Thomas has a car which he apparently drove up from Germany with. A gang of us went driving with him and went to…the big grocery store on the other side of town! (We are wild and crazy youths) It was like heaven. They had fruit, and a wider selection of veggies, and all sorts of other stuff. I now am able to vary my previously limited three dinner options of pasta, stir fry, and eggs. As I type I am alternating between snaking on prunes and mixed nuts. Life is good.

CAFÉ REVIEW

As you may recall I have taken it upon myself to sample all the café and coffee shops in Uppsala. My main criteria is whether it’s a pleasant place to read or study. In the following incomplete review I’ll try to have a broader scope.

Värmlands Nation- the old standby. Love this place. Cheap lunches with good portions, cheap coffee and FREE REFILLS (not a guarantee by any means, here in Sweden), and great places to sit. If your in a social mode there is the main room, and if your in a quieter mood you can go into the library. Building is old and European. Also, on a personal note I am getting to know some of the workers, and that’s always nice. 5/5

Upplands Nation- Pretty good. Building is newer and the dining room brighter. Their aren’t any sofas or comfy chairs, just tables and chairs. Food is filling but more expensive. Nice quiet place to read. Only open on Weekends. 3/5

Kalmar Nation- Very quaint little cellar. Has dark wood and the feel of a pub. Only open on Sundays, and is always very crowded and loud. Good food, but expensive, coffee too and they charge for refills. You must retreat to the library if you want to read, which is not as comfy as the Värmlands library. But it has a very good atmosphere if you want to talk with a group of friends and be merry. 4/5

Stockholms Nation- They convert their dance floor into a big open café. It doesn’t work very well. They have live music on the weekends which is nice but its too dark, and the prices are too high (charge for coffee refills, too). Still has a nightclub feel which I don’t want during the day. 1.5/5

Östgote Nation- I went there once and nobody was there, not even a barista. There was a sign that said- “Coffee, 5 sek. Please be honest.” Lame. 0/5

Snerkes Nation- Snerkes has one of the best restaurants of the nations. They convert this to a café during the day, and again it is not to my liking. All restaurant style setting, with hard wooden chairs. No atmosphere. I didn’t even stay to see if they gave free refills. 1/5

Oxhorde Café- This is a non-nation coffee shop right by Kalmar Nation. Very nice, cozy atmosphere, like you're in a hobbit house. Coffee is very expensive (19 sek, as compared to Stockholms 12 sek which is already really high), but refills are free. It should be noted that everything outside the nations is more expensive. This is because nations are student run, non-profit groups. So in one sense it isn’t fair to say that Oxhorde is expensive, it’s average. But compared to the nations it’s expensive. 3/5

Café Linné- There are actually two Café Linnés in Uppsala. They are right across the street from each other but have no business relation (I asked). These places are what my old roommate Scuzz would call “bourgie” (as in bourgeois). Families and rich late 20s and early 30s go here. But not bad if that’s what your in the mood for. 2/5

Café in the basement of Univeritethouset- one of the classroom buildings has a café in the basement. I see people hang out down there and study. It has an ok cellar feel to it, with enough light, but it’s main strength is its location. You come here during the class break (Classes are two hours long, and always have a 15 minute break in the middle. I found it weird at first but now it really is nice to go into the second half all refreshed). Other than that, the coffee is bad so you don’t even want a refill, and food is pricey. 1/5

Café in that one house by Ekeby- I just found this place. Right in the middle of a residential neighborhood is a house that has a café sign on it. I walked in and found the cutiest little coffee shop that these people were running out of their ground floor. Tons of comfy seating, and I got a bottomless cup of coffee for 5 sek. To top this all off, I was there when they were closing so the woman asked if I wanted a free pastry (presumably they were going to throw it away.) What a place! And it’s only three blocks from my dorm. The only downside is it closes early, 3 Tue-Thurs, and noon on Mondays and Fridays. 5/5


To clarify, Ekeby is a neighborhood in Uppsala. My dormitory is refered to as Ekeby because it is the only student dormitory in Ekeby, and it is located on Ekebyvägen (Ekeby avenue)

Speaking of the Ekeby café (as I shall now refer to it). I transacted my business there entirely in Swedish. This made me very happy. I find that business transactions are a great place to start practicing a language. You have a definite goal in mind, and you can get by with pretty simple thoughts.


-The Wandering Norseman-