Liseberg Posted by Tibor on Dec 9, 2009 in Culture
The biggest amusement park (nöjespark) in the Nordic countries called Liseberg in Gothenburg. Liseberg has been a “must” (ett måste) for a lot of people during Christmas time. This park is not only for amusement, but they have a treffic theater ( en teater), a hotel and even an ice ring (en isbana) and also a several scenes where you can watch concerts all through the summer. But what really makes people go to Liseberg is the fantastic Christmas market (den fantastiska julmarknaden) and the mood they create around Christmas. For many, many years I used to feel that Christmas lost its magic for me as an adult and it was all about crazy shopping, stress and by the time we gathered around the Christmas tree I felt so exhausted that I did not only refuse to dance around it, but I wished there had never been my birthday ( min födelsedag) and New Year´s Eve (nyårsafton) coming. I soon realized, that many friends of mine felt the same way about the holiday so we decided that we can´t be bitter about this. We have to do something. Let´s go to Liseberg and see the Christmas market. Let´s make Christmas into a nice experience instead of a survival game. I have to confess that I was really sceptic because I dislike all the hysteria around the celebration in the “commercial world”, but I was very determined to have a change. So I entered the magical (magisk) world of Liseberg.
What I shortly understood walking along the market sheds (bodar) that I didn´t only find classical Swedish food, but so much new stuff that puts Christmas into another perspective. Because as much as I love herring (sill) or salmon (lax), we have it on the table all year long. I really liked the fact that besides traditional food you could also find these things with a different touch if we say so. People come here from all across Sweden with their own mustard (senap), cheese, whisky sausage or different kinds of berry and plant siraps. Sounds weird? Noo, it is already watering in your mouth. 🙂 The last mentioned from Alterhedens became a real favorite of mine. They are a family company 11 miles from the Swedish polar circle. So if you have your way around Gothenburg during the Christmas holidays go by one of the sheds from Norrland. www.alterhedens.se
To sum up my yearly visits at Liseberg I have gained a more relaxed and peaceful way of awaiting Christmas through spending some quality time with friends (vänner) and family on an occasion where we can hang out, have fun, eat food that you don´t usually find in the supermarkets and can feel like a child again playing for example pentathlon (femkamp). What I haven´t gained from the experience is more savings in the end of the day and let me tell you that you will be exhausted and cold. But it worth´s it since we have each year exciting food on the table next to the traditional dishes and that makes me quite pleased because I don´t necessarily know the whole screenplay for Christmas. And they have plenty of hot mulled wine (glögg) in case of freezing. What I also like at Liseberg -besides the fact that all the markets in Sweden look kind of artificial with thousands of light bulbs (glödlampor) and plastic snow including Liseberg- that they somehow have created a great atmosphere with their choice of sheds, quality products and representation for whole Sweden. So a big up for Liseberg! http://www.liseberg.se/sv/hem/ Find your infomation in English on their website.
The weather is getting cold around Christmas in Sweden so dress warm because you´ll be spending hours and a few hundreds of Swedish Kronor at the market. It has recently become very popular in Sweden to give away different kind of experiences such as hot chocholate or stone massage, wine tasting, paint ball fight, helicopter ride or weekend trips. We have even learnt that there should be “present of the year” (årets julklapp) each year. In 2009 the present of the year is a bed of nails (en spikmatta) informed us Handelns Utredningsinstitut, while 72% of the Swedes would cry under the Christmas tree getting one. Well, thank you for the information! But if you guys would fall for the media pressure so: “As you make your bed so you must lie on it”. (Som man bäddar for man ligga).
What do you think about the present of the year? Hissa eller dissa? Hot or not? Praise or raize? I say: dissa!
Årets julklapp genom åren:
* 2008 – En upplevelse (an experience)
* 2007 – GPS-mottagare (GPS-receiver)
* 2006 – Ljudbok (audiobook)
* 2005 – Pokerset (Poker set)
* 2004 – Platt-TV (flat-screen tv)
* 2003 – Mössa (cap)
* 2002 – Kokbok (cook book) Because of the wider popularity of TV-chefs
* 2001 – Verktyg (tools)
* 2000 – DVD-spelare (DVD-player)
sources: www.gd.se, www.liseberg.se
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Comments:
stefan:
I was going to say; who the *biiip* would want a bed of nails??? but to my surprise, several people i know have gotten one! I suspect I know a lot more masochists than I thought I did….
I myself would rather have the gift of the 2004, so Santa, please take notice.
BM:
An experience is always the gift of the year.
tibor:
Stefan! I hope Santa will, but I have heared that he is not doing well because of the economy…
Carla:
Liseberg sounds really nice at Christmas, I haven’t been to Götegorg yet. I’d be happy with a few bags of kola Snöre as my årets julklapp, and not en spikmatta! There’s a Julmarknaden here in Toronto, where you can have glögg and princesstarta, see the Luciatåget and do crafts.
Julie:
I normally love this blog, but this post just annoyed me, with the translation of every flipping word in brackets. Aargh!! If I want to know the word for these things, I will go and find it-I don’t need it in an ordinary blog post. Thanks!!
Chinese Rasta:
Don’t forget about the ice bar!!!! Pretty cool, very popular, you have to make reservations (I think), very wintery, very north of Swedenish, very touristic. But still…it’s Liseberg.
Carla:
Faktiskt, jag gillar översättningen av sökord!
Michael:
I hate to be contrary with Julie, but I think one value of the blog is to teach some Swedish. Perhaps you could include the words in a list at the end of the post if it annoys people. I think the knowledge is valuable, however.
Tack, Tibor.
Charlotte:
I also have to disagree with Julie, I think the translations are very useful for people learning Swedish, and this is a language blog after all. Not everything can be put through an automatic translator with accuracy, as Jennie’s “Men dog eleven?” blog post the other day demonstrated! It’s more convenient, for me at least, to have it here in the brackets so I don’t have to spend time looking up and cross checking a multitude of translations.
tibor:
Carla, it seems to me that you guys have everything in Toronto. It isn´t the first time I hear about this. Where can I find info on that market?
tibor:
Hi Julie, thanks for the comment. Well, if you are a regular reader you might have seen this before and as Michael writes we try to educate people (especially beginners). There are many things we can´t include in the text in Swedish because of the English content so we try to spice it up a bit. And if this is the only thing that annoys you are a happy person! 😉
tibor:
To Chinese rasta,
True there is even an ice bar although it is not unique because they have it even in Sthlm and Helsinki in Finland. But sure it is nice. Everyone should try it while they are there.
BM:
There’s an Ice Bar in Amsterdam, too. Incredibly bad for the environment, keeping all that ice ice. Think how much energy is needed, 24/7/365, to stop the inevitable melting. Still, I bet replacing the glasses is cheap.
tibor:
You have a point. I guess the responsibility is a key-word. Ice can be changed to glas as a decoration for example. I have recently heared about a kitchen like that here in Gothenburg.
Carla:
Hejsan, Tibor!
Det stammer, Toronto has lots of good stuff. However one thing we don’t have is a Swedish class! The Swedish Christmas Fair is organized by Toronto Chapter of SWEA, and it’s at an artsy community centre called Harbourfront. I can’t find good info about it, but here’s the poster:
http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/whatson/today.cfm?id=959
tibor:
Hej du!
Tack för informationen! I´ll check it out. It´s too bad, but I hope that Tranparent and the Swedish Blog are good source for you. If you have any questions please let us know.
Minty:
Hey Tibor,
I like your blog topic, but the English just drove me up the wall. Nearly every sentence had errors in it.
As for the translations, I like them so long as it is a translation of an interesting word…not something that can be easily translated in an internet translator. Things like expressions or sayings, a cultural thing, or something we just don’t have are good things to give us the Swedish word for.
I agree with Michael that a word list at the bottom of the post would be nice- an easy way to practice some new words perhaps.
tibor:
Hi Minty,
Sorry we missed proofreading in Englsih. Besides, English is not my mother tounge you know. But I will try my best to please you 🙂 But if you liked the Blog that is the most important for me.
cheers
Minty:
Haha ok Tibor,
perhaps I could proofread for you 😛
by the way… English, and tongue. 😉