First Visitor!

Say Hello to Deborah! My former graduate school colleague from UC Davis, and now fellow transportation academic, wins the prize for first visitor, making a trip here for three days on her way home to New York after some business in Kenya (makes perfect sense, right?). It was a welcome dose of Americanism after my initial three days’ shock of Sweden, knowing that this time Sweden is home. Seriously, it was a bit rough for those first few days, especially between the jetlag, the light midnight skies (making it harder to recover from jetlag), and the overwhelming deja-vu from returning here after three years away. But by the time Deborah got here Thursday, I had just made it through my first full night of sleep and was ready for some serious city-walking.

What’s more, this was Midsummer Eve weekend, which means that all the Swedes seem to disappear with their families into the country, beaches, and the archipelago for days-long parties. Not having been here nearly long enough to get invited to one, it was great to take on the weekend in another way: showing it to Deborah in full-on tourist style. We toured my favorite building, City Hall, and spent Midsummer’s Eve in the Skansen open-air museum/park, where there were demonstrations of traditional music dancing around the Midsummer Pole (like a May Pole).

If you look at the photo to the right, it may look like the skies are fairly grey outside. Well, you’re right. But this is one of those typical glass is half-full or half-empty things, as Deborah is demonstrating with her wine. First, you might notice that it isn’t sunny like you might want on Midsummer evening. In fact, it was downright rainy on Saturday, Midsummer Day! Dismal weather, I tell you, and Deborah had really bad luck with her timing. But then there’s the half-full side of things: you see, that photo was taken at 9:30 p.m., and although it was cloudy, there was plenty of light still up there. At 1 a.m., roughly the darkest point, the sky above is twilight blue.