There are no legions in Sweden, so I made my own poppy this year. I will be out of the office this week, so I posted it by my office door for Jennie, since I expect she will be the only one to recognize it. Sweden has been neutral for a long time, so there are no cenetaphs or World War monuments in the parks or public squares like in other parts of Europe, or in Canada.
I spent last Remembrance Day in Umeå, and I will do the same this year too. In the day I will work at the University and take a break to remember, and in the evening I will got to a pub with some colleagues and feel lucky.
I forgot to say thank you for the poppy posting when I saw you tonight.
It really is strange to be in a non-poppy wearing land. Good on you for your crafting … I did not get there this year. I did take that tack whilst living in Boston. I think I shall request some actual Canadian poppies be sent over now for us for next year though! I nearly asked a Brit (I think) that I saw wearing one at Arlanda if she could spare it, but I thought that might be a bit cheeky.
I opted for a 5pm observation of the silence this year to coincide with Ottawa’s live coverage on the CBC since the BBC coverage wasn’t at 11am anyway and I am quite partial to Ottawa. It was really nice to be able to stream it.