Midsummer in Sweden

So for those who don't know, Midsummer is the festival for that time of the year when the day is the longest and night the shortest of the year. It usually takes place around the 20th June. Since we've seen so many Midsummers in Finland, me and four other friends wanted to see something different this time, so we traveled to Luleå in Swedish Lapland to experience Swedish Midsummer. :) We went there by car, since it's not that far from our home, and stayed in a tent for two nights on a camping site called First Camp. Actually the only problem with sleeping in a tent were the nights; no matter what, it was goddamn cold when we went to sleep and unbearably hot when we woke up, so we only slept a couple of hours every night. When we returned home, I slept 12 hours straight when I finally got to sleep on my own bed. :D

Well, at first I have to say that Luleå is a really beautiful place and Swedish people are very friendly, but we faced pretty many problems during less than three days. We got counterfeit money even in a place like Sweden, were sold bus tickets to a bus that wasn't even coming that day and couldn't return them, one friend broke her toe and what else. Mostly the problems were related to First Camp. Maybe they had too much personnel working and changing all the time, but it seemed that someone always said one thing and someone else another thing and some things weren't even informed of or checked properly, so it was a bit messy. The personnel were friendly, ready to serve and spoke great English though, but still we got the feeling that practical things weren't handled that well. At some point, it felt like so many things went wrong that it was almost funny. Well, at least the camping site was nice. :D

Luckily we also had good times. :) On our first day we went to the church town of Gammelstad to a traditional midsummer celebration. It was organized in an open air museum called Hägnan, which consisted of traditional old buildings, some cafés, domestic animals and stuff like that. To be honest it was a bit too crowded but nevertheless really nice. :) There were pretty many activities for children like pony riding, making wreaths of flowers, jumping to haypiles and some small rooms to play, but the whole thing was enjoyable for young people like us as well. Everybody could join decorating the maypole, which was later raised and people danced around it. There was some instrumental music and self-made food, and the personnel were wearing traditional clothes, so the atmosphere was really great. :) The town of Gammelstad with all the narrow streets and old buildings and the church are also worth visiting.

The old church of Gammelstad.

Gammelstad's streets.

In the Midsummer celebrations of Hägnan.

 Some personnel with traditional clothing.

The maypole :)

Actually we never really visited the center of Luleå since all the shops were closed during Midsummer. We only visited one small beach (after one nice girl from First Camp dropped us there with her car, since they sold us the wrong bus tickets), because someone from the reception of First Camp told us that usually young people gather there and have a bonfire and stuff. Well, turned out that almost the whole beach was empty and there was no bonfire, but luckily we met some nice Swedish guys and could spend the evening with them. At least there was a fireplace, since at some point the night got pretty cold, but it was still fun. :D

 Another quite nice thing was the Norrbottens railway museum and old industrial area just close to the First Camp. Actually we only visited there really fast, but there were some old trains and engines, some halls and an old station building, and also the ruins of an iron factory close by. We didn't find any info building or ticket sale, so I suppose it was just something to visit by yourself to see everything from the outside. It works well that way too, since it was not that much to see but still nice to walk around since it's on the same area with the camping site. :)

Some of the ruins of the iron factory.

 

 Around the railway museum.

 The station building.

After all it's a bit hard to say if the trip was good or not. Many many things could have been better, but we also had fun moments. At least we got to experience something different and have a small holiday from the ordinary life. After all every trip is an adventure if nothing else, and at least we have a lot to tell about it now. :D Better next time then!

★ Maani