Reinventing the balcony

Low-flying street owl checking out Uppsala's Valborg celebration
Similar to tailgating before a Bears game I was up and in full party mode well before noon. The day was blustery and cold but filled with vibes of overcoming whatever not-so-sweet weather the day threw at us. Around 10:00 we were watching failing rafts float down the river. By 1:00 I was celebrating my first beer buzz of the day. By 3:00 we were surrounded by students in their traditional white graduation hats; they tended to break into song. By 5:00 we had retreated to the warmth of a packed dance floor. And by 8:00 I was wrapping it all up (strategically) with grilled bananas and a Lowenbrau.

Yesterday was the annual holiday in Sweden known as Valborg. This "last of April" celebration signifies the official end of winter. While in most Swedish towns this day brings families out together to gather around a bonfire, in student towns such as Uppsala it's a day where the student population (and former graduates) show their numbers in mass. The viewing of the head masters speech is just as traditional as slugging down as much alcohol as you can in a day's time. In my post-graduate and chilled out way of being I kept a lid on the extremity of it and just enjoyed the meandering feel of the day: have a beer here, eat something there, this old house is where you dance, that old house is where they invented the balcony...stuff like that, and a day to remember.