17 May is Norway's National Day. It is an official flag day and public holiday: a joyful celebration: happy kids, national costumes, flags, speeches, music, parades, good food and drinks. And all that to celebrate that in 1814 the constitution of Norway was made. In 1814 Norway had been in union with Denmark for over 400 years. However, as a part of the peace-plan after the Napoleon wars, Norway was given to Sweden, and stayed in a union with them until 1905, and then became an independent country. We still celebrate 17 of May as our National Day.
So here we are in India, thousands of miles away from Norway, with our 17 of May history, spirit and tradition. And what do we do? We celebrate of course! Poolside! We wear summer clothes (
we have 40 degrees Celsius...) and after the parade (
with Jens Book-Jenssen's Rødt, Hvitt og Blått) in between the palms, we jump in the swimming pool, but other than that: just like home! Maybe even a bit more intense, - in a way - we are far away from home... Well, we:
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| ...have a parade... |
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| ...jump in the pool after the parade... |
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| ...sing the National Anthem... |
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| ...eat delicious barbeque food.. |
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| ...and have some cake.. |
The Norwegian Constitution was inspired by America's declaration of independence in 1776,
the French Revolution in 1789,
the Swedish polity of 1809 and the Spanish Constitution of 1812 and was among Europe's most radical constitutions at the time.
I had a wonderful day dear reader - with my fellow countrymen- celebrating my home country:-) Happy birthday Norway:-)
I wish you a great weekend and stay tuned:-)
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