North: How to Live Scandinavian (How to Live…)

A complete guide to Scandinavia filled with travel tips, cultural and historical facts, recipes, and inspirational photography from the Nordic nations.

Why are Scandinavians constantly topping the happiness table? How do you get more Scandi-style in your life? Just how do you use lagom? Whether you want your apartment to look like it belongs in Copenhagen, to workout like a Norwegian or to make cinnamon buns like a Swede, this is the ultimate insider’s guide to the countries of the north.

Full of inspiration and ideas, how-tos and recipes to help you experience the very best of Scandinavian design, philosophy, cookery, and culture, this honest behind-the-scenes look at the culture provides an invaluable insight into the wonderful and visually stunning world of Scandinavia. Like her viking ancestors before her, Brontë Aurell left Denmark to explore the world beyond home shores and in her travels has come to understand the fascination with her kinfolk, as well as seeing the idiosyncrasies of the Scandinavian lifestyle that locals take for granted.

With a signature wit and a keen eye for detail, she takes you on a journey through fjords and mountains, farmlands, and cities to better understand these three nations and what makes each one so unique. So get outdoors, learn the life lesson that there’s no such thing as bad weather (only bad clothing), and you may discover your inner Scandi sooner than you think . . .

From the How To Live . . . series of insightful guides to some of the most intriguing cultures and locations on the planet, other books available include How To Live Japanese, How To Live Korean, and How to Live Icelandic.

From the Publisher

What is Scandinavia?

Scandinavia is a geographical definition, based on the Scandinavian peninsula, and includes Sweden, Norway and Denmark – even though it’s not really on the peninsula – but not Finland, even though it borders Sweden and Norway. Confused yet?

How to be more Danish

1. Wear black, a lot. From top to bottom. It shows off our (sometimes) blonde hair. Add a really big scarf. A black one.

2. Speak on your in-breath when you say ja (‘yes’), pronounced ‘yeah’.

3. Eat open sandwiches on very dark rye bread. Every day. Sandwiches were meant to be topless. Also, top your open cheese sandwich with strawberry jam.

How to be more Norwegian

1. Go for a hike (ut på tur, literally out on tour) every weekend, ideally somewhere hilly.

2. Always take a matpakke (packed lunch) wherever you go.

3. Every weekend and holiday, go to a hytte (cabin). Any cabin. A garden shed can be used as a replacement. This is called hyttetur (cabin tour).

Fermenting, smoking, drying … all of those methods used by our forefathers have given us an extensive food culture – from the north of Norway to the south of Denmark, this developed around what could be found on the land and in the sea.

Scandinavia’s national dishes

From the Arctic Circle to the south of Scandinavia, the cuisines are as diverse and colourful as our countries. So when you think about national dishes, you need to do so bearing in mind just how different the dishes of northern Scotland are to those of Seville.

The darkness

The Scandinavian winter is harsh on outsiders. Think snow, ice, more snow, storms, utter darkness… To be honest, that’s only really up north. There is a lot of weather difference between Svalbard and Malmö. That being said, from around October until March, things are pretty bleak, even in the south. With everything smothered in some sort of permanent dark hue, Scandinavians have had to find ways to cope. Winter is long when it lasts five months, no matter what angle you look at it.

How to bicycle

Getting on your bike is big in Denmark. Everyone does it, all the time. While people in other Scandinavian places also love their bikes, nobody loves them quite as much as the Danes do. Copenhagen got its first bike lane in 1892, when there were only a few bikes – and cars – around. Good forward thinking in the planning department, because today half a million new bikes are sold each year in a country of just five million people. To a Dane, bikes are how you get around in the most efficient way in terms of time, flexibility and cost.

How to lagom

Lagom is the most important Swedish word you will ever learn. It goes deep into the make-up of every Swede, at home or abroad, and is part of being quintessentially Swedish. The word lagom is said to derive from the folk etymology in a phrase used in Viking times: laget om – meaning ‘around to the team’ – which was allegedly used to describe just how much mead one should drink when passing the horn around in the group. This etymology is commonly accepted to be right, although some parallels are made with the Law of Jante and the common set of rules about how much one should have of something.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B071LNWYHX
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Aurum; 1st edition (September 7, 2017)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 7, 2017
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 34.5 MB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 224 pages