Lucky for us most Scandinavians have a pretty good grasp of English but as tourists on a tour we didn’t converse with any Scandinavians in any deep or meaningful way. We did have a number of surprises; some cultural, others quirky, or just interesting to us.
We saw very few Starbucks or McDonalds in Scandinavia. They have their own coffee and burger chains. However both these repurposed buildings were located in the touristy area across from the docks in Bergen, Norway
Fashion- Same as here? I’m not the right person to ask.
It seems that every high end fashion designer seen in NYC also has a store in Oslo. This pre-frayed sweatshirt featured in the Prada window caught Dennis’ attention. I added the arrow so you wouldn’t miss the frayed edge. I observed only a few people wearing the: ripped jeans pants style. If designers are counting on the ripped jeans wearers to buy the frayed sweatshirt, I don’t think it will be a success.
In Helsinki, our tour guide Grundega, pointed out Marimekko, a store she assumed we knew was famous for Finnish fashion. From the window clothes were much more creative than the Prada gray frayed sweatshirt. Still not anything I need to add to my closet. I envisioned bringing my daughter and niece Finnish designer clothing. Then I realized I had no idea as to their taste or size. Very expensive and definitely not returnable.
Stockholm certainly had its share of strange and and to me, unique shops. At first glance I naively assumed the clothes I saw in this 1st picture were Halloween costumes. I was told that this is a store for Goth clothing. Demonia is a brand of Goth shoes. I don’t think Goth shoes are a thing in Spokane.
Norwegian Cows (& Bulls)
We saw these cute very friendly cows and bulls grazing on our walk in Flam, Norway. I learned they are Highland cattle. Both the cows and bulls have horns.
I never thought we’d meet a Viking King
Dala Horses
When in Sweden you can’t miss the Dala Horses. They are every color and EVERYWHERE. They claim to be hand carved although we saw a machine carving them in the factory. I was told that the craftsmen have Sunday off and the tourist need to see some carving. Our guide assured me the craftsman are not being replaced by an AI programmed machine The machine took several minutes to produce one horse. The process still requires the horse to be sanded and painted. This is still done by hand.
We saw one of two horse carving factories. Looking at the bins and shelves full of horses I found it hard to believe there isn’t an over supply. According to the Swedes consumer demand for Dala horses incredible.
It must be true because the smallest, least expensive horse, suitable only to fit in a very small lego barn, cost about $25. I hope my granddaughters will construct a suitable structure for their valuable ponies.
Cruise Ship & Boats
I didn’t realize the importance of ferrys, cruise ships, and maritime trade in Scandinavia. Our 2019 trip to Norway was x-country skiing on the Pier Gynt Trail all inland. My vision of Scandinavia was snow, frozen lakes and in lush rural settings as seen in Ingmar Bergman films. I now understand the importance of fjords, the Baltic Sea, maritime trade and tourism in the Scandinavian countries.
I discovered Stockholm is a bunch of islands you can take ferrys to get around. We boarded a huge cruise ship for our overnight trip on the Baltic from Stockholm to Helsinki. I didn’t love my first cruise ship experience.
City Park Surprises
When we don’t end up spending our whole day in a museum we love to explore city parks. Helsinki and Stockholm both had some surprises.
https://www.landscapefirst.com/toolonlahti-park/
Toolonlahti Park with gardens and a sandy inland beach in central Helsinki
One of these playgrounds had about 18 lockers with toys for check-out: a frisbee, ball, jump rope, board games etc. FREE but you must use an app on your cellphone to borrow the toys.
We got used to the idea of eating Reindeer
We tried reindeer stew which is on almost every Scandinavian menu and tastes like stew. Our last night in Helsinki we had a cranberry, reindeer sausage, pizza for dinner.
Strange things didn’t end. We saw these creatures in the Helsinki airport as we were headed home.
