Category: Joslyn in Lund

Glad Semmeldagen! I am not sure if it would be a proper blog about Sweden if I didn’t have yet another post talking about a specific pastry. I am very much loving the Swedish concept of fika and the delicious variety of pastries that all Swedish cafes have to offer, so I find extra joy in the seasonal pastries that I am discovering over my time here. One pastry in particular that has a special place in my heart is the large Nordic creampuff, as it reminds me of my time in Iceland (and will now remind me of my time in Sweden). Obviously, there are a lot of similarities between the Nordic countries in their culture and how they are run. However, I feel as though there haven’t been as many concepts that I experience that I can identify as just Nordic. Many of the special Swedish and Icelandic overlaps that I have seen are also found in other European countries (especially Germany), so it doesn’t feel as unique. I may be wrong, but the creampuffs are one concept that feels specifically Nordic and I am really enjoying learning about. 

In Iceland, they celebrate the Monday before Fat Tuesday as Bolludagur (cream puff day). This was one of the most amazing holidays that my family fell in love with, and we now keep up the tradition back in the US. In Sweden, they don’t have a special day for cream puffs, but they actually started making these giant cream puffs on Fat Tuesday. Technically, Fat Tuesday can also be called Semmel Day in Sweden, so it could be the equivalent of the Icelandic Bolludagur.

The pastries are known as semla, and are a slightly different consistency than normal creampuffs. Originally, they were a special type of roll that Scandinavians would serve in milk. However, the Swedes decided to add a layer of an almond flavored mix to them as well as the cream middle because they were bored with the plain bread. This has now developed into the special seasonal pastry that can be seen at every cafe in the month leading up to Fat Tuesday. It is also a special flavor that seems to take over the country, and you can purchase semla flavored coffee drinks and cookies and ice cream. There are many debates over the best semla recipe and concoction. One of the most famous was the semla wrap invented a few years ago in Stockholm. Burger King even offers a semla burger, though I don’t think that one is sticking as much as other semla mixes. 

Not only am I getting to enjoy eating these delicious pastries, I am very lucky that a friend wanted to try making them and invited me to join. It was a long process but very fun and delicious! While I am super glad that I learned how to make these (and getting to make this traditional Swedish pastry has added to my perfect Swedish weekends), this is a recipe I will be trepidatious bringing home. The Nordics are very similar in a lot of ways, but there are some differences between their foods and culture. Iceland’s bollur are much more similar to creampuffs than Sweden’s semlor (these are heartier bread buns). I love both, as they both hold special places in my heart and memory of time in these spectacular countries. However, I think my family is very partial to the delicate creampuff consistency of Icelandic bollur. I am a bit worried to bring this recipe home, as I can imagine that they will be disappointed in the difference. I suppose that a good solution will be to celebrate both Bolludagur and Semmeldagen, as they are on different days. Who can really complain about having two different pastry days in a row? 

Hej! When I first got back to Sweden after going home for part of the winter break, I still had a week left before classes started. I made the most of this time off of school to go see more of Sweden. One thing that I have made sure to do is explore the country that I am living in for a year. It is so nice and fun to go visit other countries in Europe, as they are a lot closer to me now than when I am in Colorado. However, it has been really important to me that I not only take the time to form a life in Lund, but that I also explore the amazing experiences that Sweden has to offer.

One of my bucket list items was to go above the arctic circle, so I got a Eurail ticket for Sweden in order to take an overnight train from Stockholm to Abisko, one of the northernmost villages in Sweden. While I did a ton of fun activities on this trip (and even spontaneously added an overnight cabin adventure), one of the absolute best aspects of this trip was getting to see the northern lights with one of my best friends in Sweden. A lot of the special winter activities that you can do in Northern Scandinavia are the same activities that we can do in Colorado, so they weren’t the unique part of my trip. And while I had seen the Northern Lights during my time living in Iceland as a child, the show we got on our last night was absolutely breathtaking.

My friend Ellen, a Dutch girl who had studying abroad in Lund last semester, and I were staying at a hostel in Abisko and had bonded with some of the other people in our room and others staying at the hostel in general. Ellen met some other Dutch guy, and the three of us walked down to the lake to see the lights around 9:30 (we could see them when we stepped out of the sauna earlier). On the walk down, there were bands of Northern Lights all around the horizon, and most looked green to the naked eye. There were some ribbons moving to the North, and this one horizontal streak that ran from East to South. I was very happy with getting to see this, and was glad that they stayed even after we got to the lake. They were gorgeous and very prominent so I was content. It was solidly a good show. Even though I come from a great place to view the stars, standing there looking at the stars and Northern Lights was still stunning. I felt very small, and that was the first moment when I truly felt like I was at the end of the Earth.

By around 10:30, all of our friends from the hostel had joined us. Some of the lights to the North had faded out, but we were still enjoying all that we were getting to see. Then, the most impressive thing happened. The long streak running East to South broke into lots of small vertical ribbons, and they came towards us, breaking into the most breathtaking show that I can remember seeing. They danced across the sky at various speeds, with ones breaking away as the entire wall of light moved forwards. The colors got brighter, with green, red, and pink showing to the naked eye. I wish I had words to describe the feeling when the wall came directly over us. It was magical and sublime and frightening all at once. When I was taking AP Lit in high school, we had to read a short story about a woman’s experience seeing a total solar eclipse. I remember that in this story, she talked about this unearthly experience as the shadow of night raced up and past her group. She said that some people screamed and that she felt so alive and terrified at once. I have seen a total solar eclipse, and it was wonderful. But it didn’t incite such a visceral reaction in me. I didn’t understand that story, that feeling, until the moment that the Aurora Borealis was above us. 

At that point, it was no longer a band or dancing ribbons, it had become a waterfall of green light pouring down on us. Along the bottom, there were pink waves that weaved their way through the streaks and shards of green. A red cloud formed in one part to the West, and moved along with the rest of the lights. It didn’t just pass us either, it stayed there for what felt like an eternity. There was a part of the band that curved around and formed a curlicue over the lake. It then was fully above us and turned into the giant green cloud, where I couldn’t identify the individual strands anymore. It was just color and movement. It finally did pass, but more thick bands came by with just as much vibrance. We got a solid 45 minutes of this phenomenal show, which then died back down to a genuinely good set of lights. However, we were all cold after having spent 2.5 hours out in the polar night (and ‘”it isn’t as good as it had been”), so we trekked back up to the hostel. I have included a collection of the amazing photos everyone else took of the Northern Lights. My phone camera is too old to work well with the night lighting and extended exposure, so I got to simply appreciate the show while everyone else was trying to take good photos. I then got to enjoy their best pics in the WhatsApp groupchat titled “Green and pink waterfalls”. 

Overall, seeing the Northern Lights with a friend and a bunch of strangers was one of the most magical experiences that I have had in Sweden. It was even more special that I got to see these while in the country that I am living in for a year. I definitely recommend taking the chance to explore the far reaches of the country you chose to study abroad in instead of only using it as a launching pad for other adventures. On top of getting to experience some of the most amazing things this planet has to offer, there is something very comforting about visiting a new place that has the same language and cultural aspects as the place you’re living. While Abisko was vastly different from Lund, I was able to use the little Swedish I have picked up, and I knew what to expect within the grocery store. I didn’t feel as much like an outsider as I would have if I had gone on this trip elsewhere.