Folding Bikes - Visit to Stockholm

Well, it looks like I may have a short visit to Stockholm in late June. I will have about 5 days of free time. I understand Stockholm is a great city to tour by bike. Anyone here with experience in that City? I'd love to get some advice.

1) Is the Stockholm City Bikes program still active? Is it recommended for a foreigner?
2) Suggestions for places to ride to?
3) Is Stockholm a good place to check out bikes - folding or otherwise? Any unique Swedish designs for bikes?
4) Can I get along without speaking Swedish?

Any other suggestions are welcome!

Well, it looks like I may have a short visit to Stockholm in late June. I will have about 5 days of free time. I understand Stockholm is a great city to tour by bike. Anyone here with experience in that City? I'd love to get some advice.

1) Is the Stockholm City Bikes program still active? Is it recommended for a foreigner?
2) Suggestions for places to ride to?
3) Is Stockholm a good place to check out bikes - folding or otherwise? Any unique Swedish designs for bikes?
4) Can I get along without speaking Swedish?

Any other suggestions are welcome!

Lucky you Sesamecrunch, a nice place to be & to cycle.

http://www.communityofsweden.com/Pages/Stories/Story.aspx?storyId=548

Almost everyone will speak English in Stockholm & surrounding areas. Only when one travels many (Swedish) miles north might there be a language problem.

There was a Swedish folder design, but I've never seen it. There are the occasional natives here on BF. who may know much more.

Have a lovely time in that great city.

john

stockholm..
too good to be true..
(at the moment I can only dream of cycling in amsterdam, kobenhavn, and maybe paris (not texas, paris france)

sesamecrunch, ever thought of bringing your own vehicle, your foldingbike, that is?

(I myself have taken my folding bike to another domestic city,though, 3 times now)

Stockholm's Old City area (Gamla Stan) is great and small enough to navigate on foot. During summertime the small streets there can get quite crowded, making it less enjoyable to bike around. You will have plenty of time to see more as well. In summer, a ferry to Stockholm's archipelago is a must in my opinion. Check out some of the larger islands such as Utö, they have restaurants, shops, bike rentals (basic 3-speed utility bikes) and great scenery to boot.

--J

sesamecrunch, ever thought of bringing your own vehicle, your foldingbike, that is?


I am not planning to take one of my folders. The City Ride program apparently makes it easy to get around the city by bike. Plus, my itinerary is long and convoluted. I am planning to travel as light as I can for max flexibility.

You're in for a real treat. One of the world's most beautiful cities.

Regarding Swedish; no need at all. Everyone speaks excellent, often British inflected english.

The old central island, Gamla Stan, is indeed very charming, and likely to be crowded. Narrow streets make it not particularly "bike friendly." Try cycling around Djurgården, Östermalm, or other parts of the city not so crowded.

The days will be very long, and you may have some Midsommar Natt (June 21, longest day) festivities.

Try emailing the Swedish Cycling Federation for details on cycling and cycling maps. Here's the email address

kansli@scf.se

Joe F

You're in for a real treat. One of the world's most beautiful cities.

Regarding Swedish; no need at all. Everyone speaks excellent, often British inflected english.

The old central island, Gamla Stan, is indeed very charming, and likely to be crowded. Narrow streets make it not particularly "bike friendly." Try cycling around Djurgården, Östermalm, or other parts of the city not so crowded.

The days will be very long, and you may have some Midsommar Natt (June 21, longest day) festivities.

Try emailing the Swedish Cycling Federation for details on cycling and cycling maps. Here's the email address

kansli@scf.se

Maybe we have some chicken and egg problem to unravel here in the question of how much they learned our English from us and how much they gave it to us in the first place.

All through the eighth, ninth and tenth centuries, Swedish and Norwegian pirates were sailing around Britain and raiding and settling here. I'm not so sure how much they learned our English and how much they brought it to us in the first place.

By 1035, Britain had a Viking King - Canute.

English words derived from Norse settlers -> http://www.viking.no/e/england/e-viking_words_1.htm

Great place to visit in June!! :thumb:

Any unique Swedish designs for bikes?

Microbike:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pSxuycoycA

It is also a City on several levels, so gears are advisable, also if you use maps it can become 'interesting' when the right turn you want is 40 foot below the bridge you are on! LOL! Gamla Stan is a great area with street artists, bars & cafes & I've had no problems taking my folders into bars etc. A great funfair and so many beautiful blondes that concentrating on the road can be a problem IMHO! :roflmao2:

Everyone speaks excellent, often British inflected english.


I can think of few places in Europe where "american accent" english is taught or attempted. Can you? American english is often despised and mocked.

American english is often despised and mocked.

Can't say I ever noticed that myself, although any non-standard form of pronunciation can lead to amusement among the less educated members of society. This happens within the British isles itself which has a wide variety of very different accents. These have been a staple source of material for comedians for years.

I'd be surprised if an American accent was any more cause for mockery than a Canadian, or an Australian one, or a Scottish or Welsh or a Tyneside one unless people were intent on making a political point on something. Liverpudlians in Britain are mocked perhaps more than almost any speakers and links are drawn to undesirable social traits, as in, "What do you call a Liverpudlian in a suit?" ANSWER "The defendant", or "What do you call a Liverpudlian in a shell suit?" ANSWER "The bride."

Of course, maybe the despising and mockery are triggered by something else; the behaviour and manner of the individual, for example.

I doubt anyone shows disrespect or mockery towards Sesamecrunch for example. I have met him and he's a gentleman of the best sort.


^... thereby proving the old saying that "you can fool some of the people some of the time" .....:D

^... thereby proving the old saying that "you can fool some of the people some of the time" .....:D

LOL - you must have been quick of the mark there Alan. I deleted that line because I thought it was a) too ar*e-licking, and b) it might embarrass you.


So - now i am exposed as an embarrassing ar*e-licker.

I suppose the truth will out...

Hi SC. One place worth to visit in Stockholm is the Technical Museum - fantastic collection. There are nice art galleries in Stockholm, and Gamla Stad is a must.

So - now i am exposed as an embarrassing ar*e-licker.

I suppose the truth will out...

:lol::lol::lol:

So I guess I should make you my PR guy, eh?

Thanks for all the good suggestions, folks. It's getting me very excited about the trip.

Everyone speaks excellent, often British inflected english.
That is to be very wishful thinking. but if one are lucky then one meet a lot of people who love to try to speak English but to say they are good at it can be very individual.

I want to be good at it but I fail miserably.

There are members of the HPV Sweden living in Stockholm that can recommend where to bike.

http://www.parnes.com/hpvsblog/ here is their try at English

http://www.liggister.org/english.htm

The ones having Stockholm in their location can be reached by email and give link to this list so they can jum in here or they write back personally to you. June is so far so mostlikely you find at least one or two that can give some advice.

unfortunately I am not good at giving such advice cause I am too chicken to bike among cars.

Sure I have done it but I feel very scary doing it. Remember to take a kind of rain gear with you. or buy one here. Cause the weather is sometimes wet but when it is sunny it is a lovely temperature not so warm as when one go south. Too much of anything is not to be preferred. :D Hehehe crazy grammar there

Hope you don't get too disappointed when we think we know English cause most of us don't .

That is to be very wishful thinking. but if one are lucky then one meet a lot of people who love to try to speak English but to say they are good at it can be very individual.
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I could forgive Agnetha Falskog the odd slip up in her English. Of course, she doesn't look like this now, but she did once.

I can think of few places in Europe where "american accent" english is taught or attempted. Can you? American english is often despised and mocked.

I dunno I work with q. a few European corporate types and a lot have US inflections, whether they are aware of it or not. More so in E. Europe, and also more so in Latin America. imho Brits at least don't despise US english, but they get irritated in a laid back brit way if they are told they are not spking it proply. fwiw.

I dunno I work with q. a few European corporate types and a lot have US inflections, whether they are aware of it or not. More so in E. Europe, and also more so in Latin America. imho Brits at least don't despise US english, but they get irritated in a laid back brit way if they are told they are not spking it proply. fwiw.


LOL - yes - I got a bit snotty when some callow American youth corrected my spelling of the ancient English word 'arse' to the spelling which denotes a type of horse / donkey cross. I felt obliged to point out that the English word used to denote ones backside derives from a viking word - 'ars' which meant exactly the same. People in these small islands have been calling the posterior an 'ars' or 'arse' since about 800 - 1000 AD.

http://www.viking.no/e/england/e-yorkshire_norse.htm

However - it doesn't do to get to arsy about these things.

Poor SesameCrunch, you will experience at least four different ways of trying to talk proper English here.

Typical Scandinavian English like Danes, Norwegians, Swedes talk English. Horrible accent that only some one from North Dakota may stomach. :D

But we also have many from Finland who emigrated to us when job was hard to find and we happen to have them so they have an accent typical of their language and then you have those who emigrated from middle East and mostly Irak and Turkey and they have a Kurdish accent in their English and then you have us that sometimes sound like BBC announcers and then slip back to Swedish broken accent or jump to an parody of many different American ones like Southern accent or whatever. We are not so caring about it.

some of us love to try to emulate moviestars so be prepared to hear many variations. I doubt you find us good at it. I have tried to be good at English without formal education and I miss grammar things badly and sounds very bad. Give me number to a land line where I can reach you I mean give you a brief call and I can give you a living example what you will hear or what you are up to.
Cost me very little to speak over landline so I don't mind to give an example. for fun that is

...... I felt obliged to point out that the English word used to denote ones backside derives from a viking word - 'ars' which meant exactly the same. People in these small islands have been calling the posterior an 'ars' or 'arse' since about 800 - 1000 AD.
....
However - it doesn't do to get to arsy about these things.

:-)

Several years ago we bought a very expensive logic analyser from "ARS Microsystems" ;-)

I haven't seen them around recently :-)

Ref' your earlier post, you might be interested in this biography link, EvilV:

http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/agnetha_faltskog

Poor SesameCrunch, you will experience at least four different ways of trying to talk proper English here.

Typical Scandinavian English like Danes, Norwegians, Swedes talk English. Horrible accent that only some one from North Dakota may stomach. :D



I'm not worried at all - I'm not going to Sweden to practice English. As long as their English is good enough to direct me to the bathroom, or to the nearest pub in an emergency, I'll be very happy. :thumb:

Can I get along without speaking Swedish?

I spent a week in Gothenburg once, and after the first day I stopped asking people if they spoke English because it seemed like a silly question. The Swedes, with the possible exception of our cousins the Brits, speak the best English in Europe.

LOL - yes - I got a bit snotty when some callow American youth corrected my spelling of the ancient English word 'arse' to the spelling which denotes a type of horse / donkey cross. I felt obliged to point out that the English word used to denote ones backside derives from a viking word - 'ars' which meant exactly the same. People in these small islands have been calling the posterior an 'ars' or 'arse' since about 800 - 1000 AD.

http://www.viking.no/e/england/e-yorkshire_norse.htm

However - it doesn't do to get to arsy about these things.

LOL! More than one Briton has dressed me down for using the "American" past participle "gotten". They tend to shut up, however, when I remind them that the Bard himself used the same:

Messenger: Jack Cade hath gotten London bridge:
The citizens fly and forsake their houses:
The rascal people, thirsting after prey,
Join with the traitor, and they jointly swear
To spoil the city and your royal court.

2 KING HENRY VI

Ha, ha! Many of our "Americanisms" are nothing more than good ol' Shakespearean English. If only more of our British cousins were familiar with their own literature!

Ha, ha! Many of our "Americanisms" are nothing more than good ol' Shakespearean English. If only more of our British cousins were familiar with their own literature!

That's true enough, but then, I suspect that 450 year old plays in iambic verse are a taste not acquired by many people anywhere in the face of electronic entertainment and a diet of hyper violent action movies. The funny thing is that in the time of the bard himself, the plays were hugely popular with the masses. They are peppered with lewd, comical and ridiculous characters who pop up between more serious scenes, so that the rough element of the audience don't get bored.

Anyway - language changes; you may still say 'gotten' in America, but I bet you don't often hear people saying, 'forsooth', or 'zounds', or 'by my troth,' do you? We just dumped the 'gotten' as well, but fine if you want it - enjoy.

:)

But we also have many from Finland who emigrated to us when job was hard to find and we happen to have them so they have an accent typical of their languageIn my case it works the other way 'round. Whenever I go to Sweden I make an effort to polish my somewhat broken Swedish (finlandssvenska) by using it as much as I can. One time a waiter looked at me funny as I was making an order, then asked in Finnish what is it that I want. :lol:

--J

One time a waiter looked at me funny as I was making an order, then asked in Finnish what is it that I want. :lol:

--J
Yeah - I get that in France and Spain - in fact just about anywhere I don't just ask in English.

Update:

I'm in Stockholm now. Just finished a week swing dancing at the Herrang Dance Camp - the Center of the Universe for Lindy Hop dance. Here's a video sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rokC3tViCG8 (Errr, that's not me dancing in the video. what I do bears little resemblance...) Tonight I'm going to a park in Stockholm where they have traditional Swedish folk dances - waltzes, polkas, schottisches, etc.

Stockholm is a great place to see by bike. Flat, lots of bike paths and lanes. Lots of people riding to work. I just love the sight of city women riding bikes in their flowing dressess. Just a beautiful sight. Thanks for all the good tips about places to visit. I took a bike tour of the City on the first day and got a good overview. Oh, and everyone speaks English here, making it easy for this Yank to get around.

I return to the US in two days, where my wife and son will meet me and provide SAG as I ride my modified Dahon SmoothHound down the Oregon Coast. It'll be around 450 miles and should be beautiful. I'll try to post some pictures when I get back.

I know, it's a rough life....

Update:

............
Stockholm is a great place to see by bike. Flat, lots of bike paths and lanes. Lots of people riding to work. I just love the sight of city women riding bikes in their flowing dressess. Just a beautiful sight. Thanks for all the good tips about places to visit. I took a bike tour of the City on the first day and got a good overview. Oh, and everyone speaks English here, making it easy for this Yank to get around.

I return to the US in two days, where my wife and son will meet me and provide SAG as I ride my modified Dahon SmoothHound down the Oregon Coast. It'll be around 450 miles and should be beautiful. I'll try to post some pictures when I get back.

I know, it's a rough life....

Hello SesameCrunch.

It was a racing certainty you'd enjoy it, all of the Nordic Countries are well worth visiting, enjoyed especially by bicycle :)

What do you think of these long daylight hours?

Enjoy your home trip, & look forward to the pic's


John

Have a great time Sesamecrunch. I had no idea you were interested in dancing. Looks great fun.

Mind how you go and enjoy the Oregon bike ride. Great to have a support group bringing on your gear.

What do you think of these long daylight hours?



Well, I danced 'till 2am one night, and when I came out, it was still light out. Problem was - I wasn't sure if it was from sunset or sunrise. Very confusing... :D

Have a great time Sesamecrunch. I had no idea you were interested in dancing. Looks great fun.



I married into a dancing family 15 years ago. I wish I had discovered it much sooner, though. Great social activity. It's a real rush to have women queue up to ask you to dance. Would have greatly enhanced my social life in my teens and twenties. :p Not to say that it isn't flattering now, it's just that I can't materially benefit from it now....:lol: