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| One of the most beautiful cities in Europe: Stockholm, Sweden. Photo courtesy VisitSweden by Trygg/mediabank.visitstockholm.com |
Growing up in Mexico, I attended a bilingual school (Spanish/English) founded by strict American teachers. The curricula was robust. I remember having to memorize all kinds of facts, like the capitals of every country in the world (at that time). So I learned that the capital of Sweden was, and still is, Stockholm. But that’s where my knowledge of Sweden ended until I started dancing to the songs of ABBA at high-school parties. I heard that they were not American, but rather Swedish. I had also heard of Greta Garbo and that she was Swedish. Sometime later, at the Penn State University Film School (Faculty of Arts and Architecture), I was introduced to the films of Ingmar Bergman, who was also Swedish. I also discovered Ingrid Bergman watching Casablanca. Not only she was a terrific actress, but she was also extremely beautiful and also Swedish! So now I knew that Sweden was a country in Scandinavia, that ABBA was from Sweden, that it’s capital was Stockholm, and that it had produced 2 very famous actresses and an iconic film-maker.
Fast forward to the 90s and early 2000s. I move to and fall in love with Canada, but I rediscover Sweden (without visiting) as a progressive, advanced, and caring country. My interest in visiting grows.
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| Image of the west coast in Southern Sweden (reminds me of Ontario). Photo courtesy VisitSweden by Per Pixel Petersson/imagebank.sweden.se |
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| Way Out West, or WOW, is the most popular music festival in Sweden. Photo courtesy VisitSweden byRodrigo Rivas Ruiz/imagebank.sweden.se |
Finally, being an avid music lover, I discovered that the ABBA was not the last music superstar to come out of Sweden. The most successful pop producer/songwriter of the last 15 or 20 years is a Swede by the name of Max Martin, and one of the biggest pop stars on the Swedish created music platform Spotify (and therefore the world) today is a young woman by the name of Zara Larsson, also Swedish. I am actually hoping to visit music studios in Stockholm and talk to producers there to learn about the secret to their success.
I very much look forward to visiting Sweden, even if most of the week I’ll be there will be spent in Stockholm (I’m a city person so that suits be fine). I’m glad the stars aligned and TBEX (The travel bloggers conference) chose Stockholm for its 2016 European edition.
Planning the trip.
In subsequent posts, I will let you in into my travel planning process. With a twist. In the case of Sweden, in addition to the expected online (and mobile) research, I called Sweden on the phone – well, on Skype (one of the founders of which is Swedish! – What is it about Sweden?!?!?).
Yes, Sweden has a telephone number. I don’t mean the people of Sweden have telephones. I mean Sweden, the country has a phone number. Stay tuned…
 founded by strict American teachers. The curricula was robust. I remember having to memorize all kinds… "Pin It")
Source: canadianandworldtourism.com