Constitution Day - a long delayed post

Norway's national day is May 17th. If you're interested in the history behind this, I refer you to the Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Constitution_Day that gives a pretty full account along with some pictures of the celebrations.

Norwegians take the 17th seriously. There is a traditional fancy breakfast, which we had at Andor's:



There's also the traditional "wreath cake" of almonds; Inki's aunt Ellen makes them for all special occasions. Yum!



Everyone dresses up and is either in a parade or goes to town to watch the parade. If you have a bunad (the Norwegian national costume), you wear it. They're also worn to weddings and anywhere else you would wear formal dress. Again, I can refer you to the Wikipedia article for more background if you like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunad

We, of course, didn't wear bunads. Inki's doesn't quite fit when she's six-plus months pregnant, and I don't have one, though there is some discussion amongst the family as to whether I ought to get one or not. Certainly our little girl will have one when she gets old enough, and they make little simplified versions for children as well since kids grow out of them quickly.

Here are some pictures from the parade. Note that everyone is either in a bunad or a suit or dress:





These kids are in the marching drum corps (buekorps), a Bergen tradition. There are several "battalions" in the different districts of town, and their marches through the streets mark the unofficial start of spring here. When we went for the ultrasound, there was a recruiting poster in the maternity unit with a baby wearing the trademark cap. They start them early here.



Lots of elementary school classes marched with their parents. Here's one group from the local Montessori school:



And here we are, in a picture I took myself....



It was a perfect day, as you can see from this panorama shot of the lake at the center of town:



After the parade, we went back to Andor's and had a cookout in the garden with our friends Ingrid and Eirik and their two kids Leah and Heine (pictured) plus Christine, Torstein and their son Erlend:



after which there was much running about, both by and with the kids:







And here's little Erlend, a year old and barely the size of one of Andor's tulips: