We’ve stayed at the Sheraton Stockholm for the past several days, which was an all around solid hotel. Despite the super crowded club lounge and lack of an upgrade, it was a great base from which to explore Stockholm. Service was great, and the location was impossible to beat.
The last night of our stay we had drinks at the hotel’s bar, as we were tired, wanted to be connected to Wi-Fi, and the drinks were reasonably priced.
They had a “Cocktails Of The World” menu, whereby each page was themed after a different continent. And each page had an image which I guess they thought represented the continent.
Here’s the one for North America:
And here’s the one for Africa:
Oh my!
It almost reminds me a bit of when Korean Air launched service to Kenya, touting the “indigenous people full of primitive energy.”
So, what was the North American cocktail?
Lucky, you do your blog and its great content a disservice by resorting to click-bait titles more at home on lowest-common-denominator domains like BuzzFeed than a respected travel site.
Of course, you're entirely at liberty to do as you wish - it's your blog. I'm simply offering my 2 cents (or, rather, pence).
What is a "reasonably priced" drink in Stockholm cost these days? $15? More? Alcohol sure wasn't cheap when I went for my honeymoon in 2006.
These post titles could come from Us Weekly.
The African Girl is beautiful.
Im guessing the Australian one is Paul Hogan?
South America some Carnivale girl.
Asia this http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view1/2006593/chinese-peter-griffin-o-s.gif ?
@CraigTPA, it's not just the Swedes. The Germans have a most beloved local language fictional Native American character (Winnetou) and love the "idea" of the untamed American West in the frontier era.
Another post where the comments are far more entertaining than the actual post (and I mean that in a good way)...
@Quinn -- while true the Europeans introduced "distilled" liquors, the natives had a long, rich, and debauched history with "firewater" long before the white-eyes appeared. And the indigenous history of using intoxicants -- both spiritually/ritualistically and casually/recreationally -- is also long and varied. It seems to me the entire history of mankind (can one...
Another post where the comments are far more entertaining than the actual post (and I mean that in a good way)...
@Quinn -- while true the Europeans introduced "distilled" liquors, the natives had a long, rich, and debauched history with "firewater" long before the white-eyes appeared. And the indigenous history of using intoxicants -- both spiritually/ritualistically and casually/recreationally -- is also long and varied. It seems to me the entire history of mankind (can one still use that word without offending someone?) is replete with the pursuit of altered states. Cheers!
@CraigTPA -- I am also 0.125 Cherokee, not enough to be on the rolls but my late mother passed along some of the cultural and history to me. As to the European fascination with the Native American culture -- IDK. Lived in Aridzona for almost two decades and nearly 100% of our visitors from the Old World wanted to scratch "see a real Indian" off their bucket list. SMH...
Lucky, I'd be interested to know if the click-baity title on this one resulted in more views than a more traditionally titled post (not criticizing it, just genuinely curious if it worked as intended).
Over the years I've noticed that Swedes seem to have some sort of fascination with the American First Nations. First noticed it when "Europe", the Swedish band widely celebrated as "Worst Hair Band In The History Of The Universe*", put a song called "Cherokee" on their first album...I'm part-Cherokee but wasn't raised in the culture and know relatively little about it, and even I found a bunch of Swedes singing (badly) about Cherokees mildly offensive....
Over the years I've noticed that Swedes seem to have some sort of fascination with the American First Nations. First noticed it when "Europe", the Swedish band widely celebrated as "Worst Hair Band In The History Of The Universe*", put a song called "Cherokee" on their first album...I'm part-Cherokee but wasn't raised in the culture and know relatively little about it, and even I found a bunch of Swedes singing (badly) about Cherokees mildly offensive.
(* They were bad but popular, sort of like the Eurovision Contest, I guess. They opened for Def Leppard on part of the "Hysteria" tour, and were so reviled that when I saw DL at Shoreline Amphitheater at least half the crowd stayed out in the parking lot while they played.)
I admit I don't really understand where this interest comes from. Anyone ever encounter any sort of rationale?
Come now, this isn't Buzzfeed.
"The title's author? Albert Einstein."
What's the issue here? Images of a continent's native people used to represent that continent? What should they have used?
The only potential faux pas I can possibily see is using an image of an American Indian for a drinks menu when alcoholism is a major problem in the Native American community.
@ Lucky - we need photos for the rest of the continents!!! :D
I do see the implicit irony in having a Native American theme for an alcoholic drink, but lol at the white guy laughing at the Native American rep. North America. Take it down a notch hombre.
"european perception of america is always intriguing."
Even more intriguing? American perceptions of...everyone else.
i remember being dragged to a "country western" bar in paris in the late 90s that was plastered with new jersey license plates and new york yankees memorabilia. european perception of america is always intriguing.
Was That a Hendricks Gin and Tonic? Love the cucumber garnish :-)
It isn't really representative of the entire population. I think also it might look bad because Native Americans have historically had extreme difficulty with the use of alcohol. 12% of the deaths among American Indians and Alaska Natives are alcohol-related. It is also pretty odd since there are no "traditional" Native American alcoholic drinks. Europeans were the ones who introduced Native Americans to liquor.
That's because you're not an invalid.
*with a cheeseburger slider on the cocktail pick
I don't really see the problem, but I would have laughed at it too. I would have made the North American drink a bloody mary on the cocktail pick with a poutine floater. That's just me though...
Exactly what Callum says! I really can't see the problem here.
I'm struggling to see why a Native American in traditional dress can't represent North America...
It's merely a theme, not a proclamation that North America is inhabited mainly by tribes. What did you want them to picture, an overweight Texan with a bible in one hand and a burger in the other?
This seems particularly appropriate:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/399356/