May 17th
In Norway the 17th of May is like the 4th of July. It's a national holiday where, as ja's advisor put it, "everyone dresses in their finest clothes and eats hot dogs". There are parades and celebrations in the streets. The Norwegian royalty also comes out and waves at the crowds from their high balconies. We saw them as red colored specks in the distance.
There were many, many parades. They included schoolchildren waving flags and shouting "Hip! Hip! Hooray!" and bands of various quality. The bands seemed to prefer playing American music from the 70's and theme songs from American sitcoms. I'm sure this is a profound revelation into the Scandinavian psyche - or at least insight into the minds of their marching bands but, if this day was any measure, about 20% of the entire population of Norway is in a marching band.
The parades started all over the city and converged on the main street which runs straight up the hill to the royal palace. This street was choked with people gathered to watch and flanked by ethnic street vendors hocking balloons, noisemakers, and flags.
I took a lot of pictures during the festivities. It was a chance to take pictures of the people without worrying about getting permission.
