Sorry for the delay, I got kinda busy.
April 30 was Walpurgis, commonly referred to as Valborg. Basically, it's a big party to celebrate the coming of spring.
The morning started with rafting down the Fyris river. Luckily the flooding had gone down so they were allowed to do it. Students make the rafts during the week out of foam and glue.
You can't really see it, but first they sent down a bunch of rubber ducks to test the water.
The rescue workers getting ready.
Then some of the rescue workers tested the water.
The first to go down the river were a group of kayaks.
I'm sure this restaurant was glad that they were no longer flooded.
The first boats arrived. You need to arrive early to get a good view. If you stand up the river you see more of the race but it's better to stand near the end of the race because then you get to see the rapids.
The first boat made it through safely. I'm told that each boat has at least one engineer. This particular boat was made by the Uppsala Union of Engineering and Science Students.
Rescue workers waiting.
Some boats needed to work on their steering.
We managed to get a really good view of the rapids.
Some boats didn't make it through in one piece.
These people managed to hold on.
Because of the water levels they were only letting one boat go down the rapids at a time so it wasn't much of a race. It was still very exciting.
A lot of boats completely fell apart.
Some boats almost tipped over...
But were able to make it down the rapids safely.
All of the boats are decorated by the students, often around a theme.
Down the rapids they go.
I was impressed that the rescue workers jumped in so quickly and spent so much time in the water. It had to have been really cold. I was wearing a sweater, scarf, and wool coat.
Another boat flipped over.
Mutant Ninja Turtles!
These guys fell partly apart...
But were able to hold it together.
Although a lot of boats fell apart or flipped over, quite a few made it through intact.
It seemed to me that as time went on more boats fell apart. Maybe all of the well engineered boats were also the fastest.
Another success.
Some quick repairs.
Oh no.
It seemed to be everyone for themselves once your boat fell apart.
And one more wrecked boat before we left for the park.
People were drinking in the park by the castle. The police turned a blind eye to all of the drinking in public as long as you weren't being a nuisance.
The first signs of spring were there despite it being quite cold.
The trees still had no leaves so it was only the occasional flower that showed spring was coming.
Just before 3pm everyone gathers at the main university library, Carolina Rediviva.
At 3pm exactly, the Uppsala University Vice-Chancellor waves their graduation hat in the air to signal the start of spring. Then people go down the hill and have champagne at one of the student Nations.
In the evening, I went to Gamla Uppsala.
About 5km from Uppsala, you can still see the church and castle.
They built a giant bonfire.
Which they had some children light with torches.
I didn't see any fire trucks around. Fire safety doesn't seem to be a high priority.
It was a big fire. To the left there was a tree and some of the surrounding area caught fire. No one rushed to put it out. Also, people were standing really close.
Then there were fireworks set off from the top of one of the burial mounds.
The fire did burn down some.
It was a very hot fire. The flames were blue in some spots.
It was a gorgeous night in Gamla Uppsala.
It took another week or two for the leaves to appear on the trees but they are here now. Sun officially sets at 9:30pm and rises at 4am. However, you can still see light from the sun at 11pm and you start to see it again by 2am. It's messing with my sleep cycle.
Posts about Copenhagen and Bergen to come.
