When I arrived in Stockholm, my French friend Mathilde told me, "Swedes are not really known for their cuisine." Perhaps, in comparison to France, no country is known for their cuisine! Regardless, I was excited to try some Swedish food. Stockholm is a pretty expensive city, so I decided to eat light for most of my trip (sandwiches, snacks, eating at home) and go to one nice restaurant to get a traditional Swedish meal.
In addition to trying Swedish food, I was very happy to participate in a Swedish tradition called fika. Fika, pronounced fee-kuh, roughly translates to "coffee break." The Swedes are all about taking a pause (or two) during the day to drink coffee and sometimes eat a small pastry or snack. Mathilde, who is completing her master's degree here in Stockholm, told me that her professors encourage her and her classmates to take fika during the small break they have during lectures. I can't imagine any of my professors back in the United States encouraging this! I have been in Stockholm for three days now, and I have taken fika every day. The coffee that Swedes drink is very similar to American coffee, so it wasn't much of a culture shock for me. It was for Mathilde, however.
