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@ Tiny Abode, Sweden
ESTRELLA begins her tour of "Sweden". Wrap up warm!
Tiny Abode, Sweden
This very cute little dwelling is most likely a beach hut or bathing box. Beach huts are used to store items for use at the beach, for changing into beach attire and some even have provision for light cooking.

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@ Barn, Sweden
Brown Bobby lowered his copy of Swedish Without Strain. "You know, they don't have a way to say 'please' in Swedish."
"Wow!" responded ESTRELLA. "So...I don't understand, how do you get by without it?"
"Well, it seems you just have to sound polite and use Tack, which means 'thank you'."

Barn, Sweden
A small door/window in what appears to be an older barn. Barns can have many small windows to let natural light in. Many older barns in Sweden are gaining new life by being renovated into modern homes.

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@ Cityscape, Stockholm
"The hotel manager taught us two untranslatable Swedish words today, to help understand Swedish culture," remarked ESTRELLA.
"What are they?" asked Mike.
"Well, the first is fika, which means to have a cup of coffee with a treat at a café while talking with a friend. A small word for a universal custom that everyone in Sweden enjoys! The second describes a core Swedish value. Lagom means 'not too little, not too much … but just right.'"

Cityscape, Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and is built on 14 islands with 57 bridges connecting those islands. There are 53 museums in Stockholm including the world’s first open-air museum. A very beautiful and vibrant city.

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@ Gamla Stan, Sweden
"'Swedes consume 20 million Semlor per year'," read out ESTRELLA from the brochure. "'Semlor buns, a traditional pre-Lent treat, are cream buns made from an enriched bread dough, flavoured with ground cardamom and filled with almond paste and chantilly cream. Versions of the bun are eaten across Nordic countries on Shrove Tuesday, but they are probably best known and loved in Sweden and Finland.'"
"They sound wonderful!" enthused Summer!.
"They do indeed, Summer!, but it warns you here—a Swedish king in the 18th century died after eating too many of them!"

Gamla Stan, Sweden
Gamla Stan is Stockholm’s original city centre. The Old Town dates from the 13th century. The Royal Palace and the Nobel Prize museum are to be found in Gamla Stan.

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@ Dragonfly
"It says here that two-thirds of Sweden’s land area is covered by forest," remarked ESTRELLA.
"Wow! A tree-lover's paradise!" responded Korah.

Dragonfly
In 2005 dragonflies seemed to just disappear from Sweden. Prior to that year of the world’s 5,000 species, 61 were to be found in Sweden. In 2010 it was discovered that many species that were thought to be extinct, had survived and were classified as endangered.

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@ Fairy Fable Stepped Gable
"Interesting culinary fact about Sweden here, Wally!" announced ESTRELLA. "They celebrate the arrival of midsummer with boiled potatoes with dill. This a Swedish delicacy."
"Well, you know me, ESTRELLA. A meal is incomplete without potatoes, whichever way they come!"

Fairy Fable Stepped Gable
The ornate gable of the house in the centre is like a decoration out of a fairytale! It used to be an extremely common architectural style in northern countries in Continental Europe, particularly in Belgium and the Netherlands.

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@ Summer Flowers, Sweden

"Come with me, we are going to the underground Metro."

"The underground for a trip?" Darby asked.
ESTRELLA shook their head, "Not quite, you will see when we get there, just another block."

When they arrived in the underground station Darby looked around with their mouth open. "Look at all this art, just look at it all. Paintings, sculptures, and that over there is a mosaic."
ESTRELLA smiled, "Are you surprised? In Sweden, ninety percent of the metro stations have been decorated with many different art forms. It is one huge gallery when you put them all together."
Summer Flowers, Sweden
Bright yellow flowers like little suns beckon you to lay down and relax.

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@ Sweden Foggy Dawn
"How many lakes are there in Sweden, Cocoa?" queried ESTRELLA.
"A huge number, I'm guessing!"
"Yes, indeedy—95,700!"

Sweden Foggy Dawn
Crisp morning air greets the farmer in the countryside as the morning sun slowly climbs into the sky, ready for another day of work and beauty.

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@ Fishermen's Huts, Gotland
"'Swedes consume 20 million Semlor per year'," read out ESTRELLA from the brochure. "'Semlor buns, a traditional pre-Lent treat, are cream buns made from an enriched bread dough, flavoured with ground cardamom and filled with almond paste and chantilly cream. Versions of the bun are eaten across Nordic countries on Shrove Tuesday, but they are probably best known and loved in Sweden and Finland.'"
"They sound wonderful!" enthused Abel.
"They do indeed, Abel, but it warns you here—a Swedish king in the 18th century died after eating too many of them!"

Fishermen's Huts, Gotland
Gotland is Sweden’s largest island. Along with lovely little fishing villages, there is the medieval walled capital, Visby, which was founded by Vikings.

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@ The "Turning Torso" Skyscraper
"Interesting culinary fact about Sweden here, Pricilla!" announced ESTRELLA. "They celebrate the arrival of midsummer with boiled potatoes with dill. This a Swedish delicacy."
"Well, you know me, ESTRELLA. A meal is incomplete without potatoes, whichever way they come!"

The "Turning Torso" Skyscraper
A neo-futuristic residential skyscraper is also the tallest building in Scandinavia. The skyscraper is located in Malmö, Sweden. The bottom levels are office space and the remaining levels are apartments.

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@ Blue Terraced Houses, Sweden
"They certainly like quirky marketing here, Mercutio! 'The Call a Swede phoneline provided a single telephone number that anyone around the world could call and talk to a Swedish person picked at random from a group of volunteers. The scheme ran for three months and took calls from all around the world.'"
"That sounds like a fun thing to do, ESTRELLA!"
Blue Terraced Houses, Sweden
Terraced houses are more economical to build and are more energy-efficient. In these particular homes, each car garage is located directly under the houses.

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@ Baltic Sea Boat Ride
"'Whilst the official language of Sweden is Swedish (or Svenska), you'll hear many different tongues on a trip. These are official minority languages and include Finnish, Sami, Yiddish, Romani and Meänkieli'," read out ESTRELLA from the brochure.
Abel nervously clutched his copy of Swedish Made Simple.
"I hope the pets we come across speak Swedish—or English, of course!"
Baltic Sea Boat Ride
The blue and yellow Swedish flag flutters proudly in the wake of this motorboat cruising through the Baltic Sea on a hot summer's day. Is that the Island of Visby in the background?

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@ Stockholm, Sweden
"Hey, fresh, did you know there's quite a few examples of Swedish loanwords in English? There's moped, gauntlet, ombudsman, orienteering and tungsten."
"That's great to know, ESTRELLA! I'll remember that when I'm next wearing gauntlets, orienteering on my moped to see the ombudsman about tungsten!"
Stockholm, Sweden
One of the most fashionable cities in the world. There is no shortage of clothing shops featuring Swedish designer clothing, music venues, clubs, and museums.

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@ Sweden Windmill in Oland
"They certainly like quirky marketing here, Chow Chow! 'The Call a Swede phoneline provided a single telephone number that anyone around the world could call and talk to a Swedish person picked at random from a group of volunteers. The scheme ran for three months and took calls from all around the world.'"
"That sounds like a fun thing to do, ESTRELLA!"
Sweden Windmill in Oland
One of old windmills still stands, Oland housed over 2,000 at the turn of the century and about 350 survive today. Largely replaced by modern mills, these old giants spark a romantic hearts whimsy for a good story!

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@ Open-Air Museum, Skansen, Sweden
Oh look ... you won a pet!
Open-Air Museum, Skansen, Sweden
Step back in time and see how the Swedish people lived in the past by visiting Skansen, the world’s oldest open-air museum. Traditional houses, farms, kitchen gardens, and crafts. Take part in festivals, concerts, and dancing according to the season.

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@ Houses On River Svartån, Örebro
"'Swedes consume 20 million Semlor per year'," read out ESTRELLA from the brochure. "'Semlor buns, a traditional pre-Lent treat, are cream buns made from an enriched bread dough, flavoured with ground cardamom and filled with almond paste and chantilly cream. Versions of the bun are eaten across Nordic countries on Shrove Tuesday, but they are probably best known and loved in Sweden and Finland.'"
"They sound wonderful!" enthused Michelangelo.
"They do indeed, Michelangelo, but it warns you here—a Swedish king in the 18th century died after eating too many of them!"

Houses On River Svartån, Örebro
Such a beautiful place to call home. Örebro is one of Sweden's oldest towns and it is well known for the making of shoes and biscuits. Happy feet and happy tummy, this sounds like the perfect place to visit. The River Svartånn is a very popular place to go white river rafting.

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@ Sweden Stockholm
Suzie lowered her copy of Swedish Without Strain. "You know, they don't have a way to say 'please' in Swedish."
"Wow!" responded ESTRELLA. "So...I don't understand, how do you get by without it?"
"Well, it seems you just have to sound polite and use Tack, which means 'thank you'."

Sweden Stockholm
Cobbled streets wind through the old section of Stockholm, harkening back to a time before you and the busy world, but the old buildings talk of people gone by, and stories they left if you stop to listen.

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@ Swedish Crown
"It says here that two-thirds of Sweden’s land area is covered by forest," remarked ESTRELLA.
"Wow! A tree-lover's paradise!" responded Squirtle.

Swedish Crown
This image of the Swedish Crown is to be found in Stockholm. Sweden has a constitutional monarchy. The current monarch is King Carl XVI Gustaf. This ornamental crown and arch reflect the gold and blue colours of the Swedish flag.

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@ Mist Over Water, Sweden.
"Gosh! Apparently Sweden is the fifth largest country in Europe in terms of land area, but despite that, it has one of the lowest populations per square kilometre in all of Europe and under ten and a half million people in total," remarked ESTRELLA.
"Goodness! They would all easily fit into Paris!" responded Mikey.
Mist Over Water, Sweden.
Sweden has numerous waterways and canals. The Göta Canal is 190 km (120 mi) long and part of a waterway that connects many lakes and rivers, linking Göteborg on the west with Söderköping on the Baltic Sea. The idea for the canal to cross southern Sweden was put forward in 1516 but was not constructed until the start of the 19th century.

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@ Lakeside Stockholm
"They certainly like quirky marketing here, Sir Barkey Barksalot! 'The Call a Swede phoneline provided a single telephone number that anyone around the world could call and talk to a Swedish person picked at random from a group of volunteers. The scheme ran for three months and took calls from all around the world.'"
"That sounds like a fun thing to do, ESTRELLA!"
Lakeside Stockholm
Fourteen islands comprise the city of Stockholm, which is situated where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic Sea. Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. This beautiful sepia-toned night-time image shows central Stockholm brooding in the moonlight, with its major buildings reflected in the water.

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@ Horse In The Mist, Sweden
"Guess how many moose there are in Sweden, Venus!" said ESTRELLA.
"Oh! Well, a good few thousand, I would think!" responded Venus.
"It's actually between 300,000 and 400,000 moose!"

Horse In The Mist, Sweden
Riding is one of the main sports in Sweden, and it is available to everyone, and in 2016 there were 355,500 horses. You may have heard of the Dala Horse, a carved wooden horse, commonly painted red, that originated in the province of Dalarna and it is the unofficial symbol of Sweden.

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@ Waterfall, Sweden
"'Whilst the official language of Sweden is Swedish (or Svenska), you'll hear many different tongues on a trip. These are official minority languages and include Finnish, Sami, Yiddish, Romani and Meänkieli'," read out ESTRELLA from the brochure.
Edwina nervously clutched her copy of Swedish Made Simple.
"I hope the pets we come across speak Swedish—or English, of course!"
Waterfall, Sweden
Everypet and every human loves a waterfall. The Swedish for waterfall is vattenfall. Be it small or grand a waterfall can be soothing to sit beside. Just be very careful if you decide to travel over any rocks or go above a waterfall, the spray makes any rocks very slippery.

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@ Tram, Gothenburg
"Ah! We know Sweden has land borders with Finland and Norway but did you know it's also connected to Denmark—by a bridge?" said ESTRELLA.
"A bridge that's a border? Sounds great!" said Darkling.

Tram, Gothenburg
A misty winter morning in Gothenburg, as you wait for one of the 263 trams that serve 12 routes to take you to work or an early breakfast.

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@ Dancing Light, Sweden
"Gosh! Apparently Sweden is the fifth largest country in Europe in terms of land area, but despite that, it has one of the lowest populations per square kilometre in all of Europe and under ten and a half million people in total," remarked ESTRELLA.
"Goodness! They would all easily fit into Paris!" responded Noelle.
Dancing Light, Sweden
Grab a blanket and some of your favourite hot beverages and maybe some of your pet's snacks and go lay down and watch the light show in the sky.

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@ Stinsen Arena, Sweden
As ESTRELLA's tour of "Sweden" comes to an end, she receives a seasonally appropriate gift!
Winter's Decorations
Beautiful winter blooms gladden the heart and add richness to the landscape. Flowers are most welcome at any time of year but they may be appreciated much more when winter arrives and our days become shorter.
Stinsen Arena, Sweden
Located in Nässjö, Sweden, this arena is used to play bandy. Bandy is a winter sport played on ice using sticks and a ball. The sport differs from hockey in many aspects. The teams number 11 per side and the game is played in two forty-five-minute sections.
ESTRELLA has completed her tour of "Sweden"! Please select another pet as visitor, so it can also tour Scandinavia!