Europe Train Challenge – 28 Countries In 10 Weeks: The last leg on our journey has begun. The final countries during the Europe Train Challenge will be in Scandinavia, beginning with Denmark – the country with the happiest people in the world.
Countries This Week: Denmark, Norway
Yes, Denmark has been praised by other countries several times to be the happiest country in the world, and I was curious to hear the Danish peoples’ thoughts on that – which turned out to be quite interesting.
According to themselves, people here complain a lot and don’t really smile much on the streets – in other words, they don’t look too happy.
The guy we talked to thought it had more to do with the low expectations they had and the acceptance rather than happiness.
Copenhagen is the first foreign place I remember visiting as a child.
The first impressions were so strong that I still associate them with the city; The smell of freshly made waffles on Ströget, the night lights on the Tivoli theme park and the excitement of something different.
And there is something that makes Denmark different from the rest of Scandinavia, something that makes it seem more relaxed.
Perhaps it’s the fact that they have a small part of Copenhagen which has its own laws, flags and rules – Christiania.
Or maybe it was because of the many festivals they have there – while we were there the Copenhagen Jazz Festival was on.
Old and young mixed together sat on the stone-cobbled streets and stairs in front of stages tapping their feet and swinging to the sides to the funky Jazz rhythms and brass tunes.
On our way to Oslo, we stopped over for two days in my hometown Gothenburg in Sweden.
Having the luxury of home-cooked meals, catching up with friends and a foot-bath was well needed.
I hadn’t realized just how badly my feet had been treated until my mother made that ”worried” remark about my blistered feet.
Those are things you really don’t have time to think about when you’re traveling, and getting those small every-day luxuries made me long for some time in one place.
Oslo was next on the agenda. It was pretty, small and had beautiful nature – which pretty much seems to sum up the whole of Norway.
I’ve never seen any other part of Norway, and I’m dying to see the fjords and northern parts of Norway. I will make sure I get to see it within a year.
For some reason we saw more homeless people and druggies than in other parts of Scandinavia.
A bad place to be if you have no money, it’s pretty much double the prices of Sweden – and that in itself says something about the costs…!
Next week we’re off to Sweden and Finland, the two last countries on the Europe Train Challenge! What are we going to do next???
I’m loving this!
I’m also excited to see what you guys post about when it’s all done…what will be the first thing on the blog post list?
Thanks for taking the time to share it all with us.
~Chais Meyer
We have so much to write about that it’s hard to know where to begin, but I think we’ll be writing a lot about our experiences from every county, things we learned and interesting impressions. And of course 30 videos!!!
We’re looking forward to them!
Awesome! Denmark, Finland, Sweden (The girls!!!!) … the good life
Enjoy what’s remained from your trip guys,
and let the new adventure begin soon!!
you are really going for it! yay for you! too bad you missed the fjords, tho, they are Norway’s best features.
looking forard to hearing more about scandanavia.
I know, we would both LOVE to see the fjords, it’s on our top list of things to do in the near future, and we have promised ourselves to check it out soon!!
Fint å se dere tilbake i Scandinavia, den landet av snus, aquavit og fiskbøller! Heia Norge og Heia Sverige!
God tur,
-Leif
Ja det har varit helt fantastiskt, det ar verkligen ett vackert landskap i Skandinavien, och maten ar ju inte helt fel den heller!
Familien min har gjesthus opp i Finmark på en liten øy som heter Loppa. Den utsikten er utrolig vakker. Hvis du har lyst, fortelle meg. Her kan du se den øy, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=24588301636
Holy cow this looks like fun! Safe Travels!
Thanks guys, it’s been great!
Det ser jättefint ut, bade gästhuset och Loppa ön. Skulle vara jättekul att resa ända upp dit och stanna där, hoppas att vi reser tillbaka till Norge snart igen.
My fondest – and funniest – memory of Oslo was having dinner in a small pizzeria with the Pope: http://wp.me/ppqxP-bD
I’m hoping to go to Denmark on my giant 30th bday bash sometime next year. The pictures just look stunning. I’ve always been fascinated about Christiania.