Friday 24 June 2011

Swedish Midsummer at Mas Orpí, Alt Penedès


Today, Friday, Swedes living in Sweden will celebrate Midsummer, while we and a group of more or less Swedish families from Barcelona and its vicinity already have this behind us. For the fourth consecutive year we rented a masia (a former Catalan farmhouse) for a weekend, to be able to live out our own traditions with songs, herring and potatoes plus schnapps and everything else that goes with it.

This year we organized the event in the Penedès area and if I am allowed to decide, we will of course remain here. The house, Mas Orpí (Castellví de la marca), had many rooms, a well-equipped kitchen, large common areas and - above all – an incredible view of Penedès vineyards and the rolling landscape. Or "Penedès, aka Tuscany, aka Falcon Crest", as one of our friends put it.

The only thing we missed a bit was a patch of grass big enough for our dances, but we were helped out by the neighbours who let us erect our maypole (midsommarstång, in Swedish) on their land. So, in the end our children received their annual dose of små grodorna while a few native Catalans had their Sunday afternoon enriched with Swedish culture.




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