The Lucia train in my in-laws home. Notice the girl with the lights in her hair. She is cheating, normally it should be real candles not electric lights.
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Yesterday was St. Lucia day. This originally comes from Italy, but if you were here you would know why the Swedes want to celebrate light. Yes, it is incredibly dark. The sun rises between 8:30 and 9:00 (that is if you can actually see it that day through the gray dark clouds) and sets at 3:30. So in other words by 4:00 p.m. it is totally dark and by 6:00 p.m. you feel like you should be in bed fast asleep.
So on the 13th of every December, St. Lucia concerts and trains are carried out all over this dark land. It began for me at 7:15 a.m. I was spending the night at my in-laws home with Samuel. They knew that I had not seen a Lucia festival before (we missed it last time we lived here). So Mom and Dad came into my dark room wearing white robes, garland in their hair, carrying candles and singing songs. It was great! Now usually the girl is suppose to have 5 candles lit on her head, but mom decided against that this particular morning. The best thing about it is that they let me take their picture. So above you can see the wonder that I woke up to.
Thursday evening Andreas and I went to a Lucia concert (I was able to see the girl with the candles on her head) and then as we were coming back to mom and dad's home a Lucia train was on its way to their front door. A Lucia train is the "crowned" Lucia with all of her helpers. The funniest of them all is the male in the back with the dunce hat on. They carry candles and sing about light. You can view the video above and see Samuel's reaction to it all. It was nice to view a large part of the Swedish Christmas festivities. Hope you enjoy them.
Love,
Laurie
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