayer financed. They have a lot of properties, some of which generate some tourist income. I do wonder if it isn't time for them to put more effort into generating income and possibly sell some of their assets and invest the proceeds. But even if they don't, I do think Sweden benefits from the Royal Family, and that these benefits outweigh the costs.

Budapest, day 8: on to Prague

Now we were really on our way home from Hungary. We left the same way we had come, but this time it was sunny instead of dumping rain, so we got to see a bit more even though we didn't leave the highway. However, as we drove through Slovakia, the clouds got darker and darker. Soon we were driving through a series of some of the heaviest cloudbursts I've ever encountered. Fields were flooded and rivers were almost up to their bridges.

This continued on an off until we neared Prague. Amazingly, they had very appropriate signs.

We'd booked a room at a Best Western on the outskirts of town. It was surprisingly cheap for a "four star" hotel. We'd stayed at a three star hotel in Dresden which was really nice, but this was more like a motel. That didn't matter, because we weren't there for long. We took a bus to the metro and into town.

We hopped off the metro briefly at the Museum district for a quick look around, then we took the subway the rest of the way to the river. We walked across the bridge and up the hill to the castle.

The view was incredible, but what really impressed was the gothic cathedral. I'm totally into gargoyles, and this cathedral had the best gargoyles I'd ever seen. There were all possible species: wolves, cats, wild boars, dragons, birds, and even humanoids. I'd love to go back and photograph them all.

We walked back across a different bridge in search of dinner, and ended up at the old town square where we had some absolutely wonderful goulash in bread bowls.

After dinner we walked until we were exhausted. The metro station wouldn't take Euros or plastic, so we eventually resorted to taking a cab back to the hotel.

Budapest, day 8: Communist Park

One last thing that I'd wanted to see in Budapest was the park to which all the communist era statues had been exiled. I'd read that it took 4 different buses to get there, and the guide confirmed that it would be an all day outing. I'd asked the concierge about driving there (since we did have a car after all), but he said it was hard to find, and if you missed a turn, you'd end up on the highway and have to go 60 km before you could turn around. He recommended that I take a taxi. I'd already concluded that the concierge and taxi drivers were working together, so I put this thought on hold.

Now that we were actually leaving Budapest, I decided to find out if this place was on our way out of town. As luck would have it, a different guy was on concierge duty, and he was very helpful. The place was indeed on our way, and he copied his map book to show us how to get there and how to get on the highway again afterward. He also gave us excellent specific instructions about what lane to be in at what point to not accidentally end up on the highway. I'd already learned that the signs were totally insufficient, so it was really good to have the instructions.

As we were loading up our car, a man came out from the shop that we'd parked in front of. I was afraid he'd chew us out for having parked in front of his store for a week (as far as we could tell that was legal, and we certainly weren't the only car parked there). Instead, he said in a broken mixture of English and German, "Sorry. House fell on car. I cleaned up." I thought we'd parked in front of one of the few buildings in Budapest that didn't have bits of plaster falling off of it, but I guess the storm blew loose some debris. The antenna was broken, but otherwise it didn't look that bad at the time. Later when the sun was on the car, we could see a bunch of scratches.

We made it to the Momento Park without difficulty, and it was really interesting. It would have been even better if there had been text explaining the statues and perhaps the context of their original placement, but I think a lot was self-explanatory. They also had a small but informative exhibit on the history of the fall of communism in Hungary.

One of the things that my communist walking tour guide had told about from her childhood was frustration that even the flowers had to support the party. These red star flowerbeds were apparently everywhere at the time, and I was glad to see one here.

Budapest, day 7: my turn as guide

My husband and a couple of his friends were free after lunch, so we decided to do some sightseeing together. The weather was lovely, and after all the eating and sitting they'd done all week, they were ready to walk. Earlier in the week I'd asked the concierge how to walk or take public transportation to the Citadel. I could see it on the next hill, so I figured it couldn't take more than an hour to walk there. Unfortunately he said it would take 3 buses to get there, and when I suggested walking, he responded like I was crazy. He said it would take hours and suggested I take a taxi. After waiting a few minutes for the taxi in miserable weather, I'd decided to postpone the trip, but now was the perfect occasion. With four of us, splitting a taxi was reasonable.

The reason I wanted to go to the Citadel was to see the series of photos showing Budapest every decade between 1850 and 1950. These were interesting, and the view was fantastic. For guys who hadn't seen much of Budapest during the daylight, this was a good place for them to start. This place had been a fortress in one form or another since Roman times, and they had some anti-aircraft guns on display. Also at the Citadel was the Lady Liberty statue which was given to the people of Budapest by the Soviets to celebrate their liberation from the Germans. When the communist era ended, the statue was wrapped in a white sheet, splashed with red paint, and thus re-purposed.

One of the guys had to go back to the hotel, but we had plenty of time, so we walked back from the Citadel. It took only 35 minutes to walk to the base of the Castle District, and even with all those stairs, it couldn't have taken him more than 15 minutes more to get back to the hotel. The rest of us crossed the chain bridge (the guys admiring the engineering) to Pest.

We were thirsty, and it was getting to be snack time, so I suggested finding the famous Cafe Gerbeaud. Most of the many coffee houses in Budapest had been closed during the communist era since coffee houses were where people went to conspire, but this one remained for the benefit of the tourists from Germany and the rest of Eastern Europe. This one truly was amazing. The ambiance was fantastic, and the cake was to die for. The thing that drove me crazy was the water. I don't particularly like mineral water, and the stuff in Budapest really tasted like wet rocks even if it didn't have bubbles, so I ordered ordinary water. Once again, it was served in a shot glass! I asked for more water, and I was given another shot glass of water with a dirty look from the waitress.

I took the guys for a walk around Pest, recapping much of what I'd seen on my walking tours. My husband noticed some interesting architectural details that I hadn't paid much attention to. The neoclassical relief images on the sides of buildings all glorified the hard-working proletariat instead of Greek or Roman decadence. After a light dinner at an outdoor cafe in front of the cathedral, we headed back to the hotel. They guys walked, but since I still had my transit pass, I took the metro and a bus. I was surprised that the guys made it back to the hotel only 10 minutes after me.

Studenten!

I'll take a break from my vacation recap to catch up on what's been happening here at home.

The day after we got home from our Budapest trip, my mother and stepfather arrived for their three-week long visit. They've done this several times, and it's a wonderful way for them to spend some time with their granddaughter. They've rented a house in a nearby town, so it's pretty low key. We've done some sightseeing and eaten plenty of "fika."

On Friday we were invited to our neighbor's daughter's graduation. I've never been to a Swedish "studenten" before, so this was an interesting experience. My daughter especially enjoyed hanging out with the big girls: the guest of honor and her sisters. They babysit for her every now and then, and she idolizes them.

Studenten was not at all like an American high school graduation with its endless speeches and people getting their names called one by one. Families and friends gathered outside of the school in groups under signs with embarrassing pictures of each student when they were little. We could hear faint singing from inside the building, then suddenly the graduates ran out and filled the stage. They did this as a pack, so only the few students in front were visible.

They sang a few drinking-type songs, and that was it. They dispersed to be congratulated. People hang stuffed animals, bottles of champagne, or bouquets of flowers around the graduate's neck. In order to protect their clothes from all this, they wear a special plastic apron.

After this, they divided up into their classes and piled into hay trailers behind tractors. There was more singing as they drove laps around the school. It was an absolutely lovely sunny day, so we got quite warm before they were done with this. More hugs and congratulations, and the graduates each got into fancy vehicles for the ride to their family parties.

We stayed at the neighbor's party until about 10 PM. At some point after that, she left to rejoin her classmates at their party.

Budapest, day 7: Last Chance

Friday was our last day in Budapest. My husband would be free from his meetings after lunch, so I only had the morning to get to as much as I could of what remained on my list.

I took the subway to the city park and hero's square which were recommended by the guide from the communist tour. Hero's square was very impressive, but what really caught my eye was the castle in the park. It was originally built for Budapest's millennium celebration in 1896 as a tourist attraction. Each tower of the castle was built in a different style, each from famous building somewhere in what was then Hungary (including Transylvania, which is now in Romania).

Perhaps even more interesting than the architecture was the fact that they were preparing a bunch of market stands for what seemed to be a children's day. I had to wait while they got set up, but I was eventually able to buy some interesting candies. There was even an entire stand devoted to marzipan. Needless to say, I bought some of those too.

From there I planned to go to the House of Horrors, a museum about the Nazi and Communist periods. The guide had also told me about this, and thought I would find it interesting. Based on the name alone, I hadn't even considered going to this place, but now I really wanted to see it. It was just a few stops away on the metro, but for some reason, I couldn't find the metro station. In retrospect, I should have gone back to the park and the metro station that I came from, but I was sure I was closer to this other station. I followed some locals through a series of underpasses and ended up at a trolley station. An older woman saw me studying my map and said something in Hungarian. I pointed to the metro station, so she got out her glasses, studied the map, said something and pointed to where people were waiting for the trolley. The trolley arrived momentarily, so I got on, thinking it would take me to the metro station. It didn't. I took another trolley back to where I first got on the trolley. I went through the underpasses again, expecting to come up where I left the park except on the other side of a busy street. Wrong again. I tried to orient myself above ground and eventually ended up at a trolley station again. By this time I figured out that the trolley line was perpendicular to the metro line, but which side was I on now? I asked a teenage girl who looked at the map and pointed. Back at the start again, I asked a man who had also just gotten off the trolley. Again, he didn't speak, but it turned out he was going the same way, so he pointed the way, and I finally found it. There were no signs at all. I noticed that once one gets out of the tourist areas, signs are scarce.

By this time, I realized that I would only have half an hour at the museum, so I decided to go back to the hotel and eat lunch with the guys. Next time I'm in Budapest, I'll have to make sure to make it to the House of Horrors, and maybe the underground labyrinth in the castle district too.

Budapest, day 6: Budapest by Night

While I've tagged along with my husband to these standardization conferences before (Montreal and Miami), this was the first time that I was invited to a couple of the dinners. The deal was that I'd take some pictures for them. Sure, I'll work for gourmet food!

On Tuesday, there was a big dinner for everyone with a buffet at the hotel. It was quite good. Of course I was particularly enchanted by the enormous selection of desserts, and I did my best to try as many as possible.

On Thursday night, there was a more exclusive dinner at a fancy restaurant. The main course was duck, which I'm not that thrilled with, but the salad was good, and the soup was excellent. It was a cream of wild mushroom soup with toasted hazelnuts. Normally I'm not that big on nuts, but this was a wonderful combination. The dessert was also very good--something I'm beginning to expect with Budapest.

After dinner, we were to have drinks on the terrace overlooking the city. Much to the restaurant manager's horror, someone had put up a fence blocking off the area with the view. There was a sign on the fence, but it didn't make any sense in English or Hungarian. After quickly downing their drinks, all the guys with cameras squeezed around the fence to take pictures. Seeing that they were still alive, I joined them.