Gullbrannafestivalen 2015 or "The Gullbranna Festival 2015"

Some good friends of ours graciously invited John and I to join them for a long weekend at the Gullbrannafestivalen.  I had never gone to any kind of music festival - and I am so glad I went!

First of all the place.  Gullbranna campgrounds are super nice.  They are clean, neat, welcoming and peaceful (even with a lot of activity going on!)   It is on the southwest coast and the campground is an easy walk to the beach.  Something we took advantage of several times.  The musicians, technical crew etc. were professional quality.  Of course I didn't enjoy every artist.  There were so many, and so many genres.  There was rap, jazz, blues, rock, hard rock, gospel, and more. There were soloists, bands, and a terrific youth choir.  Some artists performed contemporary music, and let the application speak for itself. 

Aside from music there were, not surprisingly for a Christian camp/festival, devotional talks and many social ministries present.  There were also some dance groups and children's activities.  And ice cream! (Just sayin'!) 

It was terrific! 

See you next year?  : D

Here are a few links to performer's work which I particularly enjoyed: 

Ida Sand.  SO so good!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UWUdTt1Xp8

Jimmy Needham (U.S.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK4jdexjgz4&list=PLE1E2C513C9AD06A0

Samuel Ljungblahd The recording I am linking here is when he recently sang at the royal wedding (!)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oand7bv0IBs

Beck Corlan (Romanian) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ11eNSUcjY&list=PLnSZHb8XlnKVIrnaooC6EDcAmR6AopJRw

And the young Simen Thelander (who had a terrific keyboard player, Samuel Lund, performing with him a Gullbranna).  Might I add that in this video link Thelander is performing one of Jimmy Needham's songs (look up higher in the list!) for an Idol audition.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo0lCd0nCGY

Brooms and Mops

When we moved to Sweden we, of course, had to figure out what to bring.  Believe me when I say that it never occurred to us that it would be impossible to get the type of broom and mop that we are used to using.

What are we used to using?  Items like the following are typical in the U.S.

Here in Sweden, these items are essentially impossible to find.  

Instead, this is what we find: 

 

[these are around 3 feet (one meter) tall.]

and 

   

Ho hum...

And so what did we do?  

Well for a broom we found a shoulder height (on me) mini push broom.

And for a mop - I brought one (all but the pole) in my suitcase.  

Yup.  

I did.  

Swedish National Day - June 6th

OK - First, simply because it is easy, and because the article does a good job, I am once again going to refer to The Local. 

http://www.thelocal.se/20150605/why-dont-swedes-care-for-the-national-day

Today is Swedish National Day.  When one asks a Swede how this day is celebrated, you will be informed that no one really knows as it is a new holiday.  It got its official start in 1983.  One gets the day off from work - if it lands on a weekday*, and yes, there are festivities, but not really traditions.

And I think to many - Midsummer, only a few weeks later, is actually the day to celebrate.

Lastly - I think it isn't celebrated as much simply as a reflection of the Swedish personality.  Swede's are pretty quiet people.  Not just in their volume, but in their manner.  They are not, as the article suggest, "flag wavers".  Not to say that Swedes are not proud of their country.  They absolutely are! No doubt.  But they are quieter about it.  Usually.

Below is a picture which shows an exception to the rule. : D

We took this shot on Swedish National Day 2013.  The Viking is carrying two flags.  The one in the back, blue with a bright yellow cross, is the Swedish flag.  The red flag with the yellow cross is the (unofficial?) flag of this region of southern Sweden, Skåne.  We in Malmö are a mere twenty minute train ride from Denmark. - And much of this region used to belong to Denmark many years ago. The Skåne flag is a combination of the Danish flag (red background with a white cross) and the Swedish flag.

*Side note - the Swedes get a lot of days off during the calendar year.  There are 14 full days off, 2 partial days off, and 3 additional holidays that always fall on weekends.  It is of note that the 14 full and 2 partial days: If they happen to fall on a weekend, one does not get to take that vacation day by extending the weekend.  In contrast, for example, if the 4th of July happens to fall on a weekend, in the U.S., one gets either the Friday prior, or the following Monday as a vacation day.  Not so here.

Below is a picture I took at the local clinic.  

There are a few things to make note of in this picture.  

One is that to the far right is a small machine with which you generate a number.  Although I was certainly familiar with them in the U.S., these are everywhere here.  

The second thing of note, and the actual reason I took the picture, are the shoe covers.  As I believe I wrote earlier, when entering someone's home in Sweden, one takes off one's shoes at the door.  Typically slippers are provided by the host/hostess.  I have been to open-houses to look at Swedish real estate, and although sometimes I have been allowed to leave my shoes on, there are more occasions when I have been asked to take off my shoes, or have been provided with shoe covers.

In some businesses, like the one pictured above, shoe covers are provided if the weather is messy.  

Airport luggage trolley-carts

As I have now kinda become a world traveler (who knew?!), I have come to realize that many airports outside the U.S. provide luggage trolleys for free.  No deposit is required.  Simply use it, and leave it when you are finished with it.  Why can't we do that in the U.S.?  Hmmmm?

Thank you for listening,,,

Statues and art

Malmö is not a big city.  It has approximately 300,000 inhabitants.  But like other cities, at least other cities we have visited in Europe, art is part of the scenery.
I was thinking about this last week as John and I were walking to a restaurant.  There is a fair amount of art here.  I like some pieces better than others, but regardless of my opinion of the individual pieces, I like the fact that it is there.  The following are pictures of the pieces we passed on our walk to and from the restaurant.  We did not go out of our way to intersect with pieces.  This is simply a look at the pieces, and the number of pieces on our 35 minute walk.

These first three pictures were taken close to the water.

The fish woman

ĵ

There are two pieces in this picture.  Obviously, there is a  large angular piece resembling sails. There is a second statue that is in the distance, to the immediate right of the one in the foreground.

An upcoming installation: a propeller, honoring Malmö's history in ship building. 

The Optimists Parade near StorTorget (the large square)

Gustav Adolf in StorTorget

Fountain in StorTorget

An odd but somehow appealing piece.

A nice new light installation at Caroli (an area within Malmö) can be seen in the distance.

In front of a new apartment complex on the canal.

This is, again, only a sampling of the many pieces around town.  There are others I prefer. 

That said, I love the fact that the community recognizes the value of investing in art. 

Left over Easter eggs.

I was going to write about something completely different, but I saw this on The Local and thought I would insert this timely post.  (For the original article, and others by the Local: http://www.thelocal.se/20150410/how-to-make-swedish-eggs-and-anchovies-toast  )

I honestly do not remember ever seeing this recipe/ sandwich here, but as I look at the ingredients, I can see that it has many ingredients which are a loved part of the Swedish diet: boiled eggs, (sour cream + crème fraiche ='s ) sauce, fish, dill, and to a lesser degree, chives.

So there you go. 

Swedish 'Gubbröra', which means 'Old Man's Mix', on a slice of toast. Photo: John Duxbury

How to make eggs on toast Swedish-style

Published: 10 Apr 2015 08:00 GMT+02:00

One of Sweden's most famous dishes, 'Gubbröra' (literally 'Old Man's Mix') is a great recipe if you've still got any leftover eggs in the fridge after Easter. It's tasty on a slice of bread as a starter or a light spring lunch. John Duxbury shares his recipe with The Local.

'Gubbröra' is an easy-to-make, colourful egg and anchovies dish. Swedish anchovies ('ansjovis') are quite different to the Mediterranean kind so make sure you find the right version. To confuse matters even further, Swedish canned anchovies are not actually anchovies at all, but sprats ('skarpsill').

Summary

Serves: 4

Preparation: 5 minutes

Cooking: 15 minutes

Total: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 125g (5 oz) tin of Swedish anchovies (sprats) or a 100g (4 oz) tin
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp sour cream
• 3 tbsp crème fraiche
• 3 tbsp dill, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp chives, finely chopped
• white pepper
• 4 slices bread, preferably rye
• salad for garnish

Method

1. Hard boil the eggs and cool under running cold water to prevent the outside of the yolks discolouring. Remove the shells and roughly chop the eggs.

2. Drain the anchovies, but keep the juice. Using a pair of scissors, finely chop the anchovies. Add to the eggs along with the finely chopped onion, sour cream, crème fraiche, dill and chives.

3. Have a taste and add some white pepper and perhaps a little bit of the juice from the anchovies. Go easy on the juice as it can leave an after taste and is not to everyone's liking.

4. Toast the bread (optional). Divide the mixture between the four pieces of bread and garnish with salad.

Tips

• A glass of Swedish snaps goes down very well with Gubbröra
• Don't season this dish with salt as there is already a lot of salt in the fish
• Gubbröra is often served as an appetiser. In this case, serve a mouthsized portion on a small round of thin, dark rye bread and garnish with a small slice of lemon