Red Swedish cabin on a still lake surrounded by pine forest

The Blog

Sweden, up close.

Places worth going, food worth eating, words worth knowing — and everything in between.

Editor’s pick, Culture

What fika really is (and isn't)

Sweden

People ask me constantly: what actually is fika? And every time, I pause. Because it's not the coffee. It's not the cinnamon bun. It's the deliberate stop, the choice to sit down, be present, and say that the people around you matter more than whatever is on your to-do list.

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Places

10 cafés worth your fika in Stockholm

I have a rule: never trust a fika spot that's on TripAdvisor. These ten are the ones I've circled back to, sometimes three times in a week. One of them I only found because I got completely lost in Södermalm.

Stockholm

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Travel

A perfect weekend in Gothenburg

I almost moved to Gothenburg once. I might still. The west coast does something to you, the salt air, the seafood, the way the light falls across the archipelago at six in the evening.

Gothenburg

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Language

The en/ett survival guide

Language

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Language

The 50 Swedish words I'd hand you first

Language

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Culture

Why lagom is impossible to translate

Culture

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Culture

The thing nobody tells you about Swedish summers

Sweden

You plan for the long days. You don't plan for what they do to you, the slowness, the birch trees, the sudden compulsion to sit by the water for three hours doing absolutely nothing.

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More coming. I’m writing as fast as I can.

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