Coming To Scandinavia

Say hello to the Easter tree.

Actually, it’s not a tree at all but a collection of long willowy twigs with yellow feathers attached. This is the traditional Easter decoration here in Sweden. Easter, or Påsk as it is known, has some, er, “different” traditions associated with it.

If you’re cruising to Sweden or just visiting, knowing how the nation celebrates holidays helps you prepare for the Swedish mentality. (It’s also useful to know how Sweden celebrates Christmas, but that’s another story. Quickly, however, on Christmas Eve, the whole nation — I’m not kidding, all Swedes, those stylish, sleek, sophisticated people — sit down at 3 p.m. to watch Kalle Anka, which are — now take a moment to prepare yourself for this — Donald Duck cartoons. The first time I celebrated a Swedish Christmas, I thought I had landed in Bizarro World. Actually, Christmas in Sweden is very lovely, with the focus on family. Plus, it’s fun, if not a bit strange, to watch the Swedes mimic Donald Duck and friends.)

For Easter, the big day is Saturday (the holiday is known as Påskafton), when people get together for a traditional dinner that typically consists of sill (herring), lax (salmon), deviled eggs topped with Kalles caviar, kottbullar (meatballs), Prinskorv (a small Swedish sausage) and, of course, Påskmust, which is like a cola but made with a secret recipe.

The same food is served for Christmas, by the way, but with a different cola. Julmust is served during Christmas. Some people swear that they prefer Julmust over Påskmust, but here’s a secret: I believe Julmust and Påskmust are made from the same batch, simply relabeled. Temper your protests please.

And of course, no get-together would be complete without schnapps, beer and traditional songs. Sitting around the table, guests sing familiar favorites before toasting one another (skål). There is a whole tradition around skål that I’ll get to in another post.

One of the strangest parts of the Swedish Easter tradition, however, is the Påskkäring, or the Easter witch.

In Sweden and parts of Finland, the tradition of the witch is said to come from the old belief that witches would fly to a mountain in Germany the Thursday before Easter to cavort with Satan. As the witches returned, Swedes would light fires to scare them away, a practice honored today by the bonfires and fireworks across Sweden in the days leading up to Easter.

This year, a record number of “witches” (nearly 3,000) attended a march in Visby, Sweden. And you thought watching Donald Duck was strange. Children also dress in witch costumes and collect candy, kind of like a mini-Halloween.

Sweden is full of traditions, lovely traditions. One that I enjoy quite a lot is fika. What’s fika? Check out the video below.

Today, another challenge: Who are the people in the photo above? There’s a hint in the headline of this post and in the video below.

In a future post, I’m going to tell you how — and where — to fika. Don’t worry. To fika is perfectly acceptable, even preferred.

I’ll also talk about the Swedish language, which I find to be extremely difficult. It’s true that most foreigners have no trouble pronouncing the number six, which is “sex.”

More difficult to say is the number seven, sju. It sounds like little more than exhaling air, but impossible for the non-native Swede to pronounce properly. So that I never have to say sju, I make it a point not to buy seven of anything. Seven tomatoes? No, I’ll take sex instead.

The castle in the earlier post, by the way, is known both as Kronborg Castle and as Elsinore. The town where the castle is situated also is known as Elsinore. But like the castle the town too has another name, Helsingør. See how quickly things can get confusing over here?

The important thing to know is that the castle was the setting for Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Thus, the castle is known also as “Hamlet’s Castle.”

Built in the 1420s and rebuilt more than 150 years later, it is one of the most important Renaissance castles in Northern Europe. On bike rides along the Swedish coast, I look across the strait known as Öresund to Hamlet’s Castle. Seeing it never fails to enchant me.

The strait, by the way, is less than three miles wide and separates Sweden from Denmark. If you’re cruising the Baltic, you’ll likely pass through the strait, which is one of the world’s busiest waterways. Andreas Eriksson, who is the marketing and information manager at the Port of Helsingborg, tells me that roughly 90,000 ships pass Helsingborg each year.

Fortunately for Andreas and his colleague, Monica Bengtsson, who works for the City of Helsingborg to convince cruise ships to visit her fine city, some of those ships do stop. If you’re on board one of those this summer, you can brag that you know the name of the castle across the strait.

Coming in my next post: a few recommendations for those visiting Helsingborg. And then we move on to Sweden’s beautiful capital, Stockholm, the self-proclaimed Capital of Scandinavia.

By now, you know the name of band in the photo, right? If not, watch the video. Now maybe you can tell me this, what are their names? A hint: Their names form the acronym of the band’s name.

Tags: Stockholm

Think about it for for a few minutes while I introduce myself. I’m the guy in the photo. My name is Ralph Grizzle, and I am an American (from Asheville, North Carolina) living part time in Sweden, directly across from the castle, in fact.

I came here to be closer to the “Cruise Capital of Northern Europe.” That would be Copenhagen, Denmark, which will host more than 300 cruise ship calls this summer. Those cruises, of course, will explore Scandinavia and the jeweled destinations along the Baltic Sea.

My job while I’m living abroad is to inspire and inform you about one of the world’s most enchanting — and enriching — cruise destinations, Europe.

I’ll begin by filing reports from Scandinavia, covering Sweden in April; Norway in May; and Denmark in June. After that, I’ll move south to cover other cruise destinations in Europe.

I hope that you’ll comment and ask questions as I expose you to the best of Europe, virtually.

Did you guess the name of the castle yet? Here’s a closer look.

Actually, the castle, and the town where it stands, has a couple of names. I’ll give you some time to think about it. If you know the answer, click on the “Comments” link below (the link may display “No Comments” until the first comment is registered).

Until next time, “Välkommen” to Sweden, Ralph Grizzle.

I use an Apple Widget to check the bus schedules into Helsingborg’s City Center.  The schedule even tells me when to begin walking from the apartment and up-to-date information on delays. Click the images below.

Today gives us four seconds longer sunlight than yesterday. The winter solstice (see explanation below), which was yesterday at 1:04 p.m. here in Sweden, marked the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

Each day since that time will be progressively longer. It’s quite fascinating to watch. Today, as noted, we gain four seconds sunlight over yesterday; tomorrow, we gain 15 seconds sunlight over today; Christmas Eve gains 25 seconds over tomorrow; and Christmas Day gains 36 seconds over Christmas Eve.

The pattern continues with each day gaining more than the preceding day. New Year’s Day gains 1 minute 46 seconds over New Year’s Eve. In February, we’re gaining 4 to 5 minutes each day; we continue to gain around 5 minutes each day through the first of May, then the pace slows to four minutes per day.

The days, however, are quite long by then. On May 1, sunrise is at 4:49 a.m. and sunset is at 8:43 p.m., giving us 15 hours 53 minutes and 44 seconds of sunlight.

On June 21, the longest day of the year, the sun rises at 3:31 a.m. and sets at 10:09 p.m. The sky never darkens completely, as the length of the day is 18 hours 38 minutes and 26 seconds.

Just thought those of you in Sweden would want to know as you watch the sun set today at around 2:49 p.m.

Winter Solstice
The Winter Solstice occurs when the sun reaches its most southerly declination of -23.5 degrees. In other words, it is when the North Pole is tilted 23.5 degrees away from the sun. Depending on the Gregorian calendar, the December solstice occurs annually on a day between December 20 and December 23. On this date, all places above a latitude of 66.5 degrees north are now in darkness, while locations below a latitude of 66.5 degrees south receive 24 hours of daylight.

Click Summer Solstice for an explanation.

Getting From Sweden To Denmark The Easy Way, originally uploaded by Ralph Grizzle.

Near the Town Hall in Helsingborg, Sweden. you will find the ferries to Denmark. The larger ferries are operated by Scanlines. They depart from the train station, about two blocks from the Town Hall.

I prefer the smaller ACE link ferries for ease of boarding. The crossing on either ferry is about the same, 20 minutes to Denmark.

You can always see the time of the next departure on ACE link in red letters underneath the clock pictured here. Go inside the terminal near the clock to purchase tickets. See next post for ticket cost – with a bicycle.

Buy Your Ticket, originally uploaded by Ralph Grizzle.

Roundtrip for a passenger from Helsingborg, Sweden, to Helsingor, Denmark, costs SEK 55 on the Acelink ferries. Roundrtrip for the bicycle is SEK 28.

No doubt, Helsingborg is so beautiful, especially for cycling, that you will want to return, so purchase the roudtrip ticket if you think you’re returning.

Credit cards are accepted. You’ll also find a place on your ferry for the bike. See the next post.

Follow The Sign, originally uploaded by Ralph Grizzle.

Where you will find facilities for your bike. Then head outside or to the lounges inside for food and drink.

You Are In Denmark When You See Hamlet’s Castle, originally uploaded by Ralph Grizzle.

Also called Kronborg, the castle and the events that took place there inspired Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The castle is open for guided and self-guided tours daily from the 10:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Entrance fees range fro DK30 to DK85. The latter includes entrance to the Danish Maritime Museum. The Copenhagen Card, which includes admission to the Danish Maritime Museum, reduces the cost of the complete tour (normally DK85) to DK60. I’ll be posting more on the castle later.