Holidays

Things have been busy here these past few weeks because S's family was visiting. First his brother came with his wife and three-year-old daughter, then his parents arrived a week after the first lot left. This meant seeing some touristy sights that we hadn't gotten around to visiting, namely, the oldey worldey narrow cobblestone streets of Gamla Stan and the amusement park/zoo that is Skansen. Gamla Stan is probably the most picturesque part of Stockholm, given the architecture and the history and the proximity of the water (it's a tiny island), but Skansen has been the most consistently fun. There is something for everyone: rides for kids (including those coin-operated ones that you can stick your toddler on without paying because, really, he doesn't know the difference), an indoor children's zoo for when the weather's bad, another indoor zoo (with separate admission fee--why??), an outdoor zoo of Scandinavian animals (reindeer! bears! wolverines!), a bunch of traditional Swedish buildings and windmills that were brought piece by piece from all over Sweden (some with costumed "traditional women" who talked to you while doing things like knitting and roasting coffee--this kind of thing was more of a hit with the older crowd. I got a kick out of the traditional toys, which included a stick of firewood wearing a dress), and an outdoor marketplace with crafts and food. I think there was actually a lot more that we didn't see, because it's a pretty huge place. We even bought a family pass for one year, so if you come to visit us, it is pretty much guaranteed that we will drag you there.

S's parents were here for Thanksgiving, which they've only ever celebrated with us, and it was a little strange to not see anything Thanksgiving-related in Stockholm. I expected an American-style restaurant might have a special menu, or that someone in the expat group with which I'm loosely affiliated might organize something. It would seem that everyone's too busy getting ready for Christmas. And boy, people get ready early over here. I think I started seeing some decorations before mid-November. Lots of stars and candles (though they're really electric candles) and special Christmas greenery. And weird elves with very long beards. We do not have anything Christmas-related up yet other than some poinsettias on the windowsill. Maybe I should look into an electric Christmas candle thing soon...