Ladies and gentlemen, the spring equinox (vårdagjämningen) is here which officially means SPRING. Or…?

The past two winters in Sweden has been unbelievably long and hard – even with Scandinavians standards. The snow came early and left late – even down south – and the snowman we made during Christmas last year was still standing when we returned almost three month later. This year, the spring is desperately trying to break through, but it seems rather hopeless… I went to Sweden last weekend and arrived to a spring-like Göteborg with mild temperatures and people drinking coffee in the sun (see Tibor’s lovely photos here!) but when I woke up the next morning, the world was completely covered in white again. Even my six year old nephew – who normally loves snow as most kids do – went nuts and yelled “I can’t take it anymore!!”.

So what do Swedes do to cope with this endless winter? Apart from constantly moaning about it, drink loads and watch Melodifestivalen, we gather signs of spring (vårtecken). Almost all newspapers have a section with pictures of vårtecken, the news on tv talks about vårtecken and there are websites completely dedicated to vårtecken – everything to keep our hopes up.
Here are some of the vårtecken that the Swedes are looking out for:

I trädgården (In the garden):
Tussilago (Coltsfoot)
The first sign of spring is this little fellow, mostly found in ditches and along the roads.

Vitsippa (Wood anemone)
This lovely little flower is covering slopes and the woods in Sweden come spring.

Scilla (Scilla)
A beautiful wild flower that tend to take over gardens in the spring.

I stan (In town):
Motorcyklar (Motorcycles)
All of a sudden, they are everywhere, all the time. The bikers definitely emerge from hibernation when spring is coming.

Uteserveringar (Beer gardens)
Most bars, pubs and coffee shops all of a sudden expand and get an outdoor area on the street or at the back – and it always comes with blankets in case the Swedish spring isn’t warm enough.

I nyheterna (In the news):
Allsvenskan (The Swedish top footbool leauge)
When most football leauges draw to an end – the Swedish Allsvenskan is kicking off! It goes on from April-September, the safest months for avoiding snow on the pitch!

På folk (On people):
Gympaskor (Sneakers)
Sneakers don’t really work with snow, ice and slush. Therefore, it’s a big day when you can take your beloved ones out for the first walk of the year.

What signs of spring do you look out for?