Stockholm

Stockholm is a lovely city of large islands, easily accessible by a handful of major bridges. The old town, Gamla Stan, is one of the smaller islands, completely surrounded by the rest of the city. My rolling suitcase on its cobblestone alleyways announced my presence to everyone in town. Oh well. In the middle of Gamla Stan, there's this large sculpture of the Europe-wide legend of King George slaying the dragon:

I bought a meal of Swedish meatballs from a small café, sold by a nice Russian lady who hardly spoke English. After some miscommunication due to the language barrier, she lamented that she only speaks Russian, Spanish, and Swedish but not English. Spanish?! She married a Cuban man many years ago and Sweden is one of the few places in the world where they can live together. The embargoes almost prohibited their relationship, but Sweden had no problem with it. So we continued in Spanish and all was better. Strangely, I've heard as much Spanish in Scandinavia as in the Bronx. Apparently, Spanish tourists really like to go North for holiday. I don't blame them - it's beautiful! 

Stockholm has successfully turned a national embarrassment into one of its greatest tourist attractions. In 1648, the Vasa ship sank on its maiden voyage. They had some proportion problems, so it sunk nearly instantly. Rather than sail the seas, it sat in the salty North Sea for over 300 years, preserved almost completely. Now it sits at the Vasa Museum. By an engineering feat, they excavated the entire ship from its resting place in 1961 and restored it. It's huge: 7 decks, 64 guns, and countless sculptures, including one of King David and his harp! It's pretty epic. Below is the royal seal of the King of Sweden:

Stockholm is just as expensive as Denmark, which limits their tourist attractiveness. But it's quite picturesque and definitely worth a visit. Swedish is quite close to Norwegian, and not far from German. But they all speak incredibly perfect English... except the Russian lady who sells meatballs ;)

"O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!"  ~ Psalm 8

Copenhagen

Where is the world's oldest amusement park, from 1583?  Yup, just outside Copenhagen, Denmark. And the second oldest amusement park, Tivoli Gardens, opened in 1843, is located directly across from the Copenhagen Town Hall. The Danes must enjoy their amusement. I slightly regret not getting a danish from the Danish, but at an average price of $7 per pastry, I couldn't bring myself to it. Everything is quite expensive. The cheapest, small-sized latte to-go costs $4.50, and it's nearly impossible to find something cheap to eat for less than $8.

Copenhagen is a beautiful city, and not too large. very easy to see on foot or bicycle. Founded by Warrior Bishop Absalom in the 1200s, Copenhagen began to grow in population when it was only the mid-point town between two large cities. Danes wanted the convenience of being close to both cities, so they started to settle right in the middle. For the past few decades, the city has been home to a unique "green light district," a community of hippies, called Christiania, where limitless forms of marijuana are sold in a street market. The three rules of Christiania are no pictures,  have fun, and don't run. It's very popular among tourists. The strangest part is that weed is illegal in Denmark. Still not sure how that works out.  In addition to the hippies, Copenhagen also hosts beautiful architecture, a tourism industry from the cruise ships, and some beautiful canals. In Danish, Copenhagen means Merchant's Harbor. Some even consider it to be the Venice of the North, but Copenhagen doesn't have the same love for life as the Mediterraneans. 

Copenhagen has lots of statues and churches:

Here's the famous Little Mermaid statue, from Hans Christian Andersen's story:

And from the top of the 400 steps on the tower of the Church of Our Savior, you can see the whole city, 360 degrees around!

In general, the Danes like to jog and bicycle. Lots and lots of joggers kept passing me on the sidewalks. The people are all very tall and blonde, and they speak excellent English. Even on the metro, I heard more English than Danish on many rides. I found many Danes to be very helpful and quite friendly people. I highly recommend a visit!