Today is the first Sunday of Advent. I love Advent in Sweden - there is a strong tradition that this is the first day of the Christmas season and when everything comes alive in anticipation of Christmas.

We began our day with the lighting of the first Advent candle, setting up our advent stars and advent candles in the window and a traditional Advent breakfast.




This consists of a special bread called julvört (a dark and spicy rye bread made just for Christmas), some Christmas ham with a honey mustard, edam cheese, coffee, glögg (spiced mulled wine) with raisins and almonds and gingerbread.

In the winter darkness, the window display looks beautiful and we will be loving walking around town in the coming weeks and seeing all of the windows decorated for Christmas. Let's hope the snow returns as everything looks so much prettier surrounded by the glistening white snow.




Today is also known as skyltsöndag (literally shop window Sunday), when the town lights the special Christmas street lighting, the shops unveil their Christmas window displays and the real Christmas shopping season kicks off in Sweden. It's a much anticipated event. I know this has been in full swing in Adelaide since mid-November when the Adelaide Pageant took place, but here there is a much shorter, more intense season.

In a minute we are off to Nyköping to see the shop windows unveiled, to go to the Christmas market and hopefully wander around sipping glögg, eating warm toffee coated almonds and soaking up the atmosphere of the 2008 Advent season.