Goodbye Sweden

Final thoughts on Sweden

And so after two months, I've finally left Sweden. As you might have guessed by my writings, I've been really taken by the country. 

It feels relaxed, comfortable, safe and friendly. Rural folks often don't lock their doors, no-one seems stressed and the only expression other than friendliness I encountered was that which I managed to provoke - with a train inspector, a runner I sped past and a pedestrian. All bike related!

I initially thought Sweden was just known for Volvo, Ikea and Abba but you soon realise there are a lot of famous exports. Scania, Ericsson, Saab (RIP), Electrolux, Tetra Pak, Aga, Koppaburg Cider, Roxette, Swedish House Mafia, Huskevana, the Nobel Peace Prize. The stereotypes all seem to be fairly true. There are a lot of blondes, many beautiful women, Volvos everywhere, and everyone skis.

Then there's their skills with English - they say 89% of Swedes can speak it. Out of the hundreds of people I met, only about five couldn't. And one of those was a 10 year old. It's incredible - partly driven by wanting to get on in the world, and partly because they have so many US/UK films and TV programmes with subtitles. That's been a major reason for liking the country - it just doesn't feel alien like some others. In return, I've learnt about 20 Swedish words, poor effort eh. Interestingly, as a language, it's not actually structured too dissimilar to ours. 

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Having my bike with me has been both a blessing and a curse. Having it provided fun, allowed me to explore places few other travellers would and kept me fit. But, due to stupid rules, to take it on trains around the country, I've had to take it apart, put it in a bike box then re-assemble at the other end every time, which has been a total pain in the bum. But at least I got to cycle in the Arctic Circle.

 Ten random good and bad things about the country:

GOOD
1 - Safe for cycling - cycle paths everywhere, wide quiet roads
2 - Municipal heating - people don't have their own heating in towns, it gets piped from one huge central boiler
3 - Old American cars everywhere
4 - Most houses are red
5 - Lakes
6 - Road changeover - one day in the 70's they went from driving on the left to the right. And no one died.
7 - Low Income- inequality - the gap between rich and poor is relatively small, which leads to happy people and not much crime or poverty
8 - Eco-friendly - half their energy is from renewables
9 - No litter - well very little anyway
10 - Forests

BAD
1 - Having to bring your own bedding to hostels or paying £7 a time to hire. Not seen that before.
2 - SJ trains no bikes policy - stupid for a country proud to be so eco-friendly
3 - SJ trains reservation seat fees - money for old rope
4 - System Bolaget - you can only buy alcohol over 3.5% through a chain of government owned shops in each town with limited hours. Old school.
5 - Costs - fairly expensive country, though nothing on Norway
6 - errr...
7 - ummm..
8 - give up

I've had a brilliant couple of months, and a lot of that is due to the Pålsson family, who I stayed with. Christer provided lots to see and do locally, and Ingeborg arranged for me to stay at her Dad's, her brother's and her son's homes. I've eaten many Swedish dishes, and tried pickled herring, wild boar, elk and roe deer. And I've even learnt how to cook a little better.

So hej då Sweden, you've been great. But guten tag Germany - I've just arrived in rural east Germany to stay on a smallholding doing a work-for-your-bed-and-food type scheme... more on that soon.