Summer 2010 Starts in Scandinavia

...and the summer 2010 European adventures begin.

I'm in the Netherlands! Utrecht, specifically. But I'll start from the beginning.

I flew over with Icelandair, which gave me beautiful views but no food. After a brief stop in Iceland I flew to Copenhagen (all the while looking for Eyjafjallajokull, the volcano, but I didn't see it). Some family friends picked me up at the airport and took me across the bridge to Malmo, Sweden where I stayed with them for three days. It was so much fun to experience Denmark and Sweden at the same time, and really nice to stay in a house with friends while I got over jetlag.

The first night I slept a hearty 14.5 hours, then went to see Malmo, which is beautiful! Nice cobbled streets, squares with cafes all around, and lots of bikes! (My gosh I have been overwhelmed by bikes this trip!). I saw the castle/fort, which is now a museum, as well as the train station and some of the cute squares. Then I headed to the workplace of my family friends in Malmo, a daycare center. The kids were so cute, but not sure what to make of me! It was fun to just watch them play and listen to all that Swedish.

The next two days were spent in Copenhagen, around which I must have walked 10 miles a day! The first day I saw Rosenborg castle, which has some of the most beautiful decorations, artwork and treasures I have seen. I had falafel for lunch and wandered for the rest of the evening, then took the train back to Malmo for the night. The next day I did even more wandering, this time in the rain! I had seen rain was predicted so I just trudged through it in teh morning and did a self-guided Copenhagen walk from a guidebook. It was centered around the Stroget, the main pedestrian street in Copenhagen, which I loved. I also saw the University (and tried to look like a student since they don't seem to welcome tourists), and the Radhus (city hall), which was a strange experience. The Radhus is open to tourists and they do give guided tours, but you can also just wander around. So that's just what I did, and I passed all these people dressed in suits, carrying papers, working in offices, and speaking Danish. I felt like such a trespasser! I had already started planning some great mystery movie with thieves dressed as tourists wandering around the Copenhagen city hall.

In addition I walked through Nyhavn, which is the place on all the guidebooks (besides the Little Mermaid). It's a row of cute, colorful buildings along a canal. (Do an image search for Copenhagen and I'm sure it'll come up). I walked all the way to Amalienborg palace, which is gorgeous (I didn't go inside, though), and could have walked to see the Little Mermaid, except she's currently at the world expo in China, so it wouldn't have been worth it to walk all that way. Besides, my feet were sore!

That afternoon the sun miraculously came out, but I went to the national museum (should have switched my schedules!). I also wandered around another palace--Christiansborg--and ended my afternoon with a visit to the Copenhagen library to look up train schedules. The library is a black, modern glass building shaped liked a diamond.

Back to Malmo for the night, and the next morning I was off to Germany! But I think I've written enough for now. Coming up next: Germany and the Netherlands, including marzipan, train rides, coincidences, and more bikes.