Milwaukee: Home of beer 'n brats

Weather report: 75 F (23 C) and thundershowers

Fredrika and I are in the U.S. for a month now and I thought I would write down some impressions from the "motherland" for friends back in Sweden. Maybe some friends in the States might also find impressions from other parts of the country interesting too.

First day in Milwaukee yesterday. Started off by jogging down to the lake (Lake Michigan). Was a glorious morning. Felt like about 80 degrees at 6:30 am...There were a bunch of guys fishing. One had just pulled up a 3 ft (1 m.) Brown Trout. He got his picture taken with it and then threw it back in. The trout shook himself off and swam away. Said they had saved one that didn't make it to "throw in the smoker." I asked them if the fish from the lake were safe to eat and he said they were just as safe as the stuff in the stores. I was sceptical so I checked out the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website (see fact sheet here). According to them, Lake Michigan has overly high levels of PCBs and therefore one (who is not pregnant, lactating or under 15) may eat 8 ounces of Brown Trout from the lake every 2 months. Needless to say, that information would not entice me to eat fish from Lake Michigan...

One of the things I miss about the States is the parades. Everyone loves a parade. The only parade that Fredrika has seen is when the former communist party, the socialists, and the trade unions march on May 1 in Sweden. Now this is quite interesting and colorful but, as Fredrika noticed, people watching are unnaturally quiet (if someone knows why, please let me know). Yesterday, we happened upon a local parade in a suburb of Milwaukee so I plopped Fredrika down on the curb and let her run into the street after the fistfuls of candy that were being thrown at the kids along the parade route. There were all the components a parade should have: tricycle-riding shriners, sweaty clowns, bagpiping Irishmen (???), local beauty queens, radio personalities, marching bands playing Summertime, dancing hot dogs, local motorcyle gang members on loud motorcycles, and (my favorite) the Schlitz bike pedal-driven beer bar. All the while, the audience cheered their approval of the people marching or driving by, often by first name since they are all from the same suburb. Now that is something she won't forget!