Sweden is very abundant with natural resources, such as copper, iron, gold and wood. Copper, in particular, has been the focus of the mining industry of Dalarna and Bergslagen, regions to the northwest of Stockholm. Falu gruva is probably the most famous copper mine in Sweden. Since the 8th or 9th century, copper has been […]
Vaxholm, a town of about 5000 residents, is considered to be the “capital” of Stockholm archipelago. The town has some hotels and restaurants, as well as a lot of boat tours that depart from the quay. But the most important attraction is the fortress built in 1548. The fortress sits at the sea entrance towards […]
Christmas is probably not the right time to talk about disasters, but when it comes to epic fails in Swedish history, you’d probably think of this one: the warship Vasa. Vasa was named after the Swedish dynasty of that name and launched in 1627. On 10 August 1628, it set sail from Gamla stan towards […]
Gothenburg is not a medieval town—the current town was founded in the 17th century by King Gustavus Adolphus on the tiny bit of west coast held by Sweden. Right across the river was the frontier with Denmark-ruled Norway, and the border with Denmark-proper was less then 20km away to the south. Sweden vanquished Denmark by […]
When we talk about the national dish of Sweden, things like köttbullar (meatballs) and surströmming (fermented fish) come to mind. But when it comes to snacks, kanelbulle (cinnamon bun) is probably one of the most frequently seen. Kanelbullar are usually in a whirlpool shape, and eaten at a fika with black coffee, together with friends […]
Helsingborg, a Scanian city on the east coast of the Sound (Öresund), is the nearest point of Sweden to Denmark (4 km to Elsinore/Helsingør). Helsing means “neck” (compare with the modern Swedish word hals), which is why the name is similar on both sides of the narrow Sound; similarly named places include the province of […]
Do you know Stockholm has a National City Park? The “national park in the city” concept was introduced in the 1990s and encompasses a large area of forests and fields east of downtown Stockholm, part of it being the royal game park of Djurgården. There are many animals like deer, horse and sheep. Some built […]
Advent calendar (julkalender, “Christmas calendar”) is a tradition of Sweden where you open one window per day and get the goodies behind, until Christmas. We start the Christmas month with a virtual tour of Gamla stan!
The new Golden Bridge (Guldbron) at Slussen will open this morning (26th) for vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. The bridge is part of the New Slussen project, construction of which started in 2016. The whole project will finish in 2025, creating a brand new public space for Stockholm. King Carl XVI Gustav opened the bridge in […]
Congratulations for all of you who got a place to study in Sweden! Here are some tips to help you get started with life in this beautiful Nordic country: 1. Take note of your course outlines—you might be able to skip some lessons Your course outlines are not just about formalities; they contain important information […]