Mini-Sven's adventure so far...(2007775)

Morning all!
Just a quick update to let every one know that we made it safely down the mountain again.  No real problems, no saving of little bears.....
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all!
We made it to the top of Kilimanjaro.  It's a really amazing mountain, it's the worlds largest freestanding mountain, at 5893 meters above sea level.  The top of it is called the Uhuru Peak and it's a really, really long way up!  There are three dormant volcanos up here which do give out gas sometimes, so it's a little scary. But after the walk I was too tired to worry about those!  I finally caught up with Treacle, we met at the top and had our pictures taken together.  It was good to see a familiar friend.  Now let's see if I can keep him out of trouble!
lots of love
Mini-Sven 

Morning all!
I've on my next adventure, in East Africa.  I've travelled to the Kilimanjaro national park and I'm going to climb the highest peak.  It's a very long walk, 6 days in total and the air is very thin.  You need to be very fit and walk very slowly! You can see me at the start of the walk at the Machame gate with our guide Whitey.  He was very good and showed us the way!  You can also see me with a view of the peak.  I kept seeing little scraps of red yarn in places, so I think I'm not alone here.  I'll have to keep a good look out for my good friend Treacle - make sure he doesn't get into trouble.  You know what he's like!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Hello!
Well, back on the boat to go home now.  You can see me with my ticket.  It was a great adventure, but I have a far greater one waiting for me.  You know, there was an odd thing on the boat, I'm sure I could see little shreds of red yarn again.  I wonder if my friend Treacle has been here?  I wonder if we're going to meet again, I do hope he's not got into too much trouble since the last time I saw him!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Hello!
I'm nearing the end of this very cool adventure to Belarus.  My final point of call was the Belarusian Opera House and Ballet Theatre.  Very majestic and pretty! Of course we didn't stay long here, back onto the train.
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Evening!
I've travelled to the lovely city of Brest and it's fortress.  You can see me with the canon and the fortress.  It was build between 1830 and 1842.  This was the place of a heroic seige during WWII where for more than a month soldier defened against the Nazi occupation.  They were well behind enemy lines and very brave!  To commemorate this the memorial Bresckaia Krepasc was built.  Awesome historic stuff!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all!
Warsaw is a really great place to be.  It's the capital city of Poland and is so beautiful.  It's on the Vistula River.  It's also been called the Pheonix City because it was so badly damaged during WWII and with the help of the people of Poland was rebuilt from the ashes.  You can see me here in the old town in the Royal Castle Square.  Not staying long though, moving on again!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Evening,
We're back in Tokyo again now and visiting some more of the sites.  We went to the Shinjuku district and saw lots of really high-rise buildings.  I felt quite small and insignificant!  We also went to the Asakusa district, which was once known as the theatre district.  You can see me at the kaminarimon, with its giant chochin.  I've had a really lovely time in Japan, but it's time to go home now and plan my next adventure!
lots of love
Mini-Sven
PS I got home before the volcano in Iceland happened, phew!

Afternoon!
We travelled down to see Mount Fuji, it's the highest mountain in Japan and is 3776 meters high.  It is an active stratovolcano and last erupted in 1707 (which is quite topical when you think about it!)  It's got a really symmetrical cone and you can see it from Tokyo on a clear day, but we didn't see it on a clear day and you can't really see it at all, oh well!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Evening all!
Our trip on the Bullet Train took us from Tokyo over to Kyoto.  This is a really lovely place, the earliest people settled here seems to be over 10,000 years BC, which is quite a long time ago!  This is me at the Golden Palace in Kyoto, which was so pretty.  There was lots of blossom on all the trees still and the view of the mountains around the city were awesome.  I'd like to have stayed here, but of course we had to move on!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Evening!
We've flown out* to Japan!  Of course the first thing that we had to go and find in Tokyo was the famous Shinkansen train.  It's also known as the bullet train, it can travel up to 300km per hour, but it has been known to reach 443km per hour - that's really, really fast!  Its the worlds busiest high speed line and was totally amazing!  Of course in Tokyo we also saw lots of Cherry Blossom, but it was the train that I thought was amazing!  More from my Japan adventure soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Hello!
It was a very long at the Vasaloppet and I was exhausted with my role as driver.  You can see it was quite dark by the end in Mora.  I was very, very happy that my team all finished safe and sound.  Hurrah!  I don't think I could ever ski that far though, not on my small legs!  I was quite happy to watch though!
Another adventure soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Hello!
So here I am being the official driver half way through the race.  It was my job to get to the feeding station and help my team with water and warm soup.  Did I mention that this race was 90km long?  My team started at 8am and kept going for a very long time, so they needed lots of food and water!  Of course it was hard for a little traveller like me to be the official driver, as you can see, my arms are quite short and it was a struggle to indicate!  When it got really hard though I managed to get help on a snow plough.  Much fun!  Well, this was only half way along the route.....
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Good Evening!
Every year there is a cross country ski race in Sweden, the Vasaloppet.  It's the oldest and longest and most popular ski race in the whole world!  This year I was made the official driver for our team! I took this task very seriously indeed and it wasn't easy.  This is me at the start waving off my team in Sälen.....
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Good Evening all!
I couldn't stay at home for long though, so I took a little trip down into France and went skiing for the weekend.  A lovely resort called Samoens. It's time for another large trip though, where shall I go...?
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Afternoon,
I've made it home to Sweden again after a very busy time.  The first thing I had to do was tend to my plants, they were looking very sad. I think they missed me.  well, I'll not be here for long, so many places to visit, but for now I'm going to catch up on the house work!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all,
I'm now in Lichtenstein, it's a truly wonderful country, I think I'd like to stay here, (but of course that won't happen!)  It is the smallest German speaking country in the world.  It's entirely in the alps, so it's a wonderful winter sports destination - even more perfect.  The snow, the views, the mountains, so wonderful.  Of course I have to move on though! So many more countries and regions to visit!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Afternoon all!
I've spent so long in hot places I figured it was time for a break on the snow!  I had great fun, even though the ski helmet that was fetched for me was far too big.  It acted as a nice shelter from the wind though!  Luckily my skis were a perfect fit!  I had a fun time in Italy and even met a nice lady friend.  Maybe I'll have to come back here again!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Evening all!
I'm back on this side of the pond now, so I'm on my way back to the cold via a final hot country for the time being.  I'm in Morocco and I've had a brilliant time!  I've been to Agadir, Marrakech, Tafraoute and Taroudannt, too many places to list really.  The best thing was absolutely riding on a camel.  I will not forget that in a very, very long time!  Now that I'm back over here again, the question is where to go next.  It's winter, it's got to be time to find lots and lots of snow.  I'm sure that I can find some nice snowy places to go through on my way home again!
An update soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Good evening,
This is my last update from the great island of Cuba.  I'm in the relatively new city of Cienfuegos.  It was first settled in1819 by the French, was made into a town in 1829 and finally a city in 1880. This is the big boulevard in the centre of the city.  I found this man, but he didn't really say very much, so I didn't really find out very much from him!  Ah well, time to head on back Europe again, plenty more countries to visit before I can rest again!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Good Evening,
We've travelled down from the north coast of Cuba to Santa Clara and to the great big statue of Che Guevara.  This is a very large museum and was dedicated to Che back in 1997.  His remains were even brought back from Bolivia and buried here.  This place is where the rebels claimed victory in the revolution in 1959.  Another update soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning!
Today was a great train ride  (of course I had to find a train to ride on!).  We took the famous Hershey train from Havana to Matanzas.  This is the only electric train in Cuba and was originally built in 1917 by the Hershey Chocolate Corporation and carried sugar cane and workers.  It's an amazing old rickety train, the journey is supposed to take 3 hours, but it can take anything up to never reaching the end!  Luckily we got all the way on this trip, phew!  Another update soon.
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Evening!
When you visit Cuba you absolutely have to visit Havana.  This is me in the Cathedral Square and the Catedral de San Cristobal, with its two different bell towers. Cuba was first settled in 1510 by the Spanish. Havana is the capital of Cuba and was granted city status in 1592 by the King of Spain.  It's an awesome place! More from Cuba soon.
lots of love
Mini-Sven

 

Evening,
I've travelled West.  I've not been this far west before!  We flew from Sweden all the way over to Cuba. It was snowy in Sweden, but wow, so hot here in Cuba!  After such a long flight, we crashed out at the hotel, getting over the jetlag.  Everyday in the hotel the maids would make funny sculptures out of the towels and blankets, I loved the swans best of all.  Because we're on a christmas trip, there was no better place to spend Christmas day than on the beach building sand castles.  Brilliant!  It was so hot though that not only did I take off my jumper, but my t-shirt got taken off too, that doesn't happen very often! Another update soon from this fantastic island soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Good Morning!
A big brand new adventure!  A christmas adventure to somewhere with no snow.  There have been a lot of snowy adventures this winter, so here is my winter sun adventure!  This picture is at the railway on the way to the airport before jetting off into the distance and a direction I've not been in yet, watch this space!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Evening all!
Well, I am finally home again after a mammoth time away!  It is lovely to put ones head down at home and have a rest!  I need to build up my strength for my next trip!  (Which isn't long away!)  Of course I couldn't keep still for a moment though and had to get the house ready for christmas and also to celebrate Lucia (which is on Sunday).  I was a dab hand at baking Lussekatter, even though they were absolutely huge!  I got flour everywhere too, but it was ok, easy to clean up!  I hope everyone is well and is getting all their christmas cards written and sent, lol!  Time to go and have a nap now, it's been a busy time!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Evening all!

We took the train to Tirana, which is the capital of Albania.  We went Time Square and saw the massive equine statue of Skanderbeg who is the 15th century hero of independence.  He looked very hero like indeed!

Well, this is my last update from my adventure in the Balkerns.  I've had a lot of fun down here, but I'm actually going to go home for a little while now but not too long I've got my next adventure already planned!

lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all!
We got on the train from Pogradec and travelled for six hours over night to the city of Durres.  This is the second largest city in Albania and is one of the oldest cities in Europe, being founded by the Greeks around 627 BC.  You've got all the old favourites trying to take charge of the city - the Romans, the Bulgarians, the Austro-Hungarians.  Ooh, the train is calling, time to go!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Evening all,
Well, it's been an adventure, we took the train, as usual to the border between Macedonia and Albania and then got out and walked over the border. It was so cool! You get so used to travelling through airports, or on trains or boats that walking over the border was such fun! Just a short blog today, we're travelling on through!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Evening all,
I'm now in Skopje, that's the capital city of Macedonia.  More than a quarter of this countries people live in this city!  That sounds like a lot of people, but there aren't that many people that live here.  There has been a settlement here since neolithic times, which is a very, very long time ago!  In 1963 there was a massive earthquake that killed nearly 2000 people and destroyed nearly 80% of the city!  The old railway station was left standing, but the clock on the wall stopped at 5:17am and has been left up there as a reminder, very spooky!
You can see me having my shoes cleaned in the picture and also with Mother Theresa, who was born in Skopje.  Moving on now though, lots to see!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all,
We had a long train journey into Serbia, did I mention that I like trains? Belgrade is the captial city of Serbia and it is a really amazing place. Being built on two rivers it was a very influential place. In the 1500s Suleyman the Magnificent (I love that name!) from Turkey captured the fort here and the city was completely destroyed! The Austrians captured Belgrade three times and was destroyed again and again and again, then it was part of Yugoslavia and then split out, infact, it seems like there can't have been much time to do anything but have wars. I guess that's why there was such a cool war museum! Anyway, moving on, a new country to go to!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all,
Today we took a day trip out to Stari Bar. The cool thing about Stari Bar was the wall, very large and with lots of little windows! This is a frgament of the old wall that used to surround Bar and it goes back to the 11th Century. Of course, being in a place called Bar, I had to have my photograph taken in the bar. Lots to do, places to go, so we didn't stay long here!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Evening all,
We've all travelled en masse to the country of Montenegro and the lovely city of Kotor. I rather liked being able to say "I'm in the newest country in the world". It made me feel like a real world explorer. I'd like to be able to say that I'd discovered a new country, but I'm not sure that that is likely. You never know though! You never know what trouble Treacle is going to get himself into, so anything is possible!
Lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all,
I've travelled further down the Balkerns to the wonderful city of Dubrovnik. As soon as I reached here I knew that I wasn't alone. We travelled up to the city wall and my companion Lizz spotted a little teddy bear that had lost his footing. Luckily we managed to catch him in time and take him to safety. Phew! He was one lucky little bear. He sat for while with us getting his composure back again. I made sure that he was safe from the many cats that are around in Dubrovnik before setting off again. It was great to meet up with Treacle and catch up on good travelling times. I think we're both down in this neck of the woods for a while, so maybe our paths will cross again. You never know who you're going to meet on these journeys!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all,
I've travelled down to the Balkerns and the wonderful city of Split. It's very old and has has been involved with many different countries, but you know what, I think I'm not the first traveller to be here, I think there is another traveller here too. I've had my suspicions for a while, but I definitely found little bits of red scarf. So I had a look at the other blogs and I've seen that Treacle is around these parts at this time too. I wonder if we'll meet up? I hope so, he seems like a jolly fellow, even if he does get into trouble rather a lot!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all,
We've travelled down and across from Riga to Berlin. It's a truly amazing city, very large and has been the captial city of many different places, the Kingdom of Prussion, the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and no, of Germany. Of course you can see me on the train with our refreshments for the journey, it's always important to keep hydrated, so plenty of water! We visited the Reichstag building, which is the site of the German Parliament. Of course we had to visit the Berlin Wall, originally it totally encircled the whole of West Berlin, but since the reunification of Germany in 1990, there isn't much of it left now. An amazing city! Moving on again...
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Evening all,
I've travelled down to another baltic state, I'm in Riga, which is the capital city of Latvia, it's also the largest city of the baltic states and the third largest in the baltic region (St Petersburg and Stockholm are larger). Riga has been a trade route since the Viking times, which is a really wild thought! I love coming to these old cities. They're so full of history and oldness, I love it! It's time to get back on that train though and go somewhere else....
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all,
I've travelled across the water to Estonia and to it's capital city Tallin. It's a really beautiful city with a much battled over past, the Danes, the Swedes, the Russians. Evidence of a settlement goes back about 5000 years, so it's full of history and wonderful things to see! I loved the old suit of armour, it's a shame it was to large for me, I'd never have been able to lift my legs with something this big and heavy! Another update soon.
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all,
I've been on the road for sometime now, so I figured it was time to call in on home and get cleaned up a bit. I'm not sure I like this getting washed very much though, it tickled. I don't think I'll be doing it again for a while, but I do feel a bit better for it! I've only got time to dry out though and then it's straight back into the saddle again and off on my travels!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all,
I've flown out of central Europe and gone to Iceland, I would have taken the train if I could have done, but Iceland is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean and trains don't go here! There have been lots of financial problems, but it's a most wonderful place! The first permanent settlers settled here in 874AD from Norway and since then lots of Nordic and Celtic peoples have moved here. It's been part of Norway and Denmark, but now is a country in it's own right. My favourite part of visiting this wonderful country was visiting the Myrdalsjöskull glacier and the hot geysirs. Brilliant! We saw the Great Geysir in the Haukadalur valley, the oldest known geysir in the world. Definitely something worth seing! Iceland is not quite in the arctic circle, but the days are very long in the summer and very long in the winter! Another update from my world adventures very soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all,
I've travelled up by train through The Netherlands to Amsterdam. It's really relaxed and fun here. I discovered that Holland is a region of the Netherlands, but a lot of people think that the whole country is called Holland, but it's not! We went to the Heineken museum, but I couldn't try any beer because I was too small. I found a lost clog in the street too and I know that I'm small, but this clog really was very,very huge! It was most definitely large enough to be my home! Time to fly off somewhere completely different next! Hot or cold... now let me think....
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all,
I've taken the long flight back to Europe again. It really is a long way for a little person to go, all the way to Australia and back again. Luxembourg is a very small country, it's really called the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and is only 2586 square kilometers and has under half a million people living here. It's the worlds only remaining sovereign Grand Duchy and is ruled by a Grand Duke! We managed to find the perfect railway for me, a miniature one. I had such fun! You can also see me in the hand of the staute of the Grande-Duchesse Charlotte. I found a few little shreds of red yarn in her hand, so I know I'm not the first traveller to sit here! I wonder if I'll catch up with this bear somewhere on the road? Oh well, talking of which, back on the road again, lots of places to go to before I can take a rest!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning All!
This is my final update from Australia. We've gone all the way south to Melbourne. The weather has got colder again, I definitely preferred it back up in Queensland, much warmer. It was less dangerous too! I ended up being caught in the mouth of a lion and then when we went to the Old Melbourne Gaol I managed to get myself in trouble and had my photography taken as if I was a prisoner and being put in Ned Kellys old helmet. I really felt as if I was getting into trouble all over the place, so it's probably best that I'm heading back to Europe again! I'm sure I'm not the only bear that has got stuck in Ned Kelly's helmet though, or maybe that's my imagination!
Now, the important question is, where to go next?
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all,
I've now travelled down the coast a little way to Brisbane.  I like Brisbane, it's very relaxed and the best bit of all was going to the Castlemaine XXXX Brewery. It was brilliant!  Oh well, time to move on, further down the coast and to somewhere somewhat cooler than up here in the tropics!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all,
A trip to Australia always has to include a trip to the Great Barrier Reef. We went out on the sea to see the reef, but I don't really swim very well so I had to stay on the boat and watch all the other passengers going diving and snorkelling. We also visited the Whitsundays, which is a lovely island, very relaxing! We're heading down the coast now, starting to make our way to the end of this adventure!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all,
We've travelled over to the east side of Australia now and went to a totally fantastic railway museum. It was great to see how the railways were developed over here, brilliant. I sat next to an accordion player on a railway platform, but you couldn't hear him and he didn't move very much! Then we went to the Botanical Gardens. They were very nice, but not as brilliant as the railway museum! More soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all,
We're travelled really long and hard and have made it up to the North of Australia on the Ghan train. We went canoeing once we got off the train at Katherine Gorge, which was much fun. Then we went to the Litchfield National Park and saw the magnetic termite mounds. These really were amazing, the termites build them north/south so that they get the warmth from the sun. They are also made of termite poo, so I didn't sit on the mound for very long! Finally we went bathing in one of the water holes there (although I didn't really get very wet). A very fine relaxing time, but of course, not much time to relax, we're moving straight on again!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all,
We're now on the train called the Ghan. It stretches all the way from Adelaide in the south to Darwin in the north. For a very long time it only went as far as Alice Springs, but it's been completed now and you can get all the way up to the north of the country. Here we are at Alice Springs. A really amazing place and a really amazing train! An update from the north very soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Afternoon all,
We've started to head north now and we've stopped off in the Barossa Valley.  This is the most famous wine making region in Australia.  There are vineyards and wines as far as the eye can see.  Amazing stuff!  First settled more than 165 years ago by European settlers and has some of the oldest Shiraz vines in the world!  We couldn't stay long though, back on the train!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all,
Having been on the Indian Pacific, all the way across from Perth to Adelaide we decided it was time to get out and see some animals!  We've come to the National Park here to look at all the animals. I met a kangaroo, which was nice, he was cuddly and took good care of me, but I'm not sure I'd want to get on the bad side of him, those legs look like they would give a really mean kick. I also met an emu. I'm not sure that I enjoyed that so much, I got covered in muck and I'm sure he was about to eat me! I really felt like I was getting into trouble...... The safest animal was definitely the koala, but he was just a statue, probably for the best! Time to move on, as always!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all,
I really, really love trains. You've probably figured that out by now! This is an amazing train, it goes all the way from Perth to Adelaide and then if you choose, you can go all the way to Sydney. That's a really, really long way. We're going to change trains in Adelaide and head north. In the picture you can see the train that we're on. We stopped in Cook, this is the only scheduled stop on this journey. Cook is pretty much a ghost town, no-one lives here anymore. Well, I think four people do, but I didn't see any ghosts, so it can't really be a ghost town! Ooh, back on the train, I wouldn't want to get stuck here! More soon.
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all,

We've journeyed up the coast now and have made it to Perth.  We found this wonderful hotel - Miss Mauds Swedish hotel and of course we had to go in! (Being Swedish and all!) We had a lovely fika, brilliant, place, definitely go there if you go to Perth!  Then we hopped on a train, to travel half way across the country.  More soon when we get there!

lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning!

Morning!
We've now travelled all the way across the country from Canberra to Western Australia and we're at the place where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet.  This was a great place, I was told you could see a line where the oceans met, but I looked really, really hard and couldn't see one, so I think whoever told me that was pulling my leg! Hmm.  I was sure again that I could see a little flash of bear disappearing into the distance though.....
We're moving on up northwards from here, so another update soon.
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning!

Evening all,

I've arrived down-under, again.  I like Australia, it's wonderful here.  Most people do think it's really hot, but you can ski if you look hard enough.  I'm at Perisher Blue ski resort.  I'm not very good at skiing, so I decided to copy the old Kookaburra song and sit in an old gum tree, merry, merry king of the bushes he, la la la la la.  I had a very good view of all the other people slip sliding around on the snow! You know, the funny thing is, I'm sure I saw a little bear trying to ski, he looked like he was struggling though.  Must have been my imagination.

Anyway, we're not staying skiing here for very long, Australia is a very large country and there is so much to see!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Afternoon!
The great thing about London has to be the London Underground.  It's full of people, the hussle and bussle.  You really feel like you're on your way to a big brand new adventure.  Heathrow airport is so huge,with all it's five terminals.  You could definitely get so lost.  I'm flying off nearly as far as you possibly can!  I promise to wave at all the other travelling bears on this site as I fly over the top and round to the bottom of the world.  I'm flying from summer to winter in the space of just a day!  I'll definitely need my lovely new jumper that I'm wearing!

I'll update you as soon as I get there!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Dear all!
My latest update is from the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana.  It's been an independent country since 1991 and is really, really beautiful.  Slovenia has been "owned" by many different countries, including Austria and the USSR as well as having links throughout time to Yugoslavia, Italy and Germany.  It's been a real cross roads of people!  The skyline was just breath taking from up here where the photograph was taken.
As usual, not stopping long, too many places to go and see!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Afternoon!

I'm in Krakow, it's one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland.  It's situated on the Vistula river and was the capital of Poland from 1038 - 1596.  But it's not any more.  It doesn't make it any less lovely though. I'm not here for long though, moving on very quickly, so many places to visit and see!

lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning,

My time on the Trans-Siberian Railway is now at an end.  we're in Shanghai and this is my last stop on this most amazing of trips.  We've been through many different countries that are so different to home.  I don't really want to leave, but I know there are lots more adventures waiting for me round the corner.

Shangahi is the largest Chinese city and started off life as a fishing village!  The name means on (or above) the city and became so large because of it's great position as a cargo port.

Oh well, time to end this adventure and look forwards to a new one ... now where shall I go next?
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning!
There is something that everyone who goes to China absolutely has to do and that is visit the Great Wall of China.  It is the most amazing wall I have ever seen!  It was built and maintained around the 5th Century BC up until the 16th Century, which is a very time ago!  It was built to protect the Chinese northern border.  I guess it worked because it's still standing!  It is around 7000km, which is absolutely amazing.  We didn't really have time to walk the whole thing, but still wow! I wish I could have walked the whole thing, but then again, my legs are quite short!

More very soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Afternoon!

The train has taken us now to Beijing, this is pretty much the final destination on our trip along the Trans-Siberian railway.  It's been awesome, but the journey isn't quite over yet!  I got a new outfit, I rather like red, but I'll probably keep it for special occasions!  It's a very comfortable outfit and quite cool. We're now in Beijing and we've visited the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, where the protests in 1989 happened.  The Forbidden city was the Imperial palace from the the Ming Dynasty to the Quing Dynasty.  It was a very beautiful palace and it felt right to wear my new clothes.

Another update soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning!

The train has taken us across Mongolia.  You hear people talk about Outer Mongolia and it being a long long way away, well, that's where I am, a long way away!  I've seen some brilliant things here, different sorts of trains, a monastary, rafting, ponies and slept in a ger (a type of hut).  Full on action packed fun!  I like monuments though and this is a huge monument, to Genghis Khan, near Ulaanbataar.  You really can't imagine how huge this thing is.  Mahoosive!  You'll just have to visit it to see!

Well, back on the train, a new country beckons!
Lots of Love
Mini-Sven 

Afternoon,

This is our last stop before leaving Russia.  It's been a wondeful trip through this fantastic land.  I'm sure we've got some amazing sites left to see though!  Here we are in Ulan Ude and we found this huuuuge head of Leni, it is in fact the biggest head in the entire world of Lenin.  But with some tactical photography we made him as small as me, tee hee!

Well, it's back on the train and onwards!  More soon.
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Afternoon!

We're continuing on our journey along the Trans-Siberian Railway.  It's an amazing journey!  We've made it to Novosibirsk.  This is Russias third largest city (after Moscow and Saint Petersburg!), so I'm really doing the large cities in Russia!  Of course we're not stopping long though, straight back on the train and onwards along the railway!  Another update very soon!

lots of love
Mini-Sven

Afternoon!
You can't come this far east in Europe and not stand (or sit) across the border between the two continents.  It was a very very cool thing to do!  This monument is on the busy highway, so we really didn't stay here for very long.  Just long enough for a photocall!  Another update very soon, must dash!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning!
My Trans-Siberian trip continues Eastwards.  We've come to Yekaterinburg or Sverlovsk as it used to be known, all these Russian cities have had their names changed at some point!  We're at Ganina Yama, which is the Monastery of the Romanov family.  This is the place where Tsar Nicholas II, his wife and all his children were executed.  It's a really horrible story about how they died and were buried, so I'm not going to dwell long on it. The Russian Orthodox Church built a monastery here and it's now a very thoughtful quiet place.

Back on a happier note, next stop coming up very soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Good Morning!
We've been on the train and have travelled into Russia.  You can see me here at the St Basils Church in Moscow.  It's a 16th century stone church on one of the edges of the Red Square, it was so pretty!  If you go to Moskow, make sure you visit this!

Moscow is a very interesting place, but you'll just have to visit, we didn't have much time here, straight back on the train again!  Another update very soon!

lots of love
Mini-Sven

Evening!
We've made it to St Petersburg.  A really interesting and pretty city.  It used to be the capital of the Russian Empire, but it stopped in 1918 at the Russian Revolution.  It's had several different names too, Petrograd, Leningrad, but it's now called St. Petersburg.  There is so much history here, that you'll just have to visit it!  There are canals and the church you can see me at is the Church of Saviour on Blood.

Well, it's straight back on the train and more places to see to the East!  Another update soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Afternoon!
A new train and a new adventure!  I always like to get a good view when I'm travelling, as you can see in the picture, a front row seat!  We're starting from the north as usual and this time, working our way East, we're going a pretty long way east before we come back again! You'll have to wait and see how far East!  You can see me here at the Sibelius Monument with Jean Sibelius's head, it was very shiny!  A new update very soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning!
We've travelled on the train up and out of Moldova and into Ukraine.  It was a long journey and I managed to find a glass that was almost the right size for me to drink from.  It's important to keep hydrated on long journeys like this!  We went to the Independence Square in Kiev where the Orange Revolution took place in 2004/05.  To show our support we all wore orange things, luckily I had my orange hat with me!  We found this statue of a cat, Panteleimon, who had died in a tavern fire, very sad.

Another update very soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Afternoon!
We've now made it into Moldova and Milestii Mici the largest wine cellar in the entire world!  It's got over 2 million bottles and stretches for what seems like miles and miles!  They speak many different languages in Moldova and it belonged to many different peoples, wikipedia sums it up best:

"In the Middle Ages, most of the present territory of Moldova was part of the Principality of Moldavia. In 1812, it was annexed by the Russian Empire, and became known as Bessarabia. Between 1856 and 1878, the southern part was returned to Moldavia. In 1859 it united with Wallachia to form modern Romania."

An impressive place, but we're not staying long, straight back on the train and our next country.
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Afternoon!
I've had a very scary time!  We've left Bulgaria and have travelled over into Romania.  We're deep in the Carpathian mountains and have gone to place called Bran Castle.  It was one of Prince Vlad Tepes' temporary residences and is known as the home of Dracula..... Luckily it's been very bright sunshine, so I thought I'd be safe.  I'm not sure I was safe though, I got captured and put in a steel cage to keep until nightfall.  I was really scared that I'd not get rescued and Count Dracula would come along and eat me all up in the middle of the night.  Luckily I was rescued at dusk and have found my way back to the safe haven of the train.  Phew, a very close shave!  Another update soon!  Hopefully a less scary one!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Good Morning!
We've been on the train what seems like forever, but I don't think it has been, I do like going on trains.  You get to see so much more and see the inside of some really cool carriages, this one had wonderful net curtains, felt just like home!  We've travelled through Bulgaria and have stopped off in the town of Veliko Tarnovo.  It was a lovely town, but we didn't get to stay for long,straight back on the train and on to the next country!
Another update soon!
love
Mini-Sven

Hello everyone!

I've travelled all the way down from the north to Turkey and the city of Istanbul.  This city has been called Byzantium and Constantinople.  It's a vast city and a really important one in Turkey, it was the center of the Roman empire, the Latin empire, the Ottoman empire, infact I think this was pretty much the capital of well, lots of things.  It's very hot at this time of year, about 30 degrees celcius, so I'm sweltering a bit now!  You can see me here at the Blue Mosque, a really wonderful mosque!  It was the mosque of Sultan Ahmet I (Sultan Ahmet Camii) and there are some blue tiles on the upper level that give it the name.  They're really hard to see unless you're right up the top though!  Well worth visiting though!  

More from my adventure soon!
love
Mini-Sven

Hello!
One of the best things about travelling is about being able to see lots of places at different times of the year.  Being a Swede I love skiing and the snow.  I love wild places.  So I've gone to Riksgränsen, it's a the most northerly ski resort in Sweden.  Being around mid-summer I thought it would be really warm and sunny, what with the midnight sun and everything.  I was sooo surprised to see that there was still snow lying around.  Totally amazing!   We had to wear jackets and everything.  It really is a long way north.  I think I need to explore somewhere less far north now, maybe somewhere warm.  I miss the warmth that we had in Dubai, I thought I wanted to be cool again, but actually, time for some warmth...
Another adventure soon!
love
Mini-Sven

 Morning!
I've left the shores of Old England and returned to my Nordic homelands.  I've gone to Norway, but I'm not sure that I like it here in Oslo, it's a bit wild and dangerous for a small chap like myself!  I got straight back on the train and headed back to Sweden! More soon, hopefully from somewhere a bit safer!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

 Good Morning!
One of the best things about being a travelling companion is that you meet lots and lots of family.  The best place to meet family is most definitely at weddings and I love weddings!  There was lots of music and dressing up at this wedding as the bride and groom are folkies and had a mummers play.  It was a fantastic day and I met lots of wonderful new family!

Well, I must be getting onwards, so many new places to visit and see and so little time!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Evening!
Well, I'm not one for hanging around, so I hopped straight onto the next possible flight and have gone to Dubai.  I thought it was time to go somewhere a little warmer than windblown Exmoor, although it seems like summer has finally kicked into gear!  You can see me at the Burj, the big building that looks like a sail, at the Madinat, in a lovely old pot and .... skiing! It had to be done, skiing somewhere this hot!
It was great fun anyway!

lots of love
Mini-Sven

Good Evening!
I've moved onto a different hill, I'm now on Dunkery Hill on Exmoor, which is the highest point on Exmoor at 1705 feet.  It's very nice here, lots of lovely views.  We've been walking lots and lots, so my little feet have got quite tired now!  I think I'd like to go somewhere warm and not so windswept next!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Good Evening!
Well, I've travelled down from the land of the Midnight Sun all the way to Merry Olde England.  It was quite a long journey I don't mind telling you!  It was very strange, because as it's midsummer, there should be no darkness, at least, I've not seen the darkness for a while and here in Engand, it gets dark at night!  Very strange!  So I'm walking in the hills and here I am on the Mendips.  It's a lovely place, maybe I'll stay in England for a while!
Another view point soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Hello!
We've made it as far north as we can go in Europe, this is it, as far as you can go.  I'm at Nordkapp.  Well, there is some dispute as to where eactly the real northerly point is, but the place that the tourists visit is the picture of the globe and the other picture is further north, so of course I had to visit both!  This is the end of my wonderful north tour, but I've had such fun!  Although, the weather's not been too great, maybe if I go further south it'll get better again!
Another adventure soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Hej hej!
I'm at the most northerly point in Sweden, Treriksröset, you can see me on the big stone thing that marks the boundary.  What you can't see is that it is kind of in the water, so you have to walk along some boards to get to it.  It's pretty cool though.  I'm enjoying my trip north and I've got yet further to go! Whoopee! I hope it doesn't get too cold though!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Afternoon!
On my way up north I went through the Esrange Space Centre in Kiruna.  It was brilliant!  I even got to sit on arocket, luckily it wasn't taking off!  We've gone further north now, so I'll write more very soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning!
We're making our way even further north and you can see me here in the Kebnekaise mountain range.  It's the most northerly mountain range in Europe, there are no more mountains further north than this.  That is so cool!  I've heard it said that on a clear day you can see 9% of all of Sweden from up the top of the highest mountain here.  That's almost the same size as the whole of The Netherlands!  Amazing!  Anyway, must dash, we're going further north...
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Good Morning!
I've left the sea and have travelled north, I'm going as far north as I can, but I thought you'd want to see the pole cirle, or the arctic circle.  This is the point where the sun never sets in the summer and never rises in the winter.  I didn't expect to find a real line!  Tee hee!  Anyway, I'm on my way north, so I'll blog again as soon as I can!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all!
I've now made it down to the Island of Gotland.  It's a really lovely place.  Full of old interesting places.  The town of Visby was amazing.  There are nearly 100 medieval churches, there's a Viking village, Gotland is jam packed full of history including lots of old Arab dirham coins!  It was really great fun and I'd like to go back, but for now it's time to leave the sea and go somewhere else in Sweden I think!
Another adventure very soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Ahoy there me ship mates!
Ooh arrr, startin' to talk like a pirate, I've been out among the islands so long.  I'm on the island of Ornö and loving every minute!  You can see that I found my own lighthouse to live on and my very pirate ship to be captain of.  Oooh arr indeed!  Well, maybe not, but I am having lots of fun out here!  Another island soon though, maybe a bigger one this time!

Take Care!
Love
Mini-Sven

Hello all,
I've come further out into the wonderful archipelago of Stockholm.  This is the Lilla Jolpen on the island of Finnhamn.  The weather has been wonderful and I'm really getting my sea legs.  Everyday we have lunch outside, a simple hunk of bread and cheese.  It's wonderful!  I think I really love islands!  Now, to find my boat again!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Evening,
Springis here, summer is on its way. I'm back from Thailand and once valborgsmässoafton is over there is only one thing to do in Sweden, especially in Stockholm and that is to go travelling round some of the islands.  So my first island was Frösvik.  I love the water being everywhere, I feel just like a sailor.  It's brilliant!  It's so beautiful and peaceful round here.  Lovely.  Another island very soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Helo everyone,
I've made it to Thailand and it is really really hot.  This time of year it's above 30 degrees.  I'm used to colder places and this is definitely not cold!  I enjoyed riding on the elephant, but I'm not sure the lion liked me very much!  Ah well, I'll be on way again soon. A shame really, there is the most fantastic beach here I've ever seen!  Maybe I'll find somewhere nice back home with a nice beach somewhere!
More adventures soon.
Take Care

Mini-Sven

Good Morning,

Well, I'm now on a long journey out of Europe, but I got a little bit hungry, so I stopped off in Italy for some Pizza.  I didn't realise that the leaning tower of Pizza was actually the leaning tower of Pisa though and not something I could eat!  It was an amazing tower and the Italians now say that they've done enough work on it to stop it from leaning any further for at least another 300 years!  Wow.  I hope so!  the pizza I had nearby was very nice too.  More on my biig adventure very soon!

lots of love
Mini-Sven

Hello everyone,
In Sweden (where I'm from) everyone gets a "half-term" holiday, called Sportlov.  This is where whole families go up into the mountains to go skiing. The ski season lasts until April though, so although this is kind of sportlov it's also Påsklov, Easter holiday.  You can see me here on some of the more difficult runs in the largest ski resort in Sweden - Åre.  I do love to go skiing, makes me feel all fit and healthy!

Another adventure very very soon!
Hugs to all.
Mini-Sven

Hello!
ah, the warmth of Athens after Sweden.  It's great here, warm, wonderful, wicked.  I'm here with Sven, you can see the resemblance I think.  I'm not sure I approve of our choice of lunch, coming all the way over to Greece and then eating fast food, but needs must sometimes!  McDonalds first came to Greece in 1991 and this was the very first restaurant in Syntagma square.  Ah the culture of Greece, love it!   hmmm.  Oh well, onwards to my next destination.....
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Morning all!
As you can see I'm back on this side of the world again.  I've gone to Stockholm and I had to go to the Vasa Museum.  The Vasa is a ship that was built by a king a long time ago.  It had everything you could possibly want on it, including the kitchen sink and so of course it sank!  Not funny really, but it meant that the ship was preserved and I could go and see it, which is awesome.  I loved the biig canons, brilliant!  I hope I see more cannons on my travels!
More adventures very soon.
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Hello everyone,

This is my last update from the wonderful country that is Australia.  I've been to Ayers Rock, or Uluru as it's called. You can just see my blond hair in the picture.  It was a great visit, the rock seemed to glow in the sun, although you can't really see it on this picture, you'll just have to go and see it for yourself really!  I've loved Australia, maybe I'll come back, but it's a very, very long way to go!  Especially from Sweden.  That's where I'm going next, an adventure closer to home!

More adventures soon!

Mini-Sven

Hello all,

I'm now on a lovely little island called Fraser Island, right up in Queensland.  It's really lovey and warm up here and the beach is wonderful, the freshwater lakes, rain forest. I didn't mind being buried in the sand at all, it was lovely and cool and warm all at the same time. I think I could stay here forever and never get bored of the place.  Sigh, of course, I have to move on though.  That's the life of a travelling companion!

More very soon.
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Hello!
Back on the road again heading north from Canberra and I saw this Banana.  I know that I'm small, which is why I'm called Mini-Sven, but this banana is absolutely huuuuge, I mean massive.  I felt quite insignificant next to it.  Wow, that's all I can say!  Another update soon!
lots of love

Mini-Sven

G'day!
I've been given the day off work and I've gone to a local inn.  It's a micro brewery called the Wig and Pen.  I had great fun seeing the brewery and was even allowed to pull my own pint.  Brilliant!  Another update soon!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Hello!
My first stop on my travels is the land of Oz, the big wild Australia.  I decided I didn't just want to be a tourist and so I've been put to work on a farm.  I'm sure there must be better ways of clearing trees, but you can see me in the pictures above, the tree was blown up to try to get rid of the tree stump.  It was very very loud and luckily I wasn't injured at all, phew!  It's very hot and warm in Australia, quite, quite different to Sweden! I'll update you more soon with another hair raising tale from my travels!
lots of love
Mini-Sven

Hello!
I'm Mini-Sven and I just love to travel.  I was born in the city of Göteborg, with the help of Real-Sven and sent out to Lizz, who has taken great care of me ever since, making sure I'm clothed and have plenty to drink and eat.  Göteborg is a lovely city and I had a nice time there, but the world is soo large and exciting I left as soon as I could!  I'm going to regale you with tales of my adventures overseas, so keep reading my blog, say hello and maybe I'll meet you on my journey!
lots of love
Mini-Sven