A big part of Swedish culture is drinking a lot of coffee and taking long relaxing coffee breaks with friends. This is called Fika. The act of having a coffee break is so integral to the Swedish way of life that they actually constructed a verb to describe the act, ‘to fika’.
Valgard tries to take as many fika’s as he can a day. This is a very popular activity. Stockholm definitely has a big café culture (however I can guarantee that America has more cafes) but the act of going to a café in Sweden is completely different.
You will hardly see anyone at a café alone in Sweden.
Going to a café is a very social activity here usually done with family or friends. In the states you will see many people at cafes alone reading or working, or grabbing a ‘cup to go’. Here that is not the case. People in Sweden do not go to cafes to work or read, but rather just to socialize and take it easy.
People here take there fika here so seriously, if you find yourself in a park this summer and you look around you will see hundreds of people with big thermoses full of coffee, Swedish Strawberries and cinnamon buns. Portable fikas are a must, and you better be organized!
