Swedish Strawberries With A Surprise: Taste
Sorry. If you’re not in Stockholm now — or on your way — you missed it. Missed what? Sweden’s glorious Midsummer.
Though the weather has been warm enough for basking for quite some time now, Midsummer marks the beginning of a most sublime time in Stockholm. Indeed, few cities match Stockholm’s beauty during summer.
Fluffy white clouds appear as though Pippi Longstocking herself had grabbed a handful of cotton balls and stuck them against the azure sky.
Equally colorful, the strawberries, grown in the Swedish hinterlands, are not only remarkable in color but also in something else: One bite and you’ll discover a surprise — taste. Unlike in countries where the use of pesticides is as common as the use of salad dressing, the taste has not been sprayed out of the Swedish strawberry (known as Jordgubbar).
Another staple of Midsummer: Herring
Strawberries aside, it is difficult, dear reader, to fathom what is keeping you from Stockholm. If you’re reading this from across the Atlantic, you should know that the U.S. dollar has relatively good strength against the Swedish kronor, and while few capital cities are outright bargains, you’ll find Stockholm serves up good value.
You can spend the long daylight hours in Stockholm to get to know the Swedish culture. The Swedes are a mysterious and intriguing lot. Without generalizing to a fault, it’s fair to say that the Swedes are by and large good-looking, honest, polite, shy and rule-following. The majority of Swedes will no doubt halt their forward motion when the pedestrian traffic light turns red. (Living in a less law-abiding nation, the Dutch, by contrast, wait for the light to turn red before crossing).
Part of the shyness could be attributed to the Nordic concept of Janteloven, a form of group behavior that negatively portrays and criticizes success and achievement as unworthy and inappropriate. In other words, don’t blow your own horn. And when others blow for you, remain humble.
But back to Midsummer. Arguably no other holiday represents the Swedish spirit more than Midsummer. Down in Denmark, the citizens celebrated Midsummer with bonfires and burning witch effigies. Who wants that? I prefer dancing around the Maypole and singing of songs.
And the Danes celebrated Midsummer yesterday, on a Wednesday no less, when all must return to work on Thursday. That the Swedes celebrate Midsummer on Friday, allowing for plenty of time for recovery from the festive events that mark the occasion, shows their practicality in such matters as holidays.
Two university studies cite the Danes as the world’s happiest people. I would argue otherwise, and beginning today, I proclaim the Swedes to be the world’s happiest people. And why not? On the heels of a fairy-tale wedding (Princess Victoria married Princess Daniel in Stockholm last week), the fair and honest people of Sweden have toppled the Danes on the benchmarks of bliss.
And what could personify Swedish happiness more than the bright and sunny skies of summer? Which reminds me: Where, dear friend, are you?
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