a swedish finn walpurgis and mayday

last night was vappen, which is short for valborgs mässoafton, a holiday known as walpurgis in german and possibly some other languages. it's a kind of special finnish holiday, though, which doesn't exist in any of the other nordic lands quite the same way. the most special feature of the carnival are the ( little white hats. )

when wax and i left the watchtower hill last night, it was still thickly thronged with thousands of finnish swedes of all ages, from babies in strollers and children running around to little old people with white hair.

when we came back today for the traditional mayday picnic it was almost like we'd barely left--still incredibly crowded, though definitely notably less crowded. this is good because it means i was able to get some pictures of the sea of white hats. i was really sad that i forgot my camera last night. ( eleven pictures, including a good look at the little white hat and several wide shots of the sea of people massed on the hill. also, a hatless wax looking kind of emo. )