Skansen

Today we rose early again and went to Skansen, a large open-air folk museum. On the weekends during December there is a large outdoor Julmarknad, or Christmas market. In order to be part of this market you must be invited to participate, you must vend something traditional, and you must dress in traditional clothing. It was so neat seeing so many people wandering around in old-fashioned Swedish costumes and selling handmade & traditional toys, clothing, foods, and gifts.

Linnea and Pippi waiting to enter Skansen

Annali hanging out in a borrowed pram

A scale model of Skansen. The Julmarknad was in the very center at Bollnästorget

Hey, look! It's Tomten holding Pippi!

Pointing the way

A windmill representative of southern Sweden where Christine's family hails from

Kevin talking to a man in traditional Lapp clothing (from the very far north in Sweden)

Carollers. They even sang a Christmas carol in English!

Along with a couple friends, Ebba's dad has a booth there and they make something called kolbullar, which translates to charcoal buns, but is nothing like what it sounds. It is a batter of flour and water with bacon added in and served with lingonberry jam. It is REALLY good, and Linnea even gave it 2 thumbs up!

Eating Kolböllar

Linnea and Ebba sharing a Kolböllar

In the center of the market there was a huge Christmas tree, and a band was nearby playing music for many traditional ringdances. Linnea heard the music and started singing right away, so we wandered over and found loads of people dancing around the tree. Linnea and Ebba joined in the dancing and had a fantastic time! It was so cute seeing the huge smile on her face! Even Kevin, Annali and I joined in for a dance or two!
 After spending some time looking around at the market, we went to find the animals because there is also a zoo within Skansen. First we found some gray seals, then a few moose. Finally, we saw some REAL, LIVE REINDEER!!! They were so cool!

Annali and Ebba riding the "small" Dalahest

Linnea riding the big Dalahest

Warming up with a little hot cocoa - YUM!

A real live Swedish moose!

Linnea says this is a cousin of Santa's reindeer....we didn't see him fly, though

On our way out of Skansen, we went past the Christmas market one last time, and we were able to taste wild boar and moose meats. They were both very good! We left Skansen a bit chilly after having been outside all day long in below freezing conditions, though it was relatively warm compared with Alfta. We arrived back at Margareta & Ruben's with just enough time to eat some dinner before catching our evening train to Göteborg. Our train was on time, which Ebba says never happens in winter! We had an uneventful ride and went straight to Lena & Paolo's and to bed.

Annali's a little tired of being on the train

Linnea and Ebba writing stories on the train