Last year, I’ve been to Sweden and visited some friends during the summer, and then again during the winter. I’ve just now realized I never wrote about it until now. And I also want to wish you a happy new year.
I won’t write about what I’ve done there in detail now, mostly because I think it’s too late for that. I’m going to tell you why I absolutely love Sweden instead.
Before I took the ferry from Kiel to Gothenburg last August, a journey that wasn’t without its fair share of huge problems, I hadn’t been to Sweden since 2013. And for me, that’s a very long time. Before that, I visited pretty much yearly with my family.
I pretty much immediately felt home at my friends home in Värmland, but even more after some grilled sausages with plain ICA potatis salad (the best potato salad there is.). I also felt welcome from the beginning. Swedes are very good at making you feel like you belong.
But I had to leave again just after Skördefest. That’s some kind of harvest festival. During Skördefest I was reminded that Sweden doesn’t really like cash money anymore. Everyone was paying with their phones and a service called Swish, which you can’t get without a Swedish ID and bank account. So I had to borrow money from my friends and repay them with PayPal.
After some awesome weeks up in Sweden, I never thought I would return within the same year, but when my friends asked me to stay with them for a week before Christmas, I just couldn’t say no. So I went up again. And I loved it again.
Sweden in Winter is something entirely different, and yet the same. And even though it’s getting dark very early and it can get really cold outside, the people are some of the warmest, most welcoming folks I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, at least if you don’t do them wrong.
Have you ever been to Sweden? What was your impression? Tell me in the comments down below.
Robin Ho Fotos 