{"id":258,"date":"2009-09-09T09:05:00","date_gmt":"2009-09-09T13:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/?p=258"},"modified":"2009-09-09T09:05:00","modified_gmt":"2009-09-09T13:05:00","slug":"european-capital-of-culture-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/european-capital-of-culture-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"European Capital of Culture 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I really don\u2019t know what to say. Much to my disappointment, it was Ume\u00e5<\/strong>, not Lund<\/strong> that became selected as the Swedish candidate for the European Capital of Culture in 2014. The jury made its decision yesterday and when the results were announced during a press conference, I know that the good people of Lund<\/strong> were just scratching their heads. And I understand. Believe me, I do.<\/p>\n

I spent five years studying in Ume\u00e5<\/strong>, and while I admit that it was an agreeable place to live, its cultural claim to fame is rather questionable (and that\u2019s a very delicate way of putting it, OK?), that northernmost opera house notwithstanding.<\/p>\n

So unless in the coming years Ume\u00e5<\/strong> can produce some sort of a cultural miracle (which, personally, I don\u2019t see happening), this whole European Capital of Culture bit will be nothing but a monumental waste of money. Money that could be better spent elsewhere. So maybe, in that respect the fact that Lund<\/strong> lost the bid is actually a blessing?<\/p>\n

But that got me thinking. What would you say is the most culturally happening city in Sweden? Apart from the obvious choices of Stockholm<\/strong> and Malm\u00f6<\/strong>, of course.<\/p>\n