Swedish News

 

  • D-day for Victoria and Daniel.
    It’s all set. Crown Princess Victoria will marry fiancé Daniel Westling on the 19th of June next year, and the wedding will take place in Storkyrkan. The same date and the same church where Victoria’s father King Carl XVI Gustaf married Silvia Sommerlath in 1976. Earlier Bernadotte monarchs also picked that same date for their weddings. In 1823 Crown Prince Oskar (later to become King Oskar I) married Josefina of Leuchtenberg, and Crown Prince Karl (later Karl XV) married Lovisa of the Netherlands. Who will conduct Victoria and Daniel’s ceremony is not yet clear, but the Church of Sweden’s Archbishop traditionally takes that role.

  • “Wait till I’m 110.”
    Sweden’s oldest man, Herner, turned 107 years old recently. But Herner Larsson, who lives alone in his house in Frösakull outside of Halmstad, thinks nothing of it. “Don’t bother about this. Wait till I’m 110, at least,” he says. Nevertheless, Herner did let loose a bit on his birthday – his whole family came to celebrate him. In spite of his age, the only thing lacking a bit is Herner’s hearing. He drove his car until he was 102 and most of his life he’s been involved with boats and sailing. “I’ve received many cards, and flowers and presents,” he said. “But I don’t need all that much.” Much has happened in the world during Herner’s 107 years: The Union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved in 1905 when he was three years old, World War I broke out when he was 12, and World War II when he was 37. Herner was 65 when Sweden introduced right hand traffic.

  • Swedish Countess in bitter divorce fight.
    Her ex-husband is described as jealous, controlling and cold as ice. George David preferred a round of golf instead of reuniting with his wife when she called to inform him she’d miscarried their baby. Countess Marie Douglas-David’s attorneys are doing their utmost to make her ex-husband look real bad. Douglas-David is claiming over $100 million from her ex-husband. According to their prenuptial agreement, Marie Douglas-David is entitled to $43 million after her divorce from former United Technologies CEO George David, worth an estimated $329 million. Not enough claims the Swedish socialite who is widely reported to have very expensive tastes, spending $200,000 a week on expenses, according to the New York Post. Her weekly expenses included $4,500 for clothes, $1,000 for hair and skin treatments, $1,500 for restaurants and entertainment, $8,000 for travel, $700 for limousine services. $2,209 for an assistant, $1,570 for horse care, and $600 for flowers, according to court documents. Marie Douglas-David moved to the U.S. in 1996 and married George David in 2002.

  • The best latte.
    Rasmus Åstradsson from Malmö makes the best Caffe Latte in Sweden and thus won the Beige Awards 2009. He will now go on to the Caffe Latte World Championships in Cologne, Germany. “I trained for 3 months trying to make the perfect latte,” Rasmus said. “Then I developed a perfect bean along with the café’s coffee roasting-house in Helsingborg.” Rasmus further revealed that he sometimes drinks plain black coffee and that his customers can expect a winning latte from him. “Well, yes. There’s a certain difference between the beans I use in the competition and the beans used at the café, but otherwise it’s the same coffee. A good restaurant would never serve overcooked potatoes, and I would never serve bad coffee.”

  • What Swedes do in bed.
    According to a study made on behalf of IKEA Swedes do more than sleep in bed. Surprised? Perhaps no. Anyway, here’s the “Top 13” list of activities of what Swedes do in bed. 1. Sleep (96%) 2. Read (76%) 3. Make love (73%) 4. Talk (51%) 5. Watch TV (41%) 6. Massage (25%) 7. Cuddle with children (20%) 8. Go online (18%) 9. Play with pets (16%) 10. Eat (16%) 11. Study (13%) 12. Meditate (8%) 13. Work (8%).

  • Reconnecting with Mikael Wiehe.
    He is probably most famous for his clipped voice and the spooky guitar chords of the song “Titanic,” but what is Mikael Wiehe doing today? Where is he? Turns out Wiehe (who is now 62 years old) just released a new album called “Sånger från en inställd skilsmässa” (Songs from a cancelled divorce), and he lives with his wife of 15 years and 5 daughters in an apartment near Triangeln in Malmö. Dagens Nyheter asked him why he chose to live in Malmö rather than in Stockholm. “Because I’d much rather have lived in Berlin, London, Cape Town or Buenos Aires,” Wiehe replied, “but for one reason or another I never got around to moving.” Wiehe did spend some time in Södermalm some years ago, but didn’t like it at all. “Stockholm is more provincial than Copenhagen, Oslo or Helsinki. I feel much better in Malmö.” Still, the confirmed Malmöit has some favorites in the capitol. His favorite street: Drottninggatan. His favorite part of town: Gamla Stan. Best restaurant: Nalen. Favorite cultural institution: Södra Teatern. Where he always seems to end up: Götgatan. Smartest thing to have when in Stockholm: “A punch-ticket for the subway,” he said.

  • The taste of Sweden.
    What does Sweden taste like? Like asparagus snaps, moose blood and a kallsup (when you accidentally swallow a lot of cold water while swimming) of course! At least those are some of the tastes you can try when the Vin & Sprithistoriska Muséet in Stockholm arranges the “Swedish Tastes” mini fair. Ice wine from Blaxsta, asparagus snaps from Gotland and punch from Norrtelje Brenneri. “All participants have creativity and innovation at their core,” says Mirja Lauson, director of the museum. “At the same time they use historical recipes and traditions.” Other participating producers include Gute vingård, Darom, and Wannborga vin och lamm. www.vinosprithistoriska.se