Marriott Bonvoy recently officially launched its 2024 “Taste of Wonders” F&B marketing campaign in Greater China with the debut of a food documentary titled “Taste of Wonders, Flavors of North and South.” Developed in collaboration with renowned Chinese documentary director Chen Xiaoqing, the film explores the vibrant people and culture behind Chinese cuisine, and centers around the Chinese word “Xian,” which means both “fresh ingredients” and “delicate flavor.” As part of the campaign, over 300 Chinese restaurants across Greater China will create themed menus based on “Seasonal Cuisines,” “Wine/Tea Pairing,” “Home Style Dishes” and “Local Menu Co-Creation.”

Known as the cultural soul of Sweden, Dalarna is where you can experience the quintessential Swedish lifestyle. Much of the popular imagery of Sweden is from here: red-painted cottages by glittering lakes in the evening sun where people in brightly-coloured folk costumes dance and swirl in celebration of Midsummer.

Its varied landscape stretches from vast forests to towering mountains and mirror-like lakes. The region is dominated by Lake Siljan, one of Sweden’s largest and most beautiful lakes, formed by a meteorite impact millions of years ago.

Outdoor enthusiasts will find plenty to do all year round. In the summer, the region offers great opportunities for hiking, cycling, and kayaking. In winter, Dalarna transforms into a snow-covered wonderland, perfect for skiing and snowboarding. Cross-country skiing and dog sledding are also popular activities, peaceful ways to explore the frosty landscape.

Mora

It’s around three and half hours by train from North West from Stockholm to Mora, on the shores of Lake Siljan.  The town is famous for two things: the Vasaloppet and artist Anders Zorn.

The Vasaloppet is the world’s oldest and longest cross-country ski race, stretching 90kms from Sälen to Mora. Held annually in March, it attracts thousands of skiers from around the world and celebrates the legendary journey of Swedish king Gustav Vasa, escaping from Danish soldiers.

One of Sweden’s most renowned painters, Anders Zorn, lived here until he died in 1942. His former home, Zorngården, a well-preserved masterpiece of Swedish architecture, offers a glimpse into the life of the famous artist. The museum, next door, displays an impressive collection of Zorn’s works, including portraits, landscapes, and etchings that beautifully capture Swedish rural life.

Fulufjället National Park

Two hours further north west, close to the border with Norway, is Fulufjället National Park, established in 2002.  This untouched wilderness, covering approximately 385 square kilometres gets its name from the 1,044m Fulufjället Mountain. The landscape is a mix of barren tundra, thick boreal forests, and deep river valleys, all shaped by glaciation over thousands of years.

I meet Tommy Lönnebacke at the Naturum visitor centre who’s going to lead me to Rösjöstugorna, my bed for the night. There’s no road and it’s a fairly steep climb upwards to the vast, flat-topped plateau, once an ancient mountain range. This is the main feature of the park, a huge expanse of bog and tundra.

My accommodation looms into view – simple cabins with bunks where you have to wash in the lake after a rudimentary sauna. Fortunately inside there’s a roaring fire and Tommy swiftly starts preparing dinner before it gets dark.  It’s a mix of moose, bear and reindeer cooked outside in a vast wok and very good it is too. Wash it down with his homemade berry firewater and you’re guaranteed a good night’s sleep.

Next morning we set out for a hike across the plateau hugging the shores of the lake. First stop fame is at Old Tjikko, a 9,560-year-old Norway spruce. Although not much to look at, it’s considered the world’s oldest known living tree. surviving centuries of harsh weather. Carbon dating of its root system, which has continuously sprouted new trunks over millennia, is evidence of its remarkable age.

From here we drop down off the plateau and the Njupeskär Waterfall comes into view. This is Sweden’s tallest, cascading down 93 meters from the rugged cliff edge, fed by the lake above.  The trail leads us to an observation platform at the base of the falls, where we get to witness the power of nature up close. In winter Njupeskär transforms into a massive icefall, attracting adventurous ice climbers from all across Europe.

Grövelsjön

Another hour further north, Grövelsjön is a part of the larger Gränslandet nature reserve, a vast wilderness area shared between Sweden and Norway spanning over 2000 square kilometres. I arrive at the bottom of Lake Grövelsjön,framed by rolling hills, deep valleys, and lofty peaks.

From the lake, the hike on the Linnaeus Trail starts by crossing the suspension bridge over the Grövlån River, and then continuing through mountain forest. It then climbs upwards following a vigorous stream into alpine meadows.

When we get above the treeline we come to the border with Norway and there are stunning views back over the lake. The stream bank makes a perfect spot for a picnic, sheltered from the wind.  It’s berry season so as I make my way back down, I gorge on bilberries and cloudberries.

Idre Fjäll

The ski resort of Idre Fjäll was founded 60 years ago and has evolved into a centre for year round experiences. In winter it offers some of the best skiing in Sweden with over 40kms of groomed ski slopes, catering to all levels—from complete beginners to seasoned pros.

Summer in Idre Fjäll is all about getting close to nature. The region is renowned for its hiking trails, with one of the most iconic hikes being the trek up Städjan, a mountain known for its distinctive shape and breath-taking 360-degree views.

I’ve done my share of hiking so now it’s time to get out on the water. 30 minutes south is the Sörälven river and we climb into kayaks and paddle through the forest to a wilderness camp on a small island. There, the guide shows us how to light a fire with the kindling we gather, and then gives us ingredients for lunch.

Before we get cooking, there’s the small task of crafting a handle for the fry pan and carving a spatula. Then, mixing flour and water together, this bushman’s pancake is roasted over the fire. It doesn’t sound like much but with a topping of lingonberries and brown cheese it certainly tastes good.

Factfile

GO: SAS flies from London Heathrow to Stockholm. There are regular trains to Mora from Stockholm via Borlänge.

INFO: Visit Sweden has info about the country

Visit Dalarna has info about the region.

Scandinavian Adventure Travels organises outdoor tours.

STAY: Mora Hotell & Spa makes a good base in Mora.

Rösjöstugorna offers basic accommodation in Fulufjället National Park

Lövåsgården Fjällhotell is a comfy base in Grövelsjön with spa and good food.

Pernilla Wiberg Hotel in Idre Fjäll is a luxury mountain hotel with spa and great cuisine. They can also arrange outdoor excursions.

The post Travel Guide to Dalarna, Sweden appeared first on The Travel Magazine.

Deleted images do not “disappear.” Formatting a memory card does not “erase” the images.

Never sell or loan a memory card unless you’re willing to risk the possibility of sharing every image, video, tax return and any other file that’s ever been saved to it. The same applies to hard drives, SSDs and USB drives. Here’s why it happens, and how to protect yourself.

Scarier than AI Zombies? Your bet it is. But you can prevent it from happening.

When an image is deleted from a memory card or other storage media, the space that the image file physically occupied as digital data is marked “available” and new image data can be written to that space. Formatting a memory card does little more than mark ALL of the space available. In other words, image files do not fully disappear unless they are overwritten by other files or deliberately “scrubbed” or “wiped” by special software. The Format command tells the firmware in the card that it’s okay to write new files over the ones that already exist. It does not vanish the existing files. It just enables writing over the older images.

This is neither a bug nor an oversight; it’s a safety precaution. If this were not the case, you’d lose accidentally deleted files forever. It also makes the Formatting process much faster.

Recover Images
Inexpensive (sometimes even free) software from SanDisk and others can recover deleted images, video files and other data in full or in part, and this is great in the event of unintentional deletion. But the software that rescues us has a dark side. This has two important implications for all, especially in this world of common person-to-person online auction transactions.

First, the consequences of accidental deletions and inadvertent formatting can very likely be reversed, although it’s not 100% certain. If you delete or format unintentionally, stop shooting immediately. If you continue shooting, the new images may overwrite the ones you want to restore. There is no 100% guarantee that the data can be resurrected, but the odds are in your favor to recover at least part of it. Download SanDisk RescuePro or another brand of Undelete Software and follow the onscreen directions. RescuePro has saved my bacon more than once, I’m unhappy to admit. This is why I recommend it over all others, but probably there are other brands equally as effective.

The recovery process can take a long time—plan on it. The file names change, and the images may be restored whole or only partially. The occasional fragmentation and/or other corruption of image frames are caused by the way data is written to the card on noncontiguous spaces.

The second implication is not a smiley face. With the right software and a little patience, others might be able to view the images you thought you deleted from your memory card. Even though the images may be completely innocent, do you really want to give them to strangers?

Wipe Cards Clean
SanDisk RescuePro software has a built-in option to wipe cards 100% clean by completely filling them with randomly sequenced digital garbage. The only other way to render a card neutered and inert (short of tossing it into the Weber grill) is to format it and then shoot pictures of the sky, ground or your feet until the card is full. With a large capacity card, this could take weeks. Seriously.

If you are dealing with an SSD (Solid State Drive) you can usually wipe it clean using software tools provided by the manufacturer. Check their website. Keep this in mind if you ever decide to sell your PC.

While there is no guarantee that any data can be recovered from a blundered-up card, the chances are strong enough that you should protect yourself with these extra steps before loaning or selling a card. Or make it your policy to never share your media.

Don’t make the mistake of dimwitted confidence that I once did by not keeping some brand of Undelete Software installed at all times. Some brands of memory cards come with a free full or trial subscription. Don’t wait until you need it. Buy Undelete Software today and practice with it now so you are prepared to deal with accidents without panic.

—Jon Sienkiewicz

You may have seen rumors recently about Adobe stealing content from creators and using it to train their stable of applications and/or for other reasons. To address these unsubstantiated claims, Adobe sent a notification via the Creative Cloud dashboard that explains Adobe that does NOT steal your images to train Firefly, their robust AI engine, or for any other purpose.

Essentially the same information is also posted on Adobe’s website. Additionally, you can read Adobe’s Firefly Policy here. For complete details, read Adobe’s General Terms of Use.

Here, verbatim, are the points Adobe calls out in their Firefly Policy. Many of the points have dropdown menus that offer additional information. To read it, visit the URL shown above.

“We do not and have never trained Adobe Firefly on customer content.

“We only train Adobe Firefly on content where we have permission to do so.

“We compensate creators who contribute to Adobe Stock for the use of their content in training Adobe Firefly.

“We do not mine content from the web to train Adobe Firefly.

“We developed Adobe Firefly to prevent it from creating content that infringes copyright or intellectual property rights, and it is designed to be commercially safe.

“We do not claim any ownership of your content, including content you create with Adobe Firefly.”

“We believe in protecting creators’ rights and founded the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI) focused on ensuring transparency in content ownership and how it was created.

“We defend the intellectual property rights of the creative community through advocating for the Federal Anti-Impersonation Right Act.

“We explicitly prohibit third parties from training on customer content hosted on our servers (such as on Behance).”

Further, Adobe invites users questions by adding, “If you have any questions, or just want to hang out and chat, you can join us on Discord or the Adobe Community forums.”

Adobe is a founding member of the Content Authenticity Initiative. CAI is dedicated to restoring trust and transparency in the age of AI.

∞ Shutterbug Staff