Happy Easter! It is late this year and strange. I miss being with the kids over the holidays but we will have those times again sometime. Right now I miss my two daughters and my grandchildren a great deal. I might be feeling a bit more homesick since my friend Beverly is not here. It feels like a part of me is left with her.

I did not celebrate the holiday as usual. The night before we had some deviled eggs, boiled potatoes, and salmon for dinner. The salmon was a bit strange tasting and the potatoes were not cooked fully. I also had a lobster-flavored Mayonaise but that turned out ok. We also finished the princess cake we had leftover from the other day! That was delicious.

Easter is celebrated a bit differently here than in the states. In the states, we have Easter baskets that the Easter bunny fills with candy and goodies. Here they have paper Easter Eggs that get filled with goodies and sometimes a book or something else. We decorate with eggs, bunnies, and chicks and they do as well but they also have feathers on their newly sprung tree branches. They also decorate Easter eggs and I heard a huge number of eggs get eaten each hour in Sweden. I wished I had written it down now. Thought I would remember.

I asked a few random strangers what they were going to do for Easter. Eat, drink and spend time with family or friends were the answers I got. They said usually a feast which is similar to Christmas except, no ham. They would drink Påskmust which is like Julmust a spice flavored cola. Some had meatballs, definitely a variety of pickled herring, eggs of course, and perhaps some salmon or lamb. Susanne was making a savory pie which sounded amazing and I wished I could have tasted it.

While my day was uneventful some do choose to do Easter hug hunts. I saw several being advertised, including one at the main train station. I had heard that children dress up as Easter witches and go around to the neighbors asking for candy but I saw none myself. I did see a few decorated branches around town and in my local neighborhood.

I was rather hoping to see local children dressed up and going around. Their is legend that the witches go to a special place on Friday to mingle and return on Easter day. I just read one account that they mingle with the devil. I had not heard this before. Read another about young men tapping a woman with a stick until she gives him a drink and on Saturday it is reversed. This dates back to the medieval days one author stated. The dressing up of the children started in the 1900s and was nothing fancy just scarves and things laying around. Perhaps they do this for family and friends they know and hand out homemade drawings or letters in exchange for candy. I was sorry to miss this part.

The bakeries had dressed up their traditional pastries to fit the theme and we heard there may be a princess cake with Mango filling but we did not find one.

The other thing which was different were the days off. Friday, lång fredag, the smaller shops were closed. Saturday they were open and they were closed again on Sunday. The malls and other places were open. It was interesting and different than I am used to where everything was closed Easter Sunday. Offices and small shops were also closed on Monday.

I am grateful to experience the seasons and holidays as much as possible. This holiday was quieter than Christmas but I enjoyed seeing the beautiful decorations. I did get to speak to the girls and some of the grandchildren. That made me super happy but I missed being a part of their celebration. Thankfully they are good at taking pictures to share with me.