Åland? That's what we were wondering last night when we spotted a letter with foreign postage from "Åland." It looked like the language was Swedish, but a Swedish stamp would have said "Sverige." One stamp had a ladybug, the other a white-furred ermine. Well, Google searches work wonders, even if your A key doesn't have the little circle on the top. It turns out that Åland is "a demilitarised Swedish-speaking region" off the east coast of Sweden that actually is part of Finland but is mostly autonomous. Population: About 26,000. It looks like it would be an interesting place to visit, but only in the summer, of course. I like the little coats of arms for each of the 16 municipalities. It reminds me of the various ones that each of the districts in Berlin have.
