NyStateOfMind

Battery Park on lower Manhattan is definitely the place to be if you want to celebrate midsummer in New York.

Before we got to the city we had Swedish lunch at my friend Stina's house. Meatballs, mini potatoes, sour cream, herring and of course strawberries with whipped cream for dessert. Around 4pm we got to the city and started looking for a spot where we could spread our blankets. The park was packed with people and I was very impressed to see how many people were wearing flower reefs on their heads. The choir was singing Swedish song and the Swedish flags were blowing in the wind. It was hot and humid but the breeze from the river helped cool us all down. One of the first announcements they gave was ”it is against the law to drink alcohol beverages outside in New York so please respect the law and enjoy this day without alcohol”. You could almost hear all the Swedes laughing as they drank their beer from big red cups. Of course we all did the same thing and no one gave us a hard time about it. The Swedish folk dancers did a few dances around the Midsummer Pole and shortly after it was time for Små Groderna and all the other traditional songs/dances. If I were to guess there was probably about ten circles around the Pole and everybody was singing louder than the person next to them as we jumped around like frogs.

This was probably the best Midsummer I have had since I moved here.