Sweden's National Day

June 7, 2009

in Cultural differences,Stockholm,Travels

Similar to my American 4th of July, June 6th is the day to wave, wear or carry your Swedish flag. In essence, the day celebrates the election of King Gustav Vasa, an event which is considered to be the foundation of modern Sweden. To see what was going on, we cycled around town to check out the various events that were happening in chilly and gray Stockholm. At Skeppsbron, we saw the self-described cocktail orchestra, a ballroom dancing and singing couple and the marine corp band. Blue and gold were definitely the colors to wear, so my black cycling jacket was not quite the thing on this day.  At Kungstragarden, we saw a cooking demonstration and a big band performance with a singer who crooned everthing from dankeschon to” son of a precher man” in Swedish. It was all pretty entertaining. And I was even given a Swedish flag just in time to wave it to King Carl Gustaf as he drove by in an open carriage with Queen Silvia. Feeling very Swedish by this point, we topped off the evening with a  drink outside at the very Swedish restaurant Sturehof.

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