The new grower: Part one

[howardbeatman]

1 hour ago, Hialmar said:

With a few exceptions, I usually keep the geographical setting vague, but, though I mix in American vocabulary by mistake, I mainly write in British English. US doesn't have old manor houses, does it, because US wasn't feudal?

Well, the old plantation homes in the southern US are pretty close to manor houses.

[arpeejay]

58 minutes ago, Hialmar said:

With a few exceptions, I usually keep the geographical setting vague, but, though I mix in American vocabulary by mistake, I mainly write in British English. US doesn't have old manor houses, does it, because US wasn't feudal?

We have (1) plantation houses and (2) fake manor houses that were built by Gilded Age robber barons imitating European aristocracy. So it's not completely cut and dried.

Which reminds me:

The hubby and I are visiting Sweden (Helsingborg, to be precise) for the first time in May on our Southampton to Oslo cruise. Won't be much of a visit, obviously, but it's how we do things.

[Hialmar]

1 minute ago, howardbeatman said:

Well, the old plantation homes in the southern US are pretty close to manor houses.

 

Just now, arpeejay said:

We have (1) plantation houses and (2) fake manor houses that were built by Gilded Age robber barons imitating European aristocracy. So it's not completely cut and dried.

I see. A different historical background, though.

[Hialmar]

2 minutes ago, arpeejay said:

The hubby and I are visiting Sweden (Helsingborg, to be precise) for the first time in May on our Southampton to Oslo cruise. Won't be much of a visit, obviously, but it's how we do things.

Then you will have a glimpse just of southernmost Sweden, which was Danish for most of the time before the 1650s. Don't quarrel with the local football supporters. They've got a reputation. The weather in Helsingborg will be similar to Denmark, UK and the Netherlands, and not typical for the weather in other parts of Sweden. As soon as a tourist cross the forested mediaeval border between Denmark and Sweden (inside the present borders), they will notice the difference, but it sounds like you will not visit the rest of the country. Do you visit the Danish city of Helsingør as well? That is the place called 'Elsinore' in Shakespeare's Hamlet. It is just across the water. Your cruise will sail the bays of the North Sea called 'Skagerack' and  'Kattegat'. Though those who watch the TV series 'Vikings' may have got another impression, Kattegat is NOT a village, but a bay. Skagerack is located between Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and is the waters where the Battle of Jutland took place during WWI.

Helsingborg is too far south, to allow me to take a cup of coffee with you. It would otherwise have been nice to meet in real life. I wish you a nice journey. I'm sad that you will miss all these important historical places in Sweden, like Varnhem, Visingsö, Kalmar, Vadstena, Skänninge, Söderköping, Nyköping, Sigtuna, Uppsala and Arboga. All important events in the Middle Ages happened in these places.

[arpeejay]

25 minutes ago, Hialmar said:

Then you will have a glimpse just of southernmost Sweden, which was Danish for most of the time before the 1650s. Don't quarrel with the local football supporters. They've got a reputation. The weather in Helsingborg will be similar to Denmark, UK and the Netherlands, and not typical for the weather in other parts of Sweden. As soon as a tourist cross the forested mediaeval border between Denmark and Sweden (inside the present borders), they will notice the difference, but it sounds like you will not visit the rest of the country. Do you visit the Danish city of Helsingør as well? That is the place called 'Elsinore' in Shakespeare's Hamlet. It is just across the water. Your cruise will sail the bays of the North Sea called 'Skagerack' and  'Kattegat'. Though those who watch the TV series 'Vikings' may have got another impression, Kattegat is NOT a village, but a bay. Skagerack is located between Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and is the waters where the Battle of Jutland took place during WWI.

Helsingborg is too far south, to allow me to take a cup of coffee with you. It would otherwise have been nice to meet in real life. I wish you a nice journey. I'm sad that you will miss all these important historical places in Sweden, like Varnhem, Visingsö, Kalmar, Vadstena, Skänninge, Söderköping, Nyköping, Sigtuna, Uppsala and Arboga. All important events in the Middle Ages happened in these places.

I look forward to a return trip someday. Our favorite way to travel is by cruise ship, which has many advantages (your hotel room follows you around and you don't have to figure out where to go eat) but some built-in limitations, too. Now that we visit Japan once a year (it's easier for us to go there than for Naoyuki's parents to come here) we have fewer time slots available for Europe, sad to say. Next year Budapest to Vienna on the Danube and I am hoping Paris in 2020. We'll see!

[eMuscle]

8 minutes ago, arpeejay said:

Next year Budapest to Vienna on the Danube and I am hoping Paris in 2020. We'll see!

Let me know if you’d like company.  My hubby and I love cruises and have thought about doing the Danube. Always nice to know someone on a trip.  

[Hialmar]

Some cultural preparation:

Expect the average Swede to be a silent, reticent, highly secular Agnostic, with a preference for Lutheran wedding ceremonies, and who like the celebration of St. Lucy in December. I find that particular combination rather amusing.

It's a bad idea to invade someone's personal space, so you might talk to the locals at a few centimetres' longer distance, than usual in the US.  If you speak less loudly, than the average American tourist, you will earn the trust of the locals more quickly: Loudness is not a virtue in Sweden. 

The coffee will probably be stronger than in the US, so take care or mix some milk in the coffee. Use the opportunity to try the cinnamon buns (perhaps 'rolls' in American English?). May is not the season for pickled herring (it is more popular at Midsummer and Christmas), but sometimes used as a starter during the rest of the year, and exist in several different versions. Don't allow anyone to serve you fermented herring, which is an entirely different dish (but the typical season for that is August and September, so you will not likely encounter that one).

We actually do own guns, but not guns for self-defence, but guns to hunt elk. Hunting is popular in the countryside, but controversial among young urban middle-class persons. 

Snus is Swedish dipping tobacco, and sold in any convenience store.

We take queuing very seriously. We don't tip people in restaurants, cafés or pubs: That sum is already included in the price, and so is VAT. We don't buy rounds in pubs (like the British) but buy individually (like the Dutch). Beer is expensive in Sweden. It is even more expensive in Norway.

If you are going to eat high-end food: Try the fish dishes. As for meatballs, the taste and quality differ a lot between different restaurants: Don't buy the cheapest ones, nor the most expensive ones.

A few coins in your pockets is a good idea, because most public lavatories are opened by inserting coins.

Many (but not all) museums do not charge any entrance fee.

A few shops and restaurants do no longer accept bills or coins, so it might be a good idea to activate the chip in your credit card or download a payment-app on your mobile phone. That said, you will still be able to pay with bills and coins in most places.

Church buildings might be interesting from a historical and architectural point of view. Anglican and Episcopalian tourists are seldom surprised by the interior of Lutheran churches, but Presbyterians, Baptists and Catholics often are. I think the latter ones expect Lutheran churches to look less Catholic and more Baptist, but there are historical reasons why Lutheran churches in the Nordic countries are reasonably similar to Central European Catholic churches. Renaissance Lutherans had nothing against art: They retained the mediaeval art and also commissioned new art, until the neo-classicist fad around the year 1800. That is particularly true about the Swedish Lutherans. Danish churches are often slightly more austere.

[arpeejay]

1 hour ago, eMuscle said:

Let me know if you’d like company.  My hubby and I love cruises and have thought about doing the Danube. Always nice to know someone on a trip.  

April 13-20, 2019, Budapest to Vienna, on Crystal Mozart. This time the Hubby's sister (a terrifically fun and smart single gal from Tokyo) will be joining us, so I expect to have even more than a blast than usual! 

[arpeejay]

Great summary, Hialmar! 

Thus far I have visited (with the hubby): The Eastern Caribbean, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, England, Portugal (including Madeira), Spain (including the Canary Islands), the south of France and Monaco, Italy, Switzerland,  Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Norway, the Netherlands, Tunisia, Algeria, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Taiwan, China, and Japan. We are quite obviously American (size, accents, clothing), just as obviously gay, and thanks to the Hubby's Japanese upbringing tend to use inside voices when we are outside. Thus far we haven't been thrown IN jail or thrown OUT of any country we have visited. I think we will manage a day in Sweden!

[Hialmar]

1 hour ago, arpeejay said:

Thus far we haven't been thrown IN jail or thrown OUT of any country we have visited. I think we will manage a day in Sweden!

I hope I didn't exaggerate the amount of advice. I wrote them with the best intentions. It usually take some time for tourists to understand the cultural codes, but Sweden must be less complicated than Japan, and if you are used to Norway, you will do fine here. Norway, Sweden and Finland are culturally rather similar to each other.