Scandinavia - Observations, Impressions and Reflections, Part I

Dear Family and Friends ---

At some point, I will blog a bit more about our two weeks on the National Geographic Explorer.  But right now I have some other things that I’d like to share with you all.

Art and I have been on our Scandinavian Adventure for over a month now, and so we have had plenty of time to make some observations, gather some impressions and do a considerable amount of reflecting upon the three fascinating countries that make up Scandinavia:  Denmark, Sweden and Norway (much to the surprise of many folks, Finland - while a Nordic country - is not a Scandinavian one).

Following are some of the things that have captured our attention and our imaginations while we have been traveling around Sweden specifically.  After I wrote them all down, I realized they have a common theme: families.

And that then led to this reflection:  we had heard and we had read and we then experienced for ourselves that the Swedish people are very reserved with other people they are not familiar with (even with other Swedes).  But their love for their families is obvious, and for a reserved people, delightfully very public.  It’s been a fascinating cultural aspect of Sweden that we have enjoyed seeing in person.

So here are some of our observations, impressions and reflections upon Swedish family life...

- Sweden's population is growing.  And one does not need to refer to their latest census to figure that out.  All one has to do is try to not trip over all the baby strollers...strollers on the sidewalks, strollers at the museums, at the restaurants, on the subways and on the water taxis. And the number of double strollers holding adorable little twin Swedes is staggering.  There must be something in those Swedish meatballs.

- Staying with the stroller observation, we saw more men pushing baby strollers than women.  That's no doubt thanks to Sweden's very progressive and generous shared parental leave.  Since I made a promise to Art that I would not write any dissertations in this blog, I’ll have to leave it to you (if you’re interested) to look up the particulars about the Swedish parental leave, but believe me, they're astounding (and well worth googling).

- Camping is very popular in Sweden and the emphasis is on the children.  Every campground entry in our Swedish camping guide lists that the campground is either "family friendly" or "child friendly."  To be honest, if we were here in Sweden to relax, we might be a bit put out at some of the less-than-peaceful campgrounds we've stayed in.  But we're not here to relax and get away from it all; we're here to visit Sweden and its people (which includes its children) and to absorb its family-oriented culture.  Hearing families having fun together has been fun for us.

- In a country that must endure a long and dark winter, it is only reasonable that the Swedes would celebrate the longest day of sunshine.  And celebrate they do, gathering their families together for a very special day.  Midsummer Day is a national holiday here in Sweden and legislation has decreed that it be celebrated on the Friday nearest Midsummer (what we would call Summer Solstice), thereby giving Swedes a three-day weekend (that certainly sounds familiar, doesn’t it?).

So on June 24^th, Art and I took the ferry and headed over to Stockholm's Skansen Park, a huge open-air historical museum and zoo.  We had heard Skansen was a popular place for Swedish families to celebrate Midsummer and so that was where we wanted to be, too.  It was packed with people (and strollers, of course) and it was easy to get caught up in the high spirits that surrounded us as we strolled around the park.

We noticed a crowd gathering and decided they knew something we didn’t.  Within minutes of our joining them, we were watching a lively procession.

The beginning of the parade of people that will raise the traditional Maypole

Fiddlers!  You gotta have fiddlers!

And children...it's not Midsummer Day without the kids!

Let the dancing begin!

I am sure that all cultures love a good picnic, but the Swedes seem to take picnicking to a higher level.

Look closely...this couple has everything needed for a successful picnic!

And Skansen Park is ideal for picnicking, with grassy meadows and fields everywhere.  

Would you like a little view with your picnic?

Cozy family picnicking at Skansen

After a truly wonderful day of celebrating Midsummer at Skansen Park with a couple hundred thousand of our new Swedish friends, we began to find our way out of the park.  While strolling through the Children's Zoo, we came upon a very colorful “decoration” draped over a fence.  Upon closer inspection, we discovered that it was a loop of pacifiers.  Absolutely needing to know what was going on here, we asked and found out that the Skansen Petting Zoo has entered into a “partnership” of sorts with Swedish parents.  When it is deemed appropriate by parents for a child to give up his or her pacifier (which, naturally, the kids do not want to do), the child – along with the beloved pacifier – is taken to the Skansen Petting Zoo.  There, the children are introduced to a bunch of adorable kittens (are there any other kind?), and the children are then told that these kittens sure could use a pacifier.

Shameless, yes.  But it works!

Next up, a tour of our "wee little motorhome."