Last year I wondered whether unfashionable people were banned from Stockholm, but having now travelled up Sweden I think it is actually overweight people who are not allowed, at least in the trendy downtown parts. The difference up country is noticable - so that is my first 'things I've never thought about Sweden' - 1) there are quite a few tubby folk around. We've mainly been staying on camp sites, so my sample could be skewed towards Swedes who camp, but I can't think of any particular reason why campers might be more likely to be overweight than the average member of society. Swedes give such a good impression internationally of being healthy, fit and out-doorsy, but I swear there are more tubsters here than in Finland although it is not as bad as the UK, let alone the US.
And then my second 'things I've never thought about Sweden' - 2) Swedish cafés are really crappy. I have moaned about Finnish roadside food in the past, but at least there is always a decent selection of big, sweet buns, donuts and cakes along with hot, rough and ready coffee. Here all the coffee seems to be in thermos flasks so is not really hot and the cakes and buns a bit sad looking. This isn't true of all the cafés we've been in to, but as we're on holiday we have been in quite a few and the average of the sample is definitely below that of Finnish cafés, be they humble petrol station ones or something posher. So score one for the Finns!
3 comments:
Nice pics... especially 1st & 3rd ones - lovely.
My culinary views of Sweden are somewhat varied. On a work trip to Umeå we were treated with all the delicacies, such as smoked reindeer heart (which despite the constant thought that Ray Mears would approve of such wood lore actually tasted quite good). Driving through Arctic Sweden on the way back from a climbing trip to Lofoten, Simon and I decided to stop at a pizzeria. Without speaking Swedish we just picked something that we recognized from the menu. Simon picked kycling as we knew that was chicken. Luckily as we ordered we checked the other toppings just in time to request that they left the banana off. The pizza still came with a big splodge of curry mayonnaise in the middle looking like an eye. It was without a doubt the worst pizza we had ever seen. Be careful.
Ahh, the benefit of travel - to give us new found appreciation for the overlooked positive aspects of life at home! Mind you, maybe all those tubby people just got to the good buns before you!
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