Sweden has always had a special way of celebrating the advance of spring.
In the marketplace people buy bundles of birch twigs with fluffy and multicoloured chicken feathers. This are called “påskris” and are put in a vase.
Soon enough they burst into tender greens.

However, very few people recall the origin of this custom, or the fact that it is connected to Good Friday, which we here call “Lång Fredag” (Long Friday).
It is said that this sprigs symbolized the scouring of Christ.

In times past, people used to get up early on Good Friday and start whipping each other with birch twigs. This is however, quite luckily, a tradition that has now died out.
But the custom of eating “Fettisdags Bullar”, os Shrove Tuesday buns, has not.

Tuesdays in Lent, and Shrove Tuesday in particular, people rush home to eat them, unless they feast on them at work, or on they way to work, from work…you get the idea.

Shrove Tuesday buns are sliced and filled with marzipan and whipped cream and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Very yummy!
They are preferably served in soup plates with hot milk, but many people, yours truly included, eat them as is.

Here is a picture if you would like to see.

Each year, on the first Sunday of March, the longest and toughest skiing competition in the world takes place in the province of Dalecarlia.

The origin of the Vasa race is based on a political even which took place in the 16th century.

In such times, Sweden was at war with Denmark. After the invation of Denmark upon the Swedish south a young nobleman by the name of Gustav Vasa, was determinate to fight of the Danish. (For personal reasons mostly, his family had personally suffered in this trying times)

When Vasa realised he would get no support from the poor Swedish peasants, he decided to flee to Norway.
Wearing snow shoes he made his way through the deep forests towards the Norwegian border, meanwhile news of the Danish cruelty towards the Swedes reached the people of Dalecarlia which made them changed their minds about helping Vasa and sent a group of skiers after him to persuade him to turn back.
This men managed to reach Vasa near the border, whereupon he agreed to return with them to Mora.
In the course of time Vasa was recognised as the Swedish liberator and was proclaimed king.

Four hundred years later, in 1922, the Vasa Race was first run in memory of Gustav Vasa.
During this first race the skiers were 119 in number. Now a days the number reaches 12,000 skiers each year, not counting the other 8,000 that participate in the “Open Track”, which takes place three days before the actually Vasa Race.

Lucia.

Early in the very dark morning yesterday, I got up to watch the Lucia train.
As everyone is Sweden does on this day, December the 13th, we all sit in church to hear her sing.

Already before she is visible, the Lucia song is heard at a distance,coming closer and closer until she appears in a long, white robe with a crown of candles on her head.
She is escorted by a following of girls dressed in the same manor but without the crown. They hold a single candle in their hand.
Behind them,boys follow with tall pointed caps, also dressed in white, holding stars in their hands followed by the "ginger attendants" sing.
This last ones are dressed in brown with a tall hat carring a tray of coffe and "Lucia buns" (Lussekatter) and ginger biscuits.

Lucia originally came to Sweden from Syracuse, where she was a saint in the days of the Christian Persecutions.
She appeared for the first time in Västergötland (in the south of the Sweden) at the begining of the 19th century.
Now a days Lucia is celebrated in the whole of Sweden, whithin the family circle, in work places, schools, hospitals...whereever you find people,you find Lucia.

It is quite wonderful actualy,this is the one day when you know that X-mas is coming near.
You wake up at six to get ready for church, on the way there you see a Lucia and her party singing in the shopping center...there are tiny girls dressed as Lucia, or her followers, walking on their way to school.
Its just brilliant!

You see Lucia's all over town, singing on the train when you are on your way to work (or in my case the Royal Library after church), in fact there were some in the vestibule in the library when I got there.
Now I cant seem to get that damn song out of my head...

"Lucia kommer här..." etc etc etc.
But at least the X-mas spirit seems to be in the air now...I guess the X-mas tree is coming up today,just have to run out in the cold snow to get one, hihihi!

So...while Im on this great mood...a Merry X-mas to you!