Jaunted - se

Foreign Grocery Friday: The Glögg Mulled Wine of Scandinavia

JetSetCD — 2011-12-16T13:26:15-05:00

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

With only so much time left before the holidays, it's now that we get serious about winter treats. Gingerbread houses and candy canes are all well and good, but going farther afield to foreign Christmas traditions yields such yummy drinks as Gl�gg. This mulled wine is a decidedly Scandinavian tradition, but Iceland and Estonia like to get in on it as well.

Since Gl�gg is essentially just one version of mulled wine, other country's attempts at the beverage are also totally fine if Gl�gg isn't available. Germany/Austria/Switzerland's Gl�hwein is, for instance, an excellent substitute, as is the vin brul� of Northern Italy (especially the ski resort towns). Just be sure to serve it with a bit of gingerbread or a few ginger snap cookies on the side.

SAS Airlines to Hold a Contest for the World's First In-Flight Gay Marriage

EricRosen — 2010-08-30T15:46:38-05:00

It's a world's first! Just wait to hear what exactly "it" is...

(Same-sex) Love is in the air this winter aboard SAS. The Scandinavian airline is hoping to host the world’s first same-sex wedding in the air aboard one of their A340s between Stockholm and New York on December 6. To find the lucky couple for the mid-air nuptials, the longtime gay-friendly airline is launching a major social media contest campaign titled “Love is in the air.” Cute. Not fierce. But cute.

The airline has partnered with VisitSweden and Stockholm Gay & Lesbian Network to offer one European couple and one American couple the chance to get married aboard SAS flights and honeymoon packages—the European couple be married aboard the outbound flight to the U.S. and will get to vacation there, and the American couple will be feted on the way back to Sweden.

Sweden to Become Hotspot Thanks to 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'

JetSetCD — 2010-07-28T08:47:17-05:00

Chances are, you've either read the Stieg Larsson book Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or know at least two people who have, because that book is everywhere. In fact, it's the first book to sell over 1 million copies on the Amazon Kindle and now Hollywood wants a piece of the action.

It's been announced that Daniel Craig has signed on to star in the English-language movie version, and David Fincher will direct. And MTV has some exclusive and exciting news straight from Fincher that's sure to make the Sweden Tourist Board very happy: the movie will be filmed in "Stockholm. Uppsala. In the north." This means the movie will stay true to the novel's Scandinavian imagery instead of trying to Americanize it by shooting it in the States.

Foreign Grocery Friday: Nordic Muesli is Far Sweder

JetSetCD — 2010-07-09T14:31:04-05:00

Forget cornflakes or cocoa puffs; Sweden knows that breakfast is better with a bowl of muesli. And although we wish it had a funkier, Sweder name, one of our favorite bags of the good stuff goes by the simple name of "Nordic Muesli."

Grabbed by the handful, served in a bowl with milk or mixed with cut fruit, muesli is an essential snack in Sweden, so much so that the Swedish almost match the Swiss in their love for it. Grocery shelves offer a staggering variety, but we'd stick with this stuff.

The taste: Muesli is dry oats mixed with a some goodies, like dried banana chips, orange bits, raisins and slivered almonds in the case of this variety, and thus it can be quite dry. You'll need to either warm up your salivary glands or douse it in milk. We recommend almond or coconut milk (the latter used in the picture below) to enhance the flavors, and you'll end up having both a healthy meal and one that tastes of a nice fruitiness.

How to Win a Free Road Trip through Sweden in a Volvo

Jennifer Kester — 2010-05-20T12:50:21-05:00

If you want to plan your own road trip across West Sweden, there's someone willing to foot the bill. Volvo and West Sweden's tourism bureau are offering a contest that will pay for your trek across the Scandinavian country, and anyone is free to enter.

The thing is, you can't choose whatever pops into your head for the design-it-yourself trip's itinerary. Instead, you're provided with a list of activities from which to choose. For example, you could take in the art at the Nordic Watercolour Museum on the island of Tj�rn, go on a lobster safari to catch the creatures and help cook them for your dinner at a hotel on Flaton island, dine on elk or beaver at Falktholts Gestgiveri in Dalsland, or go golfing at a number of courses.

Stockholm Kicks Starbucks To The Curb With The Retro 'Konditori Valand'

JetSetCD — 2009-10-20T09:13:40-05:00

Starbucks might be attempting to create more of a cafe with their concept "15th Street Coffee & Tea" restaurant, but it will simply never equal the awesomeness of truly great, very authentic cafes that still exist and serve up homemade goods around the world. One such spot, which might not last too much longer as the owners grow old, is Stockholm's Konditori Valand.

The cafe, in the Surbrunnsgatan section of town, is run by Magdalena �str�m, who has maintained the original interior of the cafe since it was begun and designed by her husband in 1954. The result is a mid-century modern stunner, with well-worn teak furniture and an imported black stone floor from Italy. The cafe is a fixture in German guidebooks and on the lists of retro furniture enthusiasts, but that doesn't mean that a regular old, design-appreciating tourist can't enjoy a coffee and slice of cake here.

The Movie that Created the Sexy Stereotype of Sweden

Victor Ozols — 2009-10-10T21:22:11-05:00

Much has been made of the idea that Sweden is filled with hot, sex-starved women, but where did that tantalizing myth originate? A video making the rounds right now might offer a clue. The 1968 mondo film Sweden: Heaven and Hell presents itself as a straightforward documentary about the sex lives of Swedes, but its staged footage of gorgeous Scandinavians finding any excuse to get naked and randy places it squarely in the realm of reality-based fantasy fiction.