Top Sju

Lifestyle

7,000

sq m, is the size of this

year’s Ice Hotel, which recently won the award for the best travel experience in the country at the Trip Global Awards. The winner is nominated by 30 international tour operators. It’s the second time the Ice Hotel has bagged the top spot and this year there was particularly stiff competition in the form of the new Abba museum.

Art Suite: A face in the Crowd by Mikael “Nille” Nilsson & Ingemar Almeros. Photo: Christian Strömqvist

40

new words officially entered

the Swedish language in 2013. The list, released by Språkrådet (the Language Council of Sweden) includes the words ‘mobilmissbruk’ (mobile phone addiction), ‘dygnis’ (24 hour daycare) and ‘carpa’ (enjoying life, as in carpe diem), as well as phonetic rewrites of English words, ie. ‘embrejsa’ (to embrace) and ‘twerka’ (to twerk).

Top Sju

2

out of every 3 cars sold in

2013 was a Volvo, according to a report from motorist association Bil Sverige. Top of the list was the Volvo V70 II, with 20,252 cars sold. Swedes remain loyal to the trusted brand, and Volvo models have been the bestselling cars in the country for the past 56 years.

–5

is the ideal temperature

for playing musical instruments made of ice; much warmer and they can melt, colder and they can shatter. A vital detail for the musicians playing in Sweden’s largest ever ice concerts, being performed in an igloo in Luleå this winter. The shows, which include a range of music from folk to Lady Gaga, began on December 28th and will run until April 6th.

2014

is Umeå’s year as European

Capital of Culture, the most northerly city ever to hold the title. The year-long program of cultural events will kick off on the weekend of January 31-February 2 with an opening ceremony called Burning Snow, which promises to set the Umeå river on fire, literally and metaphorically. For more information, visit www. umea2014.se.

Photo: Andreas Nilsson

1000

Canadian hockey fans made

the trip to Sweden to support their team at the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship, turning Malmö Arena into a sea of red. The Canadians however, left Sweden emptyhanded losing to Russia in the bronze medal match. Sweden fared better advancing to the finals, but it was the Finns who took home gold. 11

is the number of categories

in which a film based on the life of Swedish jazz star Monica Zetterlund has been nominated for the Guldbagge awards on January 20th. Alongside Monica Z, the other two contenders for Best Film at the ‘Swedish Oscars’ are Återträffen (The Reunion) and Känn ingen sorg.