I cannot tell you how Ralph has been so excited about this Copenhagen piece I am about to write because among the three Scandinavian countries, Denmark was far by the most interesting, not to mention the warmest??? and cheapest as gauged by our numerous trips to an American classic - Mcdonald's. In retrospect, a single meal (regular fries, burger and a drink) of $6 - $7 in the US, doubles, almost triples in price, as in: Oslo $ 18.00; Stockholm $16.00 and Copenhagen $14.00 per meal per person. And really, I shouldn't have been surprised after buying our very first golden fjord bottled water at $5.00 per liter. Really, really, really...I should just get over it.

So, our day-and-a-half adventure in Hans Christian Andersen's hometown began when our Copenhagen-bound train passed by the largest windmill farm off the coast of Middelgrunden. At the station, getting around was a cinch, no left luggages, no grumpy train staff and no language barrier. And as our shoulders broke away from our heavy backpacks, we wasted no time building sets of new memories waiting to be etched in our own history. Without a definitive plan really, we scouted the busy streets of Copenhagen looking for the Tivoli Garden, tourist information, those cheap public bikes  before ending up in the National Museum for Free!

What we loved about this museum was the Asia/Pacific exhibit and the Children's Museum, of course. A seeming pre-Hawaiian welcome, Ralph was more than the proud local, ecstatic to see the Ali'i statue clothed in glorious red and yellow cape, crested helmet holding its kahili. Aloha! Among the vast asian countries represented though, the Philippines was surprisingly MIA...either the Danish have completely missed that 7,000 island archipelago floating below Japan and a little below of China on Google map or, we do a rather poor job in upholding our own customs and traditions, it's not even worth mentioning. I hope not.

From the Pacific Islands, we traveled back to the Middle Ages, where we gathered stones using a good old pulley, sat behind the castle's tower waiting to use our bow and arrow and well, rode a horse until the sunset. After the Museum, we headed back to find our first ever bed and breakfast room. To our not so quite dismay, the family hosting us had actually cancelled our reservation for some sort of house repairs, but was so nice and hospitable enough to secure another home for us five minutes away. Our host, who I shamefully forgot her name, but interestingly remember the fact that she was a retired college professor in music and loves to play the piano, was very helpful and accommodating. I would recommend them in a heartbeat as soon as I've dugged their information under these stack of grad school essays and files.

After settling in to our room, we stopped by a local market so I could whip up a steaming bowl of spaghetti and bread for dinner before falling fast asleep...well-fed, bathed and cozy as the spring Denmark air cooled the rest of the night. Tomorrow, is going to be one heck of a day, or in this case, Part 2 of 2. Thank God for another glorious day!

Luscious deep green valleys formed by high-peaked mountains with people in traditional full skirts running through endless fields of tulips backdropped by an azure sky, Sweden takes me to a soft-covered bed in a nature-inspired luxurious room overlooking glorious landscapes, eyes closed, feeling every stroke of a super relaxing Swedish massage. Ahhhh... my one true wish and as much as I hate to admit...remains yet, a wish. So here, we painfully traded our therapeutic kneading desires for a walking exercise and an eye feast of Gamla Stan, Sweden's Old Town Square - the royal palace just in time for their version of the changing of the guards, a walk around the main station plus the Thor movie at Filmstaden Sergel. 

At the heart of Gamla Stan, stands Storkyrkan (or The Great Church), Sweden's oldest church built circa 1300. Whew! that's some 700 years!