how do other people in Europe view Scandinavia? (Finnish, taxes, speaking)
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As for prices, I don't think it's that brutally expensive.
Ground beef and ground pork usually costs from 49 Kronor ($7.52) to 59 ($9.06) per kilo
A pork fillet you get for around 70 Kronor ($10.75) to 100 ($15.35) per kilo
Pork chop usually goes for around 59 Kronor ($9.06) per kilo
At Netto in my town, you get a bag of 8 or 9 Danish chicken fillets for 79 Kronor ($12)
1 litre of milk you get for 10 Kronor ($1.54)
Pasta, rice etc is ultra cheap.
If you go out and eat though it's an entirely different story, especially in the big cities. In my little town on the south-east coast of Sweden it costs from 70 kronor ($10.75) to 100 ($15.35) to eat a pizza, drink not included. And that's for just a pizza, now imagine what a real meal costs. And be prepared to pay alot more than that in the big Scandinavian cities, I myself had a shock with the prices at restaurants in Copenhagen. Alcohol is also brutally expensive in Sweden, and cannot even be sold in grocery stores due to strict government regulations that all alcohol that contains more than 3.5% has to be sold in the Swedish government owned liquor store chain Systembolaget, they also have a system like that in Norway, Finland, Faroe Islands and Iceland. There is an exception for alcohol served at retaurants and bars in all 3 of these countries, for those who have a permit to do so. The only country in Scandinavia where alcohol can be sold by all stores is Denmark, but it's brutally expensive there as well.
But food in general (that is in supermarkets, grocery stores etc, not restaurants) is not expensive in my opinion.
Meat also get's alot cheaper if you buy meat that is imported from Denmark, which I do all the time, I support the agriculture in all of Scandinavia.
Last edited by Helsingborgaren; 11-01-2013 at 09:03 AM..
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MagnusPetersson
As for prices, I don't think it's that brutally expensive.
I think that comparing prices, in different countries should be done as follows, to get a better idea of what is expensive or not ...
Find out how much time you have to work for a loaf of bread in each country.
(Most loaves of bread are about the same size)
Now do that for all kinds of other items.
When we lived and worked in Southern Germany for many years, we found that dairy products were really cheap compared to the same product in the USA, while other products were extremely expensive when compared.
Sales tax in Sweden 25% (among the highest in the world)
Food prices in Sweden are fair, but eletronics, clothing, gas and other goods very expensive. No wonder why Scandinavians go crazy when shopping in the USA.
Sales tax in Sweden 25% (among the highest in the world)
Food prices in Sweden are fair, but eletronics, clothing, gas and other goods very expensive. No wonder why Scandinavians go crazy when shopping in the USA.
On the other hand we pay very little for medicine, healthcare, insurances and public transportation, and nothing for education.
I guess there isnt a single scandinavian identity all countries are pretty much different, for example denmark has much more of a continental character than Norway does.
I guess there isnt a single scandinavian identity all countries are pretty much different, for example denmark has much more of a continental character than Norway does.
Well I'm a Swede and I feel Scandinavian. Even Finns who are technically not Scandinavians feels Scandinavian (or Nordic), because of the cultural and historical similarities. Sweden (except Southern Sweden) is more similar to Norway and Finland than Denmark yes. However, Southern Sweden is more similar to Denmark than it it is to the rest of Sweden, and Norway and Finland.
I live in Southern Sweden, and we have alot in common with Denmark, like a totally flat landscape, a biking culture and straighforward/direct mentality, not afraid to talk with strangers. People in other parts of Sweden, Norway and Finland are typically not like that.
It is said that Southern Sweden, in particular Skane and Blekinge (which is usually synonymous with Southern Sweden) is by far the most continental part of Sweden, with only a few hours to Germany, and a bridge to Denmark that goes directly to the continent, with Denmark being connected via Jutland, and only a very short distance between Zealand and Germany by ferry.
My province/region Blekinge, which is in southernmost Sweden, is promoted in our tourism campaigns as "A Region Near Europe", when promoting our region as a tourist destination for people in the rest of Sweden who does not think of themselves as continentals.
Here is how the terrain in my province Blekinge looks like, filmed from a bicycle
Well I'm a Swede and I feel Scandinavian. Even Finns who are technically not Scandinavians feels Scandinavian (or Nordic), because of the cultural and historical similarities. Sweden (except Southern Sweden) is more similar to Norway and Finland than Denmark yes. However, Southern Sweden is more similar to Denmark than it it is to the rest of Sweden, and Norway and Finland.
I live in Southern Sweden, and we have alot in common with Denmark, like a totally flat landscape, a biking culture and straighforward/direct mentality, not afraid to talk with strangers. People in other parts of Sweden, Norway and Finland are typically not like that.
It is said that Southern Sweden, in particular Skane and Blekinge (which is usually synonymous with Southern Sweden) is by far the most continental part of Sweden, with only a few hours to Germany, and a bridge to Denmark that goes directly to the continent, with Denmark being connected via Jutland, and only a very short distance between Zealand and Germany by ferry.
My province/region Blekinge, which is in southernmost Sweden, is promoted in our tourism campaigns as "A Region Near Europe", when promoting our region as a tourist destination for people in the rest of Sweden who does not think of themselves as continentals.
Here is how the terrain in my province Blekinge looks like, filmed from a bicycle
I always imagined skanians being quite close to the danish, however the rest of swedes are more close to norwegians.
Jutlandish I think they might feel closer to north-germans than anybody else, correct me if I'm wrong :P.
True. We are indeed very similar to Danes, and our landscape, cities, towns and villages is very, very similar to Denmark. We also share some common traditions like MÃ¥rtensafton, the ONLY people in Scandinavia who celebrates MÃ¥rtensafton is Danes, Scanians and Blekingebor. Not in other parts of Sweden, and not in Finland or Norway. Also, Denmark and Southern Sweden (Skane and Blekinge) is by far the most suitable landscape for biking in all of Scandinavia. Even villages and towns in Southern Sweden has special bicycle lanes that is only for bicycles and not pedestrians, such lanes are rare in the rest of Sweden.
Many schools in Skane is named after famous historic Danish kings, who are not celebrated at all in the rest of Sweden, but seen as historical enemies.
Here is Scanian and Danish football hooligans fighting together as one team against hooligans from Gothenburg (a city on the Swedish west coast, near Norway). The ones dressed in red are Scanians and Danes, and the ones dressed in black and the shirtless ones are Gothenburgers.
We are also the most continental part of the Scandinavian Peninsula, taking the ferry to northern Germany takes only 4 hours, and very many southern Swedes goes to northern Germany and fills their cars and buses with beer that they buy for cheap prices in northern Germany, infact there is even buses that goes directly from my town Sölvesborg, Blekinge to Sassnitz in northern Germany and returns home the same day, only for people who wants to buy beer and other cheap alcohol. In other parts of Sweden, and Norway and Finland, it is not possible to reach Germany within 4 hours, or even a day for that matter. And if you take the route through Denmark, you can be in Germany in less than 2 hours. We also have very close ferry connections to Poland, also in continental Europe.
Here is a typical image from the Scanian countryside, could as well be an image from Denmark or even the Netherlands for that matter, but it is Skane, outside Helsingborg.
(public domain photo)
One of the most obvious geographical differences is that Southern Sweden is flat and low, while the rest of Sweden is a mountainous and high country in general, like Norway.
Denmark and Southern Sweden is different from the rest of Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia, but we're still Scandinavians, just a bit more continental variant of Scandinavians.
Fun fact: Finland has been Swedish for alot longer than the provinces of Skane, Blekinge and Halland, which has only been Swedish for a mere 300 years or so, compared to Finland which was Swedish for more than 700 years.
Last edited by Helsingborgaren; 11-02-2013 at 12:41 AM..
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