Hejsan! While the US still debating over whether or not you’re allowed to listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving, Christian-influenced countries without this extra holiday have entered into the full Christmas swing. Stores have put up their Christmas displays, new Christmas lights have been hung across the main roads in Lund, the weather has shifted into a grey backdrop (really allowing us to focus on the Christmas lights), and the famous Scandinavian Christmas markets have started popping up. One of the large ones in southern Sweden is “Smålandsjul på Huseby” (Smålandsjul at Huseby Bruk), which is about two hours northeast of Lund, in the Smålands region. It started on Saturday November12th, so Leah, Shea, Ashley, and I piled into Ashley’s car to go visit it. Of course, we stopped along the way at Åsnen lake, which is connected to Åsnen national park. Where we parked was next to some ancient burial mounds and stones, so we wandered along the trail connecting these graves and the lake. Leah very sweetly told me that my outfit matched the landscape (which is quite a feat, considering that I hadn’t known where we were going until that morning), so we did a fun little photoshoot in the area!

After we enjoyed the pastels on clouds sunset, we drove the final fifteen minutes to the Christmas market. It was such a cute spot, as the market was set up across an entire manor property. There were plenty of stalls inside various buildings as well as small lamps and Christmas trees dotting the paths. I am very glad that I got to enjoy the market this weekend, as I missed the Sugar Plum Festival back home. After spending multiple hours wandering through the buildings and tents, we entered into what I believe was the best tent (which was nestled in the back). This tent had all of the farmers market vendors, so there were so many cheese, sausage, candy, and glögg samples to try. I didn’t purchase any food, but I enjoyed the variety of tasty snacks being presented. The market closed at 8pm, and we drove the two hours back to Lund. I was quite tired after having a late night Friday and our full day Saturday, so I took a chill day Sunday to do homework and recuperate. I hope that everyone gets to enjoy fun Christmas markets and friends as we enter into this holiday season! Hejdå!