The carnival of the Swedish students

This year, I stayed away from the carnival in Copenhagen, and I crossed the Øresundbro as I often do, to see how it was in the country of our dear neighbors. Because at Lund, a university town located about twenty kilometers from Malmö, is holded every four years a completely delirious carnival organized by the students. Luckily, it fell this year, I couldn't miss that. I had already visited Lund several times, it is a cute medieval town, but a little bit tiny. And that day, it seemed that all the inhabitants of the region had an appointment here, the streets were tremendously crowded. Having showed up a little late, I missed the beginning of the parade, but I saw things that din't make me regret the trip:

I saw dancers...

other dancers...

musicians...

a pirate boat...

a truck full with anarchists inside...

some alternative culture...

the float of the medical students...

a float to make fun of the SJ trains (Swedish national railway company), 

with the sign "The Upsala of 1:65 PM never comes"...

some guys sliding on an Icelandic volcano...

But my favorite was unquestionably the Svensson float, filled out of blonds

All around, were jumping around typical elements of the Swedish folklore, the opportunity to review together the basics of the culture:

the true Swedish girl

the IKEA shelf

the moose, the animal emblem of Sweden

 more difficult: this guy is dressed in Dalahästen (Dala horse), a traditional figurine

 no, this is not toothpaste, but kaviar (infamous mixture to spread)

and this is a köttbulle (meatball), a basic of Swedish cuisine

(They are consumed in Denmark as well, where they are called frikadeller)

Personally, I would have completed the picture with a potato (present in absolutely ALL Swedish meals) and with some knäckebröd (Wasa crackers) ... Have a good carnival!

And the day when the fat men in red invaded Tivoli

As I promised, I took a look at Tivoli at Christmas time to bring you some pretty pictures just for you (well, what I could, the night falls early at this time).

No, the little hearts are not falling.
They hang to the branches of a tree without leaves just behind.

At the edge of the lake

That is exactly my kind of humor

Of course, there is a Christmas market:

But the most impressive temporary installation is a kind of huge tent, standing on the square in front of the main stage, but a tent with walls and roof, looking like small wooden houses stuck together (I don't know if I'm very clear). Inside, a village of little elves, all animated, has been reconstituted.

Crossed by a little train:

And at the end of your trip in Elvesland, to help you to recover from your emotions, comes the unavoidable seasonal stand, the one that sells the æbleskiver/glögg duo. These are the traditional Christmas delicacies you find in all bars right now so you feel obliged to try it.

Æbleskiver, literally means "apple slices", but actually it is not that at all. It seems that however, it was made with apples in the good old days... Today, it is a kind of small round pancakes, served with sugar and jam.

In their special machine

And glögg is mulled wine with spices.


Here is the recipe if you want to try. For a liter of red wine you need:

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cardamom
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 8 cloves
• a piece of bitter orange peel
• some orange juice if you want
• sugar

Heat the wine in a saucepan with all the spices but don't boil it (watch out the fumes!) Add sugar to your taste. Ready! Actually, it is recommended to prepare it a long time in advance to allow the wine to absorb the flavors of spices. At serving time, raisins and almonds are often added directly into the glass, so don't forget the spoon. The real Vikings even add some vodka.

Then, I wish you a glædelig Jul (a day late) and a godt nytår, a tillykke med fødselsdagen to my original blog (a year already!) and velkommen to its little brother in English. See you next year.