I use a Swedish vpn (translate “mole”) but their UK servers were all blocked when I was in France. I had to set up openvpn on my raspberry pi remotely and then access iplayer using my own home IP address. So you can always get it round it that way assuming someone UK based is ok to look after a pi for you.
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Partner’s sister/BiL in France have no problems accessing iPlayer since I recommended DNS rather than VPN was the way to go
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As did I, as it’s easier to do at the router, ao for everything automatically. But unfortunately none of the providers seem to support IPv6 rendering it useless in our case.
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Yes,the Swedes and the Norwegians are the ‘best of enemies’. The Swedes tend to be more open and friendly, the Norwegians a little less forthcoming, perhaps.
I am sure there’s some lovely Swedes on the Forum who will join the conversation.
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I have always found that all of the Nordic countries’ citizens are very friendly and welcoming. They show it in different ways. I would probably want to put in a good word for Denmark which I especially like.
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I’m reading that the Swedes have a national holiday for the eating of Waffles. Våffeldagen.
How can anybody not love a country that has a national holiday to celebrate and consume Waffles?!? 
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They have more of these special days. I was staying in a hotel in downtown Stockholm and suddenly a choir in white dresses with candles entered the lobby singing certain traditional songs. That was my encounter with St Lucia. December 13.
It was a surreal experience.
I think there is much to be said for this - I do find the UK news media wearing… The news is probably a good way to pick up basic Swedish, which I’d want to rather than especially need to.
It’s a really special place - I’ve not lived there for many years, but it’s still home.
Hyde Park is still student central - and the city is absolutely booming. Along with Manchester - those two cities comprise the northern economic powerhouse. Just 20 minutes to the majestic Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors.
Interestingly, Matt, you will especially appreciate the traditional ‘Cray’ fish eating on Mid Summer.
Crayfish cooked in dill and beer. Enjoy!
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Or Hebden Bridge which claims to be the centre of the Northern Powerhouse, if you draw a map covering Leeds, Bradford, Manchester etc Hebden is dead centre.
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Well you’ve covered most of what is Sweden and our dear neighbours. Welcome @MattCray. I don’t live in Malmö, rather Umeå and tend to strive away from cities into the mountains. Just recently took a picture or two near my cabin.
And about snow. This is it.
Being my garage at the cabin.
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I wish it was 
someone have just come up with days for all kinds of things lately. Unfortunately no holidays for any of them.
Welcome to Sweden! 
You have a great Naim dealer called Akkelisaudio in Gothenburg. The only dealer in Sweden that have Solstice up for demo.
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Try a factor of X where X is large! Or at least that is the impression I have from skiing hols in Norway, including visiting Swedes coming across to enjoy the cheaper (!) alcohol in Norway… I understand that in many (maybe all?) Scandinavian countries taxes are high, but the benefit is that public services are good because they are funded by those taxes, which to my mind is not a bad thing. Maybe someone Swedish can confirm whether my impressions are correct?
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Most things including alcohol cost more in Norway than Sweden. The border shops in Sweden have suffered greatly during covid since Norwegians couldn’t shop.
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I made a massive mistake one day by deciding that I would take my mountain bike to The Dales.
I was invited to a friends house for a Birthday Party who lived somewhere around Hebdon Bridge, I inexplicably only wrote down the road name and mobile phones weren’t that common at the time and I did not have the house landline, but being young and over enthusiastic, I thought I would find it.
However, coming from flat Kent and living mostly in London, it just never occurred to me how hilly the surrounding area around Hebdon Bridge would be. So with a deep breath, I jumped on my ill equipped bike, using my ill equipped legs and proceeded to cycle up and down, up and down, in the direction of this road. After spending some hours cycling along those hills, trying to find a house who’s number I did not know, I was absolutely knackered and starting thinking about sleeping somewhere for the night.
Then I came across a pub, it was about 10pm, so I thought I would just leave my bike here and get a room for the night. Whilst I was drinking my Guinness, I got chatting to a local guy, told him my storey and he offered to drive me along this road as it was on his way home, maybe somehow we would find the house.
I locked my bike up at the pub, jumped in his car and proceeded to drive along this road in a direction hoping it was the right way. Every house we came to, he slowed down and I would peer into the front window, from the car, hoping to see my friend.
By this time it was dark, most people did not close their curtains as privacy was assured in the Dales, and the living room lights were on, so it was quite easy to see into people’s front rooms…then by sheer chance, I spotted my friend bopping about in the living room of this house as we slowed down.
Typical urban boy misunderstanding the rural ways by a very big margin.
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TV news is the absolute worst way to try to stay informed (says the unbiased old print/online journalist).
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I recommend having a good listen to the Radio 4 comedy The Cold Swedish Winter on the iplayer. It’s brilliantly written with great actors about an Englishman who moves to Sweden and it will give you a good insight into the cultural differences.
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Brilliant - will look that up today - many thanks!
Off topic - but even as a left leaning liberal egalitarian middle engalnder - I find the current state of the BBC both annoying and depressing in equal measure.
So it’s not the news we’d be seeking out via iPlayer - it’s Masterchef, Strictly and David Attenborough!
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That’s Yorkshire all over - great story!
(The only slight challenges I have is you shouldn’t have been drinking Guinness - that area is all about Timothy Taylors Bitter - and Hebden Bridge isn’t technically in the dales, it’s in the Pennines - but I can confirm it’s SUPER hilly. And - interesting fact - the Lesbian capital of the UK 
)
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