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| I suppose Father Christmas was there... |
I was a little disappointed at the Scandinavia Show. Even though I discovered new shops selling everything from Finnish booze, Swedish micro brewed beer and Norwegian smoked salmon to vintage Scandinavian jewellery (more about this later), the show failed to ignite the love of all things Scandinavian even in me.
Perhaps it was the venue - rather than looking intimate, the small show looked swamped by the vast proportions of Earl's Court. The place, with it's boring commercial show type cubicles, made many of products look dull and ordinary.
Perhaps the show has been hit by the recession - there was a notable lack of some of the big names in Scandinavian (or Nordic for you Geography fundamentalists out there) design - no Marimekko, no George Jensen (apart from in vintage at trade marks at
Gråsilver), no Skandum. There was no representation from the booming Scandinavian TV film industry, or crime book trade. I saw on the programme that the first Swedish Wallander, Rolf Lassgård, would be appearing, but he's largely unknown to the British audiences. Couldn't they get
Krister Henriksson? I find that amazing, especially as I know he's doing PR for his forthcoming appearance as Doktor Glas in the West End next spring.
All the same, the Englishman and I had a good time choosing our Christmas beer (to be enjoyed with herring and schnapps) and salmon. Hansen & Lydersen smoked salmon here in London the Norwegian way and it was the best smoked fish I'd tasted in a long time. We even had a small shot of Salmiakki kossu (liquorice vodk
a) which on its own makes any person happy.
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| The female Vikings at The Swedish Chamber of Commerce. |
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| Our Christmas beer this is year is by Nils Oscar Brewery. |
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I fell in love with this 1970's Georg Jensen at Gråsilver.
(More about this fab shop later) |
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| Amathus stocks Finnish booze! |
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Our Christmas salmon will be provided by
Hansen & Lydersen (more about them later too). |
