Nina's Blog - Saturday 17th May 2025

Saturday 17th May 2025, 17:25

Today is Constitution Day, always referred to simply by the date 17. mai. Pronounced something like this

This was the first time for many years that I have walked alongside the procession. I found it very emotional, almost to the point of tears. I just wish the rest of the world could be like this. We celebrate Constitution Day with a children's procession not a military one. The message is inclusion not power. People dress as they please, most in some kind of finery but some in very everyday clothes. Some women wore very short dresses and others floor length and everything in between And of course many wore bunad which is a kind of national dress that varies from valley to valley in the details of the colours and decoration.

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PoohSmasher

Wow, that is a nice dress, fits you perfectly.
Sounds like a nice family outing. These days I would be scared to be in a crowd as that seems to be a target for mentally challenged individuals, but maybe that isn't so bad where you live. I see you got the weather too. Bonus.

ninalanyon · 70-79, T

@PoohSmasher Thank you!

It's very much a family oriented event. It never occurred to me that I, or anyone else, would be at any risk. It's not something I think about anywhere I go. I do avoid places like bars with groups of men hanging around being loud and smoking but that's about it. There are whole countries that I avoid because of their attitudes to LGBTQ+ people but that's a specific risk rather that a general fear of violence. So I don't travel to Poland any more even though it is a place i have visited many times in the past in male mode. And of course, I don't have any plans to visit other more Eastern European countries.

And yes the weather is great!

ninalanyon · 70-79, T

Saturday 17th May 2025, 17:57

I dithered for quite a while yesterday about whether to join the procession and eventually decided that I would. In most of the last ten years I have either been out of the country or had some reason to not go.

I wore my favourite long summer skirt, red blouse, red jewellery, red sunglasses, and red nail varnish. The skirt is a two layer wraparound. I was going to wear my broad brimmed red hat as well but it was too breezy. Hardly anyone wears a hat for 17. mai here anyway, i think i only saw half a dozen hats today, mostly on men.

Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

And I bet the akvavit flows freely after the parade. Skoal !

ninalanyon · 70-79, T

@Thinkerbell It's not really an occasion for a lot of drinking although of course people do. There was some controversy in Oslo this year as bars were given permission to open at 10:00 instead of the previous 12:00. A lot of people are of the opinion that extended drinking hours are inappropriate as the focus is on the children's procession.

The procession in most towns starts at 10:00 and it's all over by 12:00 and people either return home or attend some sort of family event in the local sports hall or sometimes out in the open.

Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

@ninalanyon

I agree that they should have held off on the Oslo bar openings until after the procession finished at noon.

BohoBabe · M

Americans aren't allowed to celebrate this anymore.

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Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

@BohoBabe

The Vikings never heard of the syttende Mai festival.

BohoBabe · M

@Thinkerbell That's fake news.

Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

@ninalanyon

Boo-boo is just being silly.

Americans of Norwegian ancestry celebrate 17. mai, as shown in the link I gave him.

https://www.stoughtonfestivals.com/

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