May 26, 2011
Anyone Here Live In Sweden?
- I needed something Swedish to put here and this was pretty much all I had.
...If so, I will be entrenching upon your soil from June 4 to 11.
Ok, more info. Thanks to Volvo and the Swedish Tourism Board, I'm getting a free trip to Sweden to promote this CAR + VACATION contest (what a charmingly straightforward name) through the power of food blogging (to come on Serious Eats). I hope that isn't seen as selling out, although if I ever drop, "I LOVE VOLVO, YOU MUST BUY A VOLVO NOW!" into conversation for no reason, now you know why.
Seriously though, the woman I'm in contact with on Sweden's tourism board has been super helpful and is working on making a food itinerary based on the kinds of food I like. This isn't like other press trips where a tourism representative guides you from restaurant to restaurant. Oh, another thing that makes this trip awesome: I was allowed to bring a guest, and Kåre secured a week off work to come with me and be my driver (in a Volvo, of course).
I know, I'm insanely lucky. I get to spend a non-vacation week with the boyfriend I sparingly see in a country I've wanted to visit for years, all without going broke. I figure the luck will be equalized down the road by cancer or a natural disaster or something.
I don't know our exact itinerary, but I've been told the general driving route: start in Gothenburg, go up the Swedish West Coast, turn back south, stop again in Gothenburg, go further to Skåne, and end somewhere near Malmö. We'll go to Copenhagen to fly home since there we can get direct flights.
Sooo...I doubt I have many/any readers in Sweden, but I figured I'd check if anyone is in those cities. I don't know what we're eating, but I do know it wouldn't hurt to have extra eaters! :)
(On a random but Swedish note, this is probably my favorite Swedish song, brought to you by Håkan Hellström.)
Posted by roboppy at 2:33 AM
Comments (22)
I have a few friends in Sweden. They love to cook and eat. I'll pass along your information.
Posted by: Jannie at May 26, 2011 9:04 AM [#]
Woot! Have fun! :D
Posted by: Rebecca at May 26, 2011 10:49 AM [#]
Lund is very close to Malmo, a college town. I had some of really awesome Indian and Thai food in Sweden :D
Posted by: lynn at May 26, 2011 3:54 PM [#]
Ooooooh!
I live in Malmö and i would LOVE to meet you!!
Posted by: maja at May 26, 2011 4:41 PM [#]
Wait… what? Did you say, "free trip to Sweden?" Holy crap, lady.
Try the meatballs! (http://www.sadtrombone.com)
Posted by: Meister @ The Nervous Cook at May 26, 2011 9:25 PM [#]
Hey there!
I'm from NYC and live in Malmö now. (I think I may have even randomly seen you on the streets near FIT, but I'm not sure!) BUT anyhow, I have yet to find a good place to eat here and would be interested in where you will go to in Malmö!
Would love to join you!
gypsee
Posted by: Gypsee Lee at May 27, 2011 9:30 AM [#]
If anyone deserves to get a free trip with her boyfriend, it's you! Have a great time!
Posted by: Lisa S. at May 27, 2011 10:06 AM [#]
YAYAYYAYAY! It goes without saying that we request photos, LOTS of photos
Posted by: michelle at May 27, 2011 12:36 PM [#]
Belinda: My method for getting these trips is having a boss who will get offered these trips but who can't go on em, so he passes them to meeee.
Sabrina: That's good, cos I'm looking forward to taking pictures!
Jannie: Thanks!
Rebecca: FUN IS MY PLAN!
Lynn: Good to know! I'm probably gonna focus on Swedish cuisine, but I'm interested in seeing what the good non-Swedish stuff is.
Mahar: GO BUY A VOLVO.
Christina: Thanks!
Meister: Hehehehe. I'm gonna destroy those meatballs. With my mouth.
Serena: I WILL DO THAT!
Frida: Ahh, so close yet..so far. Would've been great to cross paths! Now I'm reading about Linköping on Wikipedia so I can see what I'm missing. ;)
Lisa: Thanks!
Michelle: I shall do that! Endless photo editing HERE I COME!
Wonderful! I am so pleased to hear this. We all know you would never sell out, and that your reports will be worth reading.
Posted by: Marsha Calhoun at May 28, 2011 9:30 PM [#]
Wow so I am actually from Sweden, but right now in the US, and I'll coincidentally go back on June 4 too..! Admittedly I don't come on here as often as I should and now that I did...well! That's life. I live right outside of Gothenburg, don't know my plans exactly but this is too cool. Either way, I hope you enjoy your stay here! Or there. Or, you know, Sweden.
Posted by: Hannele at May 29, 2011 4:00 AM [#]
i went to denmark & southern sweden a few years ago, before i had a food blog (and i don't eat meat or fish anyway, so that wouldn't be too helpful to you anyway). i recommend going to helsingor, in denmark -- home of the castle where hamlet takes place and also a great midieval town. here are my photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/h-bomb/collections/72157601329873883/
if you're still in southern sweden, you should, without a doubt, go here - http://rogeriet.sk-3.se/?pid=1
it's close to malmo and so freaking awesome. so much smoked fish! and right on the water and it's just so awesome.
Posted by: durkin at June 9, 2011 9:15 PM [#]
Pat: Thanks! I'm back and my trip was awesome. And I ate some meatballs.
Marsha: First report is in...over here! I hope it's worth reading. :)
Howard: Oo, Helsingor looks pretty! I unfortunately only went to Denmark to...fly out of Copenhagen. Which doesn't count, methinks. Hopefully I'll go back for real someday!
durkin: Thanks for the rec! Unfortunately we didn't have much time for anything that wasn't on our itinerary...despite that I said in my post that someone wasn't guiding us everyone, we ended up having a packed itinerary to follow (unexpectedly packed, but everything we did was fun, so it was for the best). Just an itinerary that we had to follow on our own. It seemed a bit risky, but in the end GPS helped us get everywhere sort of on time. Phew.
Alyssa: Alas, no free car! I did get Swedish meatballs, potatoes, and lingonberry sauce at the Volvo factory though. :)
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Wow!! Have fun!! How the heck do we get to join in on this trip?? Does driving Volvos and loving Sweden count? =)
Posted by: Belinda @zomppa at May 26, 2011 5:42 AM [#]