The Essence of the 17th of May

True to tradition the theme is 17 today. This is a rather special 17, given that it is the 200th Anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution, and we were invited to the Norwegian Consul General in Barcelona for a midday celebration. I have to add that the Consuls lives in Calle Cub..... 17 (true story).

I took quite a few pictures today, but this probably symbolizes the celebration. Norwegian pølse (sausage), the Norwegian flag and colours all over the place, and beer... Danish beer today to illustrate the separation from our Danish fiends in 1824. You may want to count the number of Norwegian flags that can be seen on the surface of the napkin... pure coincidence.

Here is some Wiki History:

Norwegian Constitution Day is the National Day of Norway and is an official national holiday observed on May 17 each year. Among Norwegians, the day is referred to simply as søttende mai (meaning May Seventeenth), Nasjonaldagen (The National Day) or Grunnlovsdagen (The Constitution Day), although the latter is less frequent.

The Constitution of Norway was signed at Eidsvoll on May 17 in the year 1814. The constitution declared Norway to be an independent kingdom in an attempt to avoid being ceded to Sweden after Denmark-Norway's devastating defeat in the Napoleonic wars.

The celebration of this day began spontaneously among students and others from early on. However, Norway was at that time in a union with Sweden (following the Convention of Moss in August 1814) and for some years the King of Sweden and Norway was reluctant to allow the celebrations. For a few years during the 1820s, King Karl Johan actually banned it, believing that celebrations like this were in fact a kind of protest and disregard — even revolt — against the union.[1] The king's attitude changed after the Battle of the Square in 1829, an incident which resulted in such a commotion that the king had to allow commemorations on the day. It was, however, not until 1833 that public addresses were held, and official celebration was initiated near the monument of former government minister Christian Krohg, who had spent much of his political life curbing the personal power of the monarch. The address was held by Henrik Wergeland, thoroughly witnessed and accounted for by an informant dispatched by the king himself.

17 April 2014: On Track 17

17 March 2014: Big Date 17