Norway’s Constitution was signed the 17th of May in 1814 by an elected National Assembly at Eidsvold outside of Oslo. 33 of the delegates were chosen from the army and the navy, 25 from the cities and 54 from the countryside. Because of the long distance, the northern part of Norway had no delegates. On the same day the Constitution was signed Christian Fredrik (from Denmark) was elected king of Norway. He reigned only a few months, and then the throne was handed over to the Swedish king, Karl Johan, the 10th of October 1814. For almost 100 years, until 1905 Norway was in a union with Sweden.
The day usually starts with a flag-raising ceremony at a nearby school, church or governmental building. Then, pupils join in the Children’s Parade, while adults watch and cheer from the side-walks. All the schoolchildren in the whole country march with the Norwegian flag in their hands and colourful banners, which represent their school or their class, in front. You may read more about the marching band at my wife DianeCA’s post. Marching out from the school with the Principal in the lead (to the right) in his bunad.
Many countries celebrate their Constitution or Independence, but opposed to these – as you can see in the photo above – the Norwegian celebration has no reference to military power. Norway’s National Day is a day of flags, parades, speeches and bands playing the national anthem; “Ja, vi elsker dette landet” (Yes, we love this country). The concept is simple, a local celebration regardless of the weather, with classmates and neighbours showing their national pride in a peaceful and harmless way. You may hear the band play the national anthem and learn more about the school celebration from my post by clicking here.
My vid from a Happy parade in 2006 on a slightly rainy day:
I have now posted about the 17th of May for five years in a row, so we will use my earlier posts as a way of highlighting this year’s. So be sure to click on the links to learn more.
Norway’s National costumes – “Bunad”:
You will notice that many are wearing their regional costumes called Bunad. Each region of Norway has its own Bunad and those which use it wear the costume from the area their family roots come from. Last year we met a very nice Norwegian family dressed up in their proper Bunad, and I could not resist asking them if they would pose to illustrate how the family’s traditional clothes should be. This is a fine example of the traditional costume for both adults and children:
The Bunad is artfully hand embroidered and must be made from the correct wool material with the traditional pattern. Some areas allow you to choose variations of Bunad, but the rules are relatively strict in order to keep the tradition in tact. If you have Bunad then the 17th of May is the high time to use it. In addition it is used for weddings, baptismal, and very special occasions.
When the activities in the school-yards are finished, the festivities continue in the centre of town, where people from all over the area meet. Here there is a new parade with different organizations marching. All kinds of organizations are represented; the scouts, soccer teams, folk dance groups, religious organizations, and bands. This one in our local town is called the flower parade, and flowers are thrown out to the onlookers by the participants (click picks to bigify & enjoy): Some of the locals have even decorated their classic car for the event, while others have decorated their scooter.
You may see a review of this parade by clicking here!
Russ – The revelling Norwegian high school graduates:
The graduates have a special place in the 17th of May celebration. Throughout the month of May they celebrate the end of the high school years with numerous parties and funny tasks which they must do to get a knot in the tassel of their hats. One of the rules is that they have to wear their Russ uniform everyday without being allowed to wash it:
A modern addition to this celebration is the Russ Bus. Students get together and work hard for a year or two to save up money and pool it together into buying, decorating and equipping a bus for the Russ season:
The bus is literally a rolling party, with loud music, lights and Russ only allowed inside. Although this might seem like a party mentality, it is also a learning experience for those who join a bus (not all do!) because it requires saving, planning, working on a concept, working towards a goal and project management to get the concept “rolling”. You may read more in my article about the Russ by clicking here!
So I do hope understand the special feeling I have when I am able to share this tradition with you. It is the most Norwegian of the Norwegian, and I am proud to be able to introduce it to family and friends through out the Blogsphere. If you have been inspired by this post, and would like to see some bunad and learn our history on your own, remember we still are taking bookings for the Oslo Blog Gathering in August. Join us and you can march down Karl Johan street yourself!
The pure natural beauty of nature in the significant four seasons and seasonal lighting fascinates me. Early or late sunset in winter vs. summer time in Scandinavia adds another dimension. Looking out of the window last night at 9PM gave a great reminder. My wife and I are at our vacation home and Sweden and inspired by the special sky we hurried to the local beach for a photo hunt. We’ll gladly take you along and hope you find it worth while:
Going crazy with my new Cannon Power Shot G11, let me share some of the shots from today (click to bigify & enjoy!): Golden sky beach beauty in Scandinavia:
This is our favourite photo hunting beach in our “home away from home” in Mariestad. My regular readers know I love to play in posts with photos from the same spot in different seasons. Let’s start with one from tonight’s golden sky:
Then the difference from spring (now) to fall, then winter and at last a hot day for tanning: Amazing to observe this is the same place, don’t you agree? Left: Fall gives golden beauty too! Right: Winter with nice fresh and crisp air!
Summer time – even topless tanning.
The days are growing longer here in Scandinavia, with the sun not going down until almost 9:30 in the evening. Soon it will be summer and the nights will be lighter than any other time of the year. I do hope you will soon be experiencing this with us at the Oslo Blog Gathering 2010. If you haven’t done so already check out the program and join the team!!
Blogging about Norway, our significant four seasons, culture and traditions now calls for a post about spring. After a relatively cold and snowy winter, nature is slowly waking up from hibernation and both nature and people get livelier. Of course the return of the sun helps as well: From 6 hour’s daylight in mid December to 15 hours now in Oslo helps to bring out the spring feeling and we get light more day by day: 18 hour’s in mid June.
We’ve had the loveliest sunny weather this weekend and to give you the proof of the pudding, my wife and I had a photo hunt in our garden and on our favourite spring beach. Let’s start with our garden and some examples of spring flowers in the south east part of Norway:
Let’s take a closer look at some typical from our area in southern Norway (click to bigify and enjoy): Left: daffodils – Right: Crocus Left: Scillia in front – Right: Primrose
Other typical garden flowers in Norway are tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, snow drops, and Lily of the valley.
Wild flowers at the Spring Beach:
Like I said we were on a photo hunt and went to our favourite beach where we know we’ll meet real spring and nature just out of hibernation:
I hope you are able to spot the ground almost totally covered by Anemone hepatica (common names: Kidneywort, liverwort, pennywort, Common Hepatica – in Norwegian: Blåveis). Let’s take a closer look:
Some weeks later, this is the white flower bed that will meet us when we again visit this lovely beach just 25 minutes by public transportation out of Oslo city: Anemone nemorosa also in the family Ranunculaceae. Common names: wood anemone, windflower, thimbleweed and smell fox or in Norway: Hvitveis. (Photo shot with my Nokia two years ago).
There are others who are happy for the spring flowers too – guess you’re familiar with the story about the birds and the bees? This little guy was so fat the flower almost couldn’t hold him:
Not only the birds and the bees are happy for spring, warmer and sunny weather (around 15C – 60F). In this delightful, crisp, fresh air, people start thinking of beach life and tanning too of course (click to bigify and enjoy): A bit early for bikinis yet, but if you dress right, still enjoyable.
So by this I declare spring seasons have started in Oslo, the south east of Norway. I hope you got some spring spirit from this too. To get even more of the spirit, you might like to check my wife DianeCA’s post too. It would be interesting to read if some of these spring flowers are to be found in you’re part of the world too!
Architecture in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, is the miraculous result of ecclesiastic architecture – a city of paradoxes and contrasts. Most of down-town Bucharest follows no single rule in terms of urban design. There is no obvious delimitation between styles or periods, as there is no delimitation between people. The people here live in so different conditions that the poles are two worlds apart.
When I was there at the CEPIS Council meeting last weekend I combined business and pleasure while taking my wife along for some more urban adventures. We had Sunday off, and used it to explore the city and we gladly take you along. Let me start with a pic to demonstrate the contrast:
Bucharest Financial District:
The first bank in Romania, now a very inefficient and overstaffed state bank; the Old National Bank, New Palaces and Romanian Commercial Bank plus the former Stock Exchange are all lined up beside each other. The glass dome used to be a trademark of the early century Bucharest skyline, alongside the Museum of History’s twin domes:
Walking around getting close to the Revolution Square, there was another building designed by the same architect. Built between 1896 and 1900, this classical French Eclectic building the Roman Atheneum, and has been used in the motion picture Amen by Costas Gavras as a replacement for the Vatican:
The Military House:
A gigantic flag is placed in the middle of a square called the Square of the Flag. The building right in front of you is the Army Club, a very impressive ornate building dating from 1912 and having as creators the architects Dimitrie Maimarolu, Victor Stefanescu and Ernest Doneaud.
In the streets of Bucharest:
Since pictures say more than a thousand words, and keeping these architectural paradoxes and contrasts in mind – let me show you some random pics from the streets of Bucharest:
Not “In the streets of London….” – But: In the streets of Bucharest.
The Cişmigiu Gardens or Park:
Bucharest is rich in public parks, leafy avenues, and scattered lakes. The first public park, Cişmigiu, was laid out by the German landscape gardener Carl F. W. Meyer , who was called to Bucharest to create a People’s Park in the 1830s. He drained marshland, created lakes with islands, meadows with clumps of trees, and laid out drives and paths. Let me give me a peek of how it looks in early spring time, a week ago:
Meyer planted more than 30,000 trees and shrubs, and placed pavilions to enjoy the main viewpoints of the city and the park. Later alterations have included the eclectic work of the German architect F. von Rebhuhn in 1910. Today long rows of clipped lime trees, yew hedges, rose gardens, and box-edged beds filled with seasonal bedding provide a basic structure.
This is my second post from our trip to Bucharest. The last one was about our culinary adventure.
So stay tuned, as there will be more about the famous Palace and the history of Romania and why this country is called so. Bucharest was a very different city from any other place I have been, maybe any other place in the world and when we got over the contrast in architecture it got to be quite funny to look around. Sunday in the park was also quite an experience since it is a popular activity for the local residents. I do hope you enjoy this series and will follow along. Do you want similar adventures in Scandinavia… join Oslo Blog Gathering 2010… sign up now!
Hunting Easter Bunny Eggs outdoors is a long standing tradition in my family. I won’t declare it a typical Norwegian habit as I guess it more likely comes from Germany. Never the less, this has been the highlight of spring for as long as I can remember. Since it matches the theme of my blog, I will gladly give you an insight, so let me start with some pics to set the mood (click all pics to bigify and enjoy): Left: Eggs “hidden” in the woods – Right: The adventure of the hunt
I will show you more of how we make the most adventurous cookout every Easter Sunday. Only first I want us to learn something from my posts – so I have done some research and here is a summery:
The Easter Bunny roots:
Like the origin of Easter which has its roots that go back to pre-Christian, Anglo-Saxon history. The holiday was originally a pagan celebration that worshipped the goddess Eastre. She was the goddess of fertility and springtime and her earthly symbol was the rabbit. In pagan times, the “Easter hare” was no ordinary animal, but a sacred companion of the old goddess of spring. The Easter bunny has its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. The Hare and the Rabbit were the most fertile animals known and they served as symbols of the new life during the spring season.
The Easter Bunny folklore:
Feeling guilty about arriving late one spring, the Goddess Ostara saved the life of a poor bird whose wings had been frozen by the snow. She made him her pet and filled with compassion for him since he could no longer fly, she turned him into a snow hare and gave him the gift of being able to run with incredible speed so he could protect himself from hunters. In remembrance of his earlier form as a bird, she also gave him the ability to lay eggs – in all the colours of the rainbow – but only on one day out of each year. The eggs should be given to the children attending the Ostara festivals that were held each spring. The tradition of the Easter Bunny Eggs hunt had begun:
Outdoors family Bunny Egg Hunt:
So with this as a background, let me share my family’s way of doing it. We love to be out in the woods where the bunnies live (and at Easter lay their eggs), so the hunt must take place there – in all weather, snow or cold! You know my saying: there is no such as bad weather, only bad clothes!
So walking into the woods, without the children taking notice, an adult runs ahead and hides the eggs, usually with the excuse that he (often my father) would like to start the bonfire. When the rest of the gang arrives he announces that he has seen signs of the Easter Bunny, which he was especially big this year and made a lot of noise hopping here and there and everywhere hiding his eggs.
So the hunt begins – here are some more photos from different years in different weather conditions: Snow and cold does not matter – spring is in the air
Hot dogs in branch bread:
In resent years my sister has made dough called ‘pinnebrød’ (branch bread) which you can roll around the stick or around the sausage stuck on the branch. Then we all sit around the bonfire, enjoying the catch of the hunt and some hotdogs – and of course our company. Again, here are some example photos from the latest years:
There is of course other (Norwegian) ways to eat your hotdog too; in lompe:
We are soon on our way to my home town to meet my parents and sisters family for this adventurous tradition. When I post this in advance this year, it is to give you all the chance to have fun the same way. Have you tried? Or would you like too? Tell me what you think in comments please!
I have of course posted about this over the years and here are the previous ones:
This little guy was so fat the flower almost couldn’t hold him:
