Hej! Hur mar du?
Those were the first words I’ve heard from a nice guy working in the Ystad customs service...
I’ve been after a whole night ferry trip from Poland. It was May, the sun was shining and I felt the cool wind playing with my hair, as soon as I left the ferry.
Yes, yes I’ve been to Sweden a couple of times... Although those were rather short business trips, I’ve managed to see a lot in this country full of lakes, islands and canals...
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to see everything I wanted to, but you know how it is... after all I was there with my boss, so what should I expect?
I was simply delighted when I came there for the very first time, the thing that amazed me the most in the beginning, was the quality of the Swedish roads – completely different that those in Poland! Driving a car along those roads and highways was a real pleasure. And can you believe that there is only the Baltic Sea between Poland and Sweden? So close to each other and so many differences between them...
We were supposed to stay in Malmo... While we were driving there, I had an opportunity to admire the countryside. It was springtime, and it was unbelievably green everywhere. Marvelous forests full of blueberries in the summer, gorgeous fields with flocks of cattle and the cool fresh air – all this made a very enjoyable sightseeing.
When we reached Malmo, once again I experienced a pleasant surprise. The city is extremely clean and tidy, just like the whole country. The capital – Stockholm has even been ranked the cleanest city in Europe in an annual survey of 500 European cities. People mostly use bicycles or public transport to move along the streets. Of course it doesn’t mean that there are no cars... come on, after all it’s a very modern country & it’s impossible not to see a Volvo or Saab every minute.
We staid at a small hotel in the middle of The Old Town. The side streets looked so inviting that I couldn’t help myself, and decided to take a long walk all over the Old Town. I think I’ve seen every single shop, each corner and I visited everything what I was able to visit. I met a few people who helped me to move around. The Swedes are very friendly, and there wasn’t even a tiny problem to communicate with them. Actually I haven’t met even one person who couldn’t speak English – that’s a big advantage for foreigners.
The next day we left Malmo and headed to Gothenburg – second biggest after Stockholm, Swedish city. This time I didn’t have an opportunity to see it in every detail – I stayed there only for a couple of hours, but in spite of that I managed to see the biggest amusement park called ''Liseberg'', situated in the middle of Gothenburg.
Because of lack of time I wasn’t able to stay at Stockholm, but I’ve heard that when you are there you can’t miss visiting ''Vasa Museum'', where you can find almost every inch of Swedish history – I think it’s worth seeing...I’m sure that next time I won’t miss it.
It is really easy to move around the country, as I mentioned before the quality of roads is very high. Of course if you are not traveling by car, you can use the public transport. The rail is very reliable, and you don’t have to cover large distances (maybe except northern part of the country). Besides there are lots of ferry services from Stockholm.
There are numerous facilities for foreigners, plenty of marvelous hotels, delightful restaurants with delicious cuisine.
Sweden still has its own currency (not like most of EU countries), the Swedish krona. But it doesn't cause any problems because most post offices exchange money, besides almost all credit cards are accepted.
Speaking about money,it's worth asking if the country is expensive? – Well I would say that unfortunately it is, at least it was for me – but I’d also say that high prices always mean high quality, if we are talking about Sweden.
And what about the climate? Well Sweden is rather a cool place but during the summer time it can be really hot in there, so don’t you worry about your tan.
I regret that all my trips to the Scandinavian Peninsula were connected with business, because I didn’t have much time for sightseeing. I wish one day I could go there and be able to admire the Swedish landscape from the perspective of its rivers and streams, by canoeing. That I’ll have time to go hiking – it’s very popular in there and there are plenty of hiking trials. That I’ll try more of Swedish cuisine, and admire all those design exhibitions, which I missed when I was there for the last time.
All in all this Scandinavian country is extremely beautiful and worth visiting. So if you have time and money and a little bit of will of adventure, don’t hesitate and head to Sweden...
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