Today is Santa Lucia and children everywhere in Sweden are honoring the faithfulness of an Italian woman and martyr, Lucia. Lucia’s Story—The real stuff The year was 283 and Lucia was born to rich noble parents. Lucia’s father died when she was just five years old and in an attempt to look after Lucia, […]
There’s no place like home for the holidays… Many people interpret home differently when they become adults. For me, home is wherever my family is. However, the definitions for both home and family have changed over the years. With each stage of life, they take on new meaning and I’ve shifted into different roles. When […]
Midsommar is usually a bitter-sweet celebration for Swedes. The weather is just starting to warm up and it finally starts to feel like summer weather after a long May of cold, dreary rain with average temperatures in the 6-11 C (43-52 F) range. What’s worse is that every Swede you talk to has some sort of Farmer’s […]
In a recent New Yorker article, How to Eat Candy Like a Swedish Person, the general public learned about Sweden’s (limited) obsession with lördagsgodis or “Saturday candy.” Messages about this article flooded my inbox with questions like, “Is this true?” and “Do you really only eat candy once a week?” I’ll admit that this has […]
Feed the Baby Hummus is the newest book to hit the shelves that dives into international practices related to bonding, soothing, and nurturing babies. Pediatrician, Lisa Lewis, MD, gathered all of the cultural practices related to behavior and development, nutrition, and building immunity and presents it in an easy-to-read format for mothers everywhere. We can […]
Don’t try to say “växtförsäljning” three times fast unless you are from a Scandinavian country or unless you want a tongue twister challenge. Växtförsäljning translates simply into “plant nursery” and our local nursery sells wonderful plants, bushes, and trees during the year and converts into a Yuletide haven during the third Advent weekend. This Christmas […]
Continue to live vicariously through our journey to various Christmas Markets in our Swedish town and beyond. So far, we have traveled north to Sigtuna, and Gävle, and stayed closer to home to Wira Bruk, and now Länsmansgården. Länsmansgården is an old mid-18th century property featuring a manor and two-story cottage built in 1743. The […]
Gävle, Sweden is famous for this oversized straw goat. It’s only famous because vandals burn it down every year much to the sadness of the townspeople of Gävle. Or are they really sad when the goat burns down? It is hard to tell, exactly, because on one hand, the goat is a main tourist attraction. […]
Wira Bruk is an old iron works village that was active back in the heyday of Sweden’s superpower era when they were cranking out weaponry as fast as they could. It’s the site where the King’s weapons (read: swords) and townspeople received tax credits for supplying Sweden with iron goods. Visiting Wira Bruk is like […]
Steninge Slott’s Julmarknad is always a fun trip out to Sigtuna, Sweden. The Christmas market is housed in the stone barn behind the 17th Century palace and the interior is stunning. The vaulted ceilings of the barn give it an airy atmosphere and illuminated advent stars hang from the ceiling begging to go home with […]