Help me move to Sweden!: Meatball

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Apartment: Check!

This is a proud day: It's a day when we can happily check one thing off our long Project Sweden checklist. Our trip turned out to be very successful and now we are proud renters of an apartment in Sweden!

We now have a roof over our heads: we did the impossible and found an apartment in Lund!

There were many naysayers and quite a few people advised us not to waste time looking for housing in Lund and turn to it's neighbourhood instead. In the end it was listening to my reader's advice that did it for us - if it weren't for Chris who advised us to post an ad of our own we might still be browsing blocket.se... Thanks Chris!

My first Swedish pint.

The trip was a success even when judged as a holiday. We made many ticks on our to-do list! We gave couchsurfing a go and had a great experience, we visited the Systembolaget, checked out the prices and cried. We even went for a pint to Café Ariman, where I got to try a Swedish brew (Falcon).

The most exciting part of the trip was of course meeting you, the readers. The socialization component of our vacation worked out great, we met with someone each day. On the first day we hung out with our Swedish CouchSurfing hosts and their friends, on the second we've met an Australian couple that moved to Lund and doesn't mind sharing advice and on day three we've met with a Swedish twitter user who showed us where the pub was. We were busy!

Unfortunately there were a few things we didn't/couldn't try: We couldn't find a Tunnbrödsrulle in Lund, nor did we get a chance to try Swedish meatballs in a restaurant. We postponed the Max burger until the actual move and finally we couldn't bring our Frisbees with us, so we didn't take a look at Lund's Disc golf course. But we are confident we will do all of those things once we're settled in Lund.

Just when we thought that our trip is coming to an end, it got extended. Our plane from Copenhagen was so late we missed our connecting flight in Frankfurt... But it wasn't all bad and we ended up getting a free stay at a hotel, including a dinner and a proper hotel breakfast! Even though the delay somewhat interfered with out plans, we tried to make the best of it. I even got to try a new German dark beer!

All in all we had a great trip. We feel we've done the touristy stuff and some of the serious stuff, so we will be able to focus comes August. Special thanks goes to everyone who took the time out of their busy schedules to meet with us and show us around. Hope to see you all soon!

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Reader recommendations for the trip

My last post was about our plans for our Swedish holiday, apart from renting a flat. I asked you, dear readers, for advice and you delivered! I think it's only fair to let the world know about your recommendations, thus helping others who might be traveling to Sweden with hints, ideas and suggestions.

I was happy to see most of your advice was about Lunds pubs. Even though we probably won't drink a lot during this trip, it makes me feel that I will fit in quite well!

So here it is, your advice, categorized and summarized. Feel free to correct me, or add additional advice, it's all greatly appreciated!

Phones

Prepaid SIM cards can be bought almost anywhere ("most stores and kiosks"). The carrier that stood out among your tips was COMVIQ so I think they will be my choice. I'm told there are different packages to choose from and some include a data plan. Teknikmagasinet seems to be the go-to shop for such purchases and luckily it's quite close to the train station! I'd still love some more info about this, perhaps a link with different options and prices, but I'm told the staff there are eager to help with advice.

I also found out that cheap, disposable, phones are also pretty common and available in big box electronic stores for a low price of around 200 SEK (23 €) and they already include a prepaid SIM card. I'm not quite ready to let go of my smartphone, but I think it might be good advice for someone else.

Restaurants

Unfortunately the news about food wasn't as positive as I've hoped. Apparently Max burgers are good, but aren't all that remarkable since it's still a giant restaurant chain, not unlike Burger King. I've been encouraged to give it a try, but perhaps postpone it until after the actual move.

Everybody seems to agree that Tunnbrödsrulle is great, but it's more popular in the north and might be a bit hard to find in Lund. And as for the Köttbullar (Swedish meatballs), every person claims they are best when prepared by their mother so they don't feel comfortable recommending a restaurant. Still, I'm not giving in and my hopes to try both are still high! If you have any idea where to get either in Lund, please let me know!

A fellow redditor hinted that there are two places with very Swedish food, Stäket and Tengérs. We will probably venture in at least one of them during our visit.

Pubs

As I've said a lot of advice was about pubs, but then again I suppose that is the most fun part of being a tourist. It turns out my initial choice, Mat & Destilat, is more of a fine-dining place and not a pub as I have assumed. No worries, the kind people of Lund were well armed with plenty of suggestions. I now have a list long enough for a proper pub-crawl!

I've heard great things about Rauhrackel, an Austrian pub. It sounds very exciting and I've never been to an Austrian pub before, my only concern is that I've never been to a Swedish pub either, and that one should really be a priority! Traditional English pubs also came highly recommended (The Bishop's Arms, The Old Bull and John bull to name a few) so that's an option, as is Café Ariman which is praised by both locals and Lonely Planet!

We are looking forward to a pint, but haven't decided on a place yet. We will surely visit the Systembolaget as well and buy something to toast with in our new apartment.

Additional plans

We have high hopes for Disc Golf: A reader was even kind enough to send me a map of the course! Apart from that we have arranged to meet a few people there: a fellow expat from Australia and a twitter user studying there.

We are also planning to go to Ikea. Neither of us has ever been and we need to buy some new bed sheets anyway, so we have a perfect excuse to hear this Swedish wonder we hear so much about!

I have joined the Lund social group on meetup.com and they are planning to meet for a fika on Monday night. We will probably join them too!

While I'm in Sweden I would like to give my Swedish a go as well. Hopefully will be able to have at least one conversation (and I use that word very lightly) in Swedish!

Conclusion

Thank you everyone for your recommendations and advice. With your help I'm sure next week will be a blast!

If anyone has time for a cup of coffee, a stroll in the park, or a friendly game of Disc Golf I'd love to hear from you!

See you!