#59 Valborg i Uppsala (or a Swedish festival)

Walpurgis Night (aka Walpurgisnacht, or Valborg in Swedish) is a celebration at the end of April in some European countries such as Germany, Czech Republic, Finland and Sweden. It marks 6 months from All-Hallows Eve and is usually celebrated with bonfires etc. In Sweden, it is celebrated most in the college towns of Lund in Southern Sweden, and Uppsala which is only an hour north of Stockholm.

So I went to Uppsala to see what the craze was about! The weather was pretty bad, it was very windy and although there were patches of blue skies, it rained heavily twice, which really put a damper on the festival atmosphere. Traditionally, students would engage in strawberry eating and champagne showers in the halls of the college, but now it is more or less like any other festival with young people - lots of alcohol!

 Marching band

 The streets lined with people!

To enter most of the parties, you needed a Nation card (Nations are basically like American fraternity houses) which we didn't have. We walked by some of these parties (at 3pm in the day) and they looked wild, but there were lots of people having fun outside too. 

This one was pretty crazy

One of the traditions we saw is the waving of the sailor hats you earn on graduation from the Carolina Redviva buidling. They had a big countdown timer, and a huge crowd gathered when it hit zero - but it was terribly disappointing! All they did was wave hats from the balcony for a few seconds - everyone cheered, and then it was kind of awkward. . .maybe it is something you have to be Swedish to enjoy?

 Hat waving time!

There was a huge party in the Economics park, it was basically young people everywhere sitting on rugs and drinking and having picnics. It was a pity the weather wasn't so nice, but people were still having a lot of fun. People had brought big speakers with them, so you could hear different music as you walked around the park. The only bad thing was how dirty it got - the place was disgusting by the time it hit 6pm! There were lots of police around checking nothing got too crazy, and also looking after the drunk people too which was nice. 

 Check out the party!

 What a mess...

My biggest surprise about Uppsala was that there was no bonfire! I thought it was a big part of the celebrations, but there was none in central Uppsala which was disappointing. Luckily some of my neighbours had built a small one right outside my house, so I still got to experience it when I got home!

Mini bonfire!

#40 Uppsala Ice Festival

During the week I ventured away from Stockholm (just a little) and visited Uppsala. It's a nice town just North of Stockholm, and easily accessible for a day trip.

The town is most famous for it's old university and cathedral, but I visited an Ice Festival which was on for this week only.

Ice Festival: It was free entrance, and although it was obviously really cool (pun not intended!) it wasn't fantastic. There were about ten or so sculptures, and many of them were artistic designs. I personally would have preferred more animals or familiar shapes. Apparently they were also better at night because they were lit up, but I left before it got dark.

Bear

Fish

Sabre tooth tiger

Design

The University building is nice, and inside it has a cafe and some statues. The Cathedral is also very impressive, and the tallest Church in Scandinavia. It has a museum attached to it that costs money to enter. There's also a Castle that gives a good view over Uppsala, and it has nice gardens (although they are covered in snow now). I didn't enter but I think there's an art gallery or something there. I'll admit I wasn't hugely interested in any of these places, but they were nice to visit. 

Uppsala University

Cathedral

Castle

The University, Castle, Cathedral and big shopping street are all close to the train station. There are buses that can take you out further, but these tickets are different from the ones you use in Stockholm.

To get to Uppsala from Stockholm requires only one train and takes less than an hour, but the pricing is different as it is a separate county to Stockholm. I spent a long time working it out as different people told me different things, but the following was what happened for me: If you have your SL Stockholm travel card (this should also cover the 1, 3 and 7 day cards) then you can get a commuter train for 60kr on the way, and 90kr on the way home (it's ridiculous it costs more to get home, I know!!). This is probably the easiest option and is what I did. You also have the option to get the SJ train which is a little faster but prices vary depending on times (from about 70kr to 150kr), and usually requires booking.

Also, I'm not sure if this is an official thing that Uppsala is famous for, but you can get really big Kanel Bulle (cinnamon buns) at the cafés there. They tasted good too, and cost at most 30kr (which was the average for the desserts).

So that was my trip to Uppsala! It was a nice place to spend a day, but for me it was nothing spectacular. If you only have a short time in Sweden then there are probably better places to visit, but if you have the time it's worth a visit.