New Video Uploads

I will update my YouTube account this evening with new videos from Melodifestivalen and my trip. The video link below will include those updates automatically.

After that, there's only one post left. I'll wrap up the entire experience - and finally tell you what I've learned during my adventure in semlor and song.

Swedish Adventures

Our CouchSurfing meeting last night included fifteen people from several different countries, including Spain, Germany, and Switzerland. We gathered at 7 pm and chatted for two hours. We continued on to a club later in the evening. It was about 2 am when we got home and we all went straight to bed. I'm not as young as I used to be, yet I still made it to the morning.

I'll be staying up late again today when I visit a nightclub in Örebro to see my favorite singer, Jenny Berggren from Ace of Base. Before that, Emma, Jonatan (a photographer for Melodifestivalen), and I will go skating. I haven't ice skated since I was fifteen. Emma has a helmet for me to use because I might need it!

I will be leaving Karlstad for Örebro a little later in the afternoon. First, I have to add a few songs to Emma and Christian's song list. They created a CouchSurfer playlist and their previous guests have added music to it. It's now my turn and I haven't yet decided what I want to add.

Welcome, or should I say Välkomna?

Hello dear readers! Welcome to my month long travel blog! I will be reporting on a few of my favorite Swedish things: Food and Music. Instead of trying to cover both subjects with a wide lens, I will cover these two topics using a macro shot. I want to discover something new about the country and its culture using two specific cultural icons: Fat Tuesday pastries and Melodifestivalen, an annual song contest.

Semlor and Song, in other words.

Fat Tuesday, the official day for eating semlor in Sweden, was two days ago. But that doesn't stop the Swedes from chowing down on these nom-nom pastries after the official date is over. No one is happier about that than me! It means I get to join in on the semla feast. And feast, I will!

Image from Flickr user Flugan - Creative Commons 2.0

There's also the song contest. Oh, the song contest! I have watched Melodifestivalen (literally, the melody festival) since I was a teenager. My first year was in 1999 and I haven't missed a show since. I couldn't miss it because it just wouldn't be February and March without it.

Image from Flickr user Signe Brockman - Creative Commons 2.0

My love for these two things - and more importantly, my love for Sweden and the Swedes - has convinced me to write this blog during my trip. I want to bring you along for the ride so you too can experience the fun and excitement of Sweden when tourists are few and far between. I hope to learn even more about my adopted second country, and I have a feeling you do too!

Nuuuuu kör vi! Here we go!