> Sweden you can only buy Alcohol from government stores. It's super expensive and they close early (3pm IIRC). So if you wanted some beers for party or a bottl

> Sweden you can only buy Alcohol from government stores. It's super expensive and they close early (3pm IIRC). So if you wanted some beers for party or a bottle of wine for dinner you're S.O.L. if you didn't buy on your lunch break. I think the article makes the mistake of generalizing things that doesn't generalize across Europe, or even the EU. It's a common mistake among Americans to think of Europe as a very similar area and not wildly different countries. Germany and Sweden I'd say are much less similar than say Canada or the US in most respects. Not least when it comes to bureaucracy, the use of paper, formal titles etc. Completely different. Alcohol can be bought in store until 7pm or 8pm in Sweden (but closes earlier on Saturdays and is closed on Sundays). Weird rules are everywhere though. Americans don't tend to find it strange they can't drink in bars at 18, for example. > Berliner's tell me "don't put your backpack between your legs while sitting at a restaurant, someone will sneak up behind and steal it". I think this is more a representation of how cautious people are of a particular crime, than how common a particular crime is.