Scandinavia is definitely on my list to see. I mean, Vikings, who doesn't love Vikings? And Scandinavian design? Ah, if I could have a house full of Scandinavian furniture I would be so happy. Anyways, we decided for this trip to just touch Scandinavia with a few days in Copenhagen.
A secret wish of mine, as we were anticipating Europe, was Sweden. Matt and I both have family from Sweden, although no one we know anymore, but still. (As we walked around, Matt noted that we were finally somewhere that he blended in. And it was so true, lots of blue eyes and blonde hair walking around!) But more than tracing our roots, my secret wish was to go to Ikea in Sweden. Because that is the motherland. Yes, in San Diego, I could stop on my way home from work at Ikea if I wanted. And we have seen lots of Ikeas, starting way back in China. But Ikea in Sweden would just be amazing.
It turns out Sweden is a 30 minute train ride across the bridge from Copenhagen, so we knew we would take a day trip there. And what do you know, there's an Ikea right there. That was basically why we went to Malmo, Sweden.
Anyways, we knew we shouldn't spend our whole time at Ikea. So, we did visit the small Old Town of Malmo (it didn't take much time). The buildings were pretty and unsurprising. We did go into one furniture shop that was all Scandinavian design and was amazing and I wanted everything. Fortunately, Matt likes the style too, so our future home will be lovely.
We also visited the church that was built in the 1200s. It was gorgeous, maybe one of my favorite churches we've seen, it had lovely arches and an ornate altar piece. But the walls were white, keeping the room light, airy and so Scandinavian. Also, this church was amazing because there was no entrance fee, there was a table set up with coffee and tea if you wanted, and a little rug with children's books and toys. It was ancient, but living and breathing at the same time. It was perfect. Those Swedes...
After that, we were hungry and knew Ikea would be our cheapest option. So we got on a bus and headed out to the lovely blue and yellow building. They all look the same.
We started with Swedish meatballs and lingonberry sauce (obviously).
Then we walked around Ikea. It looked the same as every other Ikea out there. Except the information was actually all in Swedish, as it should be.
We were completely distracted by the rugs, which are supposedly genuine Persian and Turkish. What is wrong with us?
We ended up buying a thermos (identical to our ikea thermos at home) because we just found all the necessary ingredients for chai, and thought a thermos would be perfect for Iceland. Isn't it wonderful to know that when at Ikea, we can buy the same thermos whether we're in San Diego or Sweden?! The thermos, by the way, was made in China.
Anyways, I picked up an Ikea catalogue (again, all in Swedish) for a souvenir and that was our day in Sweden. Total perfection.
While our trip to Ikea/Sweden was kind of the highlight, we did spend four days in Copenhagen. We had thought we would head out to a castle, living museum and Hans Christian Andersen's home. But, the weather was a bit wet and we had rented an incredibly beautiful apartment full of Scandinavian furniture, so we ended up staying close to home.
We walked along the water and Nyhavyn street. It was a holiday weekend, so it was supposedly a bit busier out. While we didn't make it to Hans Christian Andersen's home, we did make it to the Little Mermaid statue. She was pretty, but really close to the shore, I sort of thought she was actually out in the water. At least, we saw her.
Then we took a train out to a small town facing out to the ocean. There we visited the castle that Shakespeare used as the location for Hamlet. We didn't go in, but we walked around admiring the castle, looking out to the water and drinking chai from our thermos.
We did happen to see a wedding party going into the castle. I'm sure that it would be lovely to be married in a castle, but of all the castles in the world, I'm not sure Hamlet's is the one I would choose.
And that was that. We really liked Northern Europe. We realized that we would love to explore more of this area, so Scandinavia is certainly on our list of places to return someday.
