Stockholm Cruise Blog

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Some of the things that I love about Sweden: the lovely snow-covered peaks, cows roaming the valleys with bells around their necks, chocolate and yodeling. Wait a minute! This isn’t Sweden. It’s Switzerland!

Yes, unfortunately people do confuse Sweden, a nation in Scandinavia, with Switzerland, a nation that yodels.

Sweden, in fact, is more than two hours by air from Switzerland. There is no Matterhorn here, the cows don’t wear bells and if you hear yodeling, check your documents. You may have landed two hours south.

Situated in Europe’s northernmost latitudes, Sweden is the third largest country in the European Union in terms of land area. Sweden is the length of California, and it would take you 25 hours to drive from North to South.

With 9 million people, Sweden is also spacious. There’s lots of room for everyone to spread out, and in fact, there are only 52 people per square mile in Sweden.

The country is actually known as the Kingdom of Sweden. There is a king and a Royal Family. Currently, the country is preparing for a Royal wedding that will take place when Sweden’s Princess Victoria marries a man of the people this month.

The language is, of course, Swedish, although English is widely and happily spoken. If you insist, you might try to learn a few Swedish words. And if you really want to impress someone, say the word for nurse: Sjuksköterska. I’ll give you a moment to untie your tongue before reading on.

For the foreign tongue, however, even saying seven is simply too much of a mouthful. It’s true that most foreigners have no trouble pronouncing the number six, which is “sex.” But the number seven, sju, sounds like little more than exhaling air, impossible for the non-native Swede to pronounce properly.

So that I never have to say sju, I make it a point not to accept seven of anything. Seven tomatoes? No, I reply, I’ll take sex instead, which often gets me a curious look.

A city of nearly 2 million in and around the metropolitan area, Stockholm, of course, is the capital of Sweden. The city is situated on Sweden’s east coast, inland, at the juncture of an arm to the Baltic Sea and Lake Malaren.

Anyway, that’s today’s lesson. Thanks for reading! Wait a minute! Did I hear cow bells and yodeling?

For more facts about Sweden, visit our Facebook Fan Page, where we post facts every week.