valborg: an inside look at the swedish celebration of spring

happy may day, friends! we survived valborg (see the post the other day to find out what valborg is) and had a great day! the weather people forecasted a crappy day of on + off rain and chilly temps. but. it was gorgeous! super windy, but beautiful. seeing the sun shine + blue skies on valborg is exactly what i asked for.

we started pretty early by packing all of booze in backpacks and riding our bike to lina’s brother’s place for the traditional champagne + strawberries breakfast.

morning-bike-ride

and there they are! now valborg has officially begun!
champagne-strawberries-valborg

cheers! let the festivities start!lina-and-me-valborg-2015

breakfast = pizza, chips, candy, sandwiches, veggies, beer, champagne, wine. yes. this was at 9am. love it!valborg-breakfast

just one of many, many skåls (cheers!) of the day
cheers-valborg

we moved out to the balcony. enjoying conversations, silly times, laughter, and just hanging out. even though we’d been drinking (and eating) for about 4 hours, i found myself having some deep conversations more than once. that’s how i roll. hehe.balcony-party-valborg

sibling-in-law love!jonas-me-borther-in-law

sometime mid-afternoon we left the apartment + headed to a park where we could hear a traditional, famous men’s chorus sing in traditional, well-known spring songs. swedes are seriously into their songs/hymns that talk about spring, flower, blue skies, the forests, sunshine, warm weather. it’s major business here.concert-park-valborg

blue sky + sunshine as we sat in the park with the cathedral steeples towering over us.cathedral

picnicking! picnic-valborg

wine-to-go. so smart + easy to carry aroundwine-picnic,-park-valborg-me-lina

have i mentioned the amazing weather?!blue-skies-valborg

after a while, we decided to leave the park + wander onward. a pizza place for a little food. and then, to another one’s apartment for more hanging out time together.golden-hour-valborg-uppsala-friends

lina and i excused ourselves from the party about 8:30 + headed to the castle to hear another choir sing more songs about spring. we were no where near the only people there. uppsala was still filled with people in the parks + on the streets enjoying the coming of spring.moon-castle-valborg

everyone’s singing along. everyone except me. i gotta learn the lyrics!moon-over-castle-valborg

after 9, i twas still light out. but, the sun was setting. we slowly headed home, soaking up the atmosphere + the energy that was still all over the city.valborg-suset

what a beautiful, fun, fantastic day. hooray for valborg! hooray for spring!

onwards + upwards! xoxo

2 thoughts on “valborg: an inside look at the swedish celebration of spring

  1. Wow, great post. I love these information about other culture and traditions. Your pics btw are awesome. Thanks for sharing.

    1. Thank you so much, Cecilia! I am grateful for your visit to my blog and for your comment. 🙂

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