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Summer in Scandinavia

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From: Nordic Reach
Date: 20060601
Author:¥ MÃ rtensson, Ulf

Well over a century ago, the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow visited Scandinavia and fell in love with the magic of its white nights:

"O how beautiful is the summer night which is not night, but a sunless yet unclouded day, descending upon earth with dews, and shadows, and refreshing coolness..."

In Scandinavia, where the winters are long and depressingly dark, the summer, when it finally arrives, is an overwhelming experience, causing a form of national catharsis.

Gone is the Ingmar Bergman gloom; usually introverted Scandinavians turn extroverted. As days lengthen and people stay ...

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