II. Sweden : the water experience

I know this blog is about Italy but I think every cultural shock is nice to share, so I decided to share more about my recent trip in Sweden.
In fact I had another surprise, when I arrived in Sweden and discovered the weather was freaking hot. I was literally melting and sent immediately a text message to my Swedish friend that replied to me: “this is not North Pole my friend…”. I had prepared myself (and my luggage) to cool temperature, not more than 20°C. Completely stupiddddddd.

Soon I had to look for water, which became rapidly “the plain water quest”.

It’s not a question of finding a shop supplying water, or even a question of choice, cause I have to tell you, I never saw so many different type of bottles on shelves.  

No, the problem is that, if Swedish people do know in Design the quote “less is more”, they don’t apply it to water… To make it simple, don’t look for PLAIN WATER in their country, it’s impossible.

I didn’ t realize it immediately though. The first time I bought water, I got screwed cause it was written natural on the bottle, so I thought immediately about the “aqua naturale” in Italy meaning “plain”. Unfortunately it was also written “sparkling” in Swedish... When the weather made me look for a second bottle, I suddenly realize it was impossible to find natural water. After a few shops and checking each time with the owner, I had to admit that I should go for a water not tasting like water. 
In France, we choose the taste of the plain water (most of the people I know have their favourite water : Evian vs. Volvic vs. Vitell vs. Contrex etc.) Here, they got this trendy influence from the U.S., that water must have a flavor, or bring something more (reload, care, vitamine B12)… I would have found one specialized in “good digestion post rein deer meat balls”, that I would not have even been surprised, lol.

I tried to think about an explanation, above all that Sweden is a country where, apparently everything is thought for your comfort. Well, the only wise explanation I can come with is that: since tap water is drinkable, and they are so into nature protection, they carry their own water flask/SIGG everywhere with them, so they never feel the need to buy bottles of plain water...  
I guess they should warn the tourists when they arrive at the airport: “please buy a water flask, you’ll not be allowed to kill the planet with plastic bottles in our country, at least not for plain water”…