Mid Summer Sights in Sweden

Please anyone who knows the names of these flowers...let me know.   Was in Stockholm for a day, last week.  Had some work, so it was not a fun trip.  Very hectic.  But how can Stockholm in summer not be beautiful and fun!!  I was amazed at how different the town was from the last time I visited it in March.  Notice the following shot and compare it to the entry titled Stockholm Snapshots.  It seems like they were taken in different countries.  These flowers caught my attention.  They were hanging carelessly outside a hotel.  People just walked by these gorgeous things, not noticing the pink, the purple, the green.  What is so important I wanted to scream.  Bills, phone calls and emails are a regular.  They never stop.  These flowers come only for a few weeks, if that.  We should be queuing around these to look at them.  I bet if they were in a museum and there was a price to have a look at them, people would plan that event weeks ahead.  Ah mankind!! Learn to smell the roses, or at least notice the purple!!

I spent 15 minutes at just an ordinary city park.  But on a mildly sunny day, at mid summer, it was buzzing with kids, smelled sweet, looked green and fresh!! It seemed it was winking at us, saying, 'I told you so, not to fret, it will be alright!!"  The above photo was taken just as I crossed the street to get to metro station.

A regular house by a regular lake.  I am told there are about 80,000 lakes in Sweden.  I took this picture when I was returning from town after running an errand.  Ahh...why do we have to work in summer.  And summers in Sweden at that.....

Two young girls dressed for mid summer celebration at Mariebegskogan, Karlstad, Sweden, 2011

Decorating the maypole

Most of these flowers grow wild in Scandinavia.  Children get excited about decorating.  Parents join in. And there is a general bubbly buzz around the pole.    

Can you hear the chatter and the chuckle?

One of the organizers adjusts the headphones on one of Folk Musicians.

And here we go.  

There it is!! I had heard so much about the Maypole.  But this was my first time seeing it in real life. 

Little girls dancing around maypole, with their parents.  Blue and Yellow dresses for little girls are especially sold for these occasions.  Nationalism aside, Blue and Yellow is a cute combination for little girls.

Another Lake View.  Can you feel the breeze flowing through the trees?

That day I hung out for a short while with some young people.  Everyone wanted to have a strawberry cake.  But they had run out.  This young man invited us all for Fika, a swedish term for coffee and cake (or something sweet).  He is training to be an engineer.  At the Fika, he brought out this strawberry cake, that he had made from scratch.  Now that is some engineer huh!! I always disagree when some one says, 'kids these days are just not same'.  If anything they might be better. I have met all sorts, everywhere!!  This post is dedicated to fun, frolic and fresh young people who continue to surprise us pleasantly.