Oh my foodness!

Everbody in Holland is always talking about how expensive everything is here. Sure, when you visit Stockholm and have breakfast at some 'foodie' breakfast bar, dinner in a fancy restaurant, or drinks in a club, you better pull out your wallet. What people often forget is when you visit one of the bigger cities in Holland, it's the same thing! 

1. Alcohol... is NOT more expensive here. There are many rules though..

Systembolaget is the Swedish state owned store for all alcoholic drinks with more than 3,5 percent of alcohol. Sure you can get your glas of wine or vodka in local pub but you are not allowed to take alcoholic beverages away from any of these places. In Swedish supermarkets they only sell beers/ciders that contain less than 3.5% of alcohol. 

If you are in Sweden, invited over for dinner at a friend's place and want to buy a bottle of wine, on a Saturday afternoon - bad luck! Systembolaget closes around 3 p.m. on Saturdays and is closed all Sunday. Which is why you can see many Swedes pilgrimage to their local store on Friday afternoons to buy ahead for the weekend.

I went to Systembolaget last week where I bought 2 (good) bottles of wine, 2 (specialty)beers and a bottle of Baileys and I had to pay €30,-. I think you'll be charged exactly the same in Holland. 

In Sweden you have to be 18 to be allowed to drink any alcohol. You have to be 20 years old to buy alcohol at Systembolaget. In most Swedish municipalities it is forbidden to drink alcohol in public. Getting caught doing so means having to pay a fine, 500 SEK (ca. 50 Euro) . But in many cases the police simply confiscates the drink and pours it out. If you have 0,3 or more, the police will take your drivers license for up to one year. Getting caught with 1,0 or more, and you might probably be jailed.

Anyway.. you guys better just bring me some when you visit, ok. Skål!

2. Food.. Also, not more expensive here. Many times, even cheaper! And therefore one of my favorite topics so far! 

I just went grocery shopping, it is by far one of the greatest improvements I've experienced compared to Holland. Nobody is in a hurry (I am a slow shopper and everybody running through the store and sighing at the cash register really irritates me), there's maybe 3 other people with you in the store, everything is on stock, everything is fresh, organic, and the store 'ICA' is like the most basic supermarket here, and they had everything that was on my shopping list (at normal rates). This has never happened to me in Holland before.. if you want to eat healthy you have to visit at least 3 stores to get a fair price. But here in Sweden, everything that is considered 'healthy' is normal. Every supermarket has a salad bar..  (picture above) there are more veggie options than meat.. oh and lactose intolerant people should move here immediately. I was standing in the dairy department when I asked an employee where I could find lactose free yoghurt. She looked at me as if she didn't understand me, but responded in perfect English: '' everything behind you is Lactose-free. We have a seperate smaller shelve where we keep our lactose products '' Jaaaaa.....gud....tack.. och.. 

hej då!