Breakfast in Bed and Midsummer's Night in Finland

The first morning in Sweden, I was awakened by a light tap at the door.  It was Greta, my adopted Swedish mother, bringing me a breakfast tray. I plumped up my pillows and she placed the tray on my lap.  There was a thermos of coffee and a pitcher of warm milk. Two pieces of toast were arranged on a pretty plate.  One was covered in thinly sliced cheese and the other was spread with a delicious berry jam.  I said,“Tack så mycket" (thanks so much) - one of the few phrases I knew in Swedish at that point. Breakfast in bed!  Wow!  What a treat!

This was repeated every morning.  I awoke to the smell of fresh coffee and I could laze around in bed and wake up slowly.  I wrote my mother about this delightful occurrence and she wrote back: “Debbie, I am disappointed to hear that you are staying in bed and not helping Greta with breakfast.  Get up and offer to help.  Shame on you.” You get the gist.

The next morning after receiving this commandment from home, I insisted on getting up and helping to carry trays up to the other members of the family.  Pretty soon, Gudrun was coming downstairs too and we sat at the breakfast table and had our coffee with Greta at the big kitchen table.  We chatted and laughed.  But Greta was not happy.  Finally after a couple of days, she begged me and Gudrun to stay in bed.  She wanted to sit quietly with her coffee and cigarettes and contemplate her day. She did not want help and she did not want company.  So the upshot was I had breakfast in bed for the entire year!

Savonlinna is the town where the Olavinlinna Castle is located.  See above on the East side of Finland. It's a hop, skip and  jump from the Russian border. In 1961, at the time of the Cold War, the proximity to our Number 1 Enemy provided a frisson of excitement and fear.

In the latter part of June, the family attended a Scandinavian medical conference in Savonlinna, Finland.  We took a car ferry across the Baltic to Helsinki and drove from there to Savonlinna. At that time there were not as many hotels as their seem to be now. Gunnar and Greta stayed in a hotel, but Gudrun and I were housed in an empty hospital ward.  There were perhaps 20 metal beds in the room.  

On the hospital grounds was a little rustic hut that was used as a sauna.  In the chilly mornings we donned our bathing suits, wrapped up in towels and went down to the hut. We slipped inside and sat down on our towels. I remember there was a wood fire and we threw water on it to create steam.  After roasting for 15 minutes, we flew out of the hut and jumped into the icy cold lake, screaming and laughing all the while.

On midsummer’s night, there was a medieval feast in the Olavinlinna castle.  The dinner took place on long trestle tables and we chowed down on rustic victuals like Knights of the Round Table or Viking Lords. Musicians entertained us with medieval airs on period instruments.

Olavinlinna Castle with the town of Savonlinna in the background. The town is surrounded by lakes.

Part of the magic of the evening, was that we were celebrating Midsummer’s Eve.   This is one of Sweden’s major holidays.  If you think about the long, dark winters, it’s no wonder that summer and the arrival of long, sunny days are to be celebrated. I just checked.  In Savonlinna on June 21st, sunset is at 10:57 and sunrise is at 3:16.  So there is a very brief night where it barely gets dark. People stay up all night and drink aquavit (water of life), a strong spirit flavored with spices and herbs. Children make crowns of flowers and in some villages they perform folk dances.

I remember wandering the castle after the dinner and climbing up on the ramparts as the sun set.  Later curled up in my hospital bed, I could hear the twittering of birds that were welcoming the new day.