Scandinavia
I always feel like an ant – even at the elementary school where I work. It’s always nice when a 5th grader tells you he thinks he’ll be taller than you at the end of the year (and you know that it’s true). So, I’m short, big deal right? Haha! Then, I traveled with Will to the land of blond-haired, blue-eyed giants, and realized how unusually comfortable it is to be a 5-foot lady among teeny Italians. A diet of fish and venison has created a super-society of gigantic, extremely intelligent and beautiful people.
So, we went to Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen in August. Will is part Swedish, and he’d always wondered what Sweden would be like. We decided to close our eyes and book the flights and hotels, even though the prices in that neck of the woods are ridiculously high for these budget travelers. How expensive? We were starving and stopped at a Burger King one afternoon and it cost us a whopping (no bun intended) $28! One delicious meal of venison, potatoes and beer cost us $135. That was our first and only splurge in Scandinavia J
Scandinavia has a really high standard of living as a result of the high taxes and cost of goods and services. In fact, my human resource management classes studied Scandinavia, as its generous family leave, vacation policies and work schedules are distinct in the world. The high taxes also lead to other benefits – the cities (esp. Oslo and Stockholm) – were clean and modern with wonderful museums and restaurants.
As you’ll see from the photos, even as cities, Stockholm and Oslo were really lush with greenery. A ten-minute bus ride outside of Oslo leaves you in a wooded park. Neither felt like a major city: the air was so clean and the temperatures so lovely that it felt like both were just small seaside resorts. Copenhagen was nice too, but a little dirtier. It seemed like the night before we arrived there had been a massive beer crawl, as the main areas stunk of stale beer and urine. The port areas were lovely though.
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