We recently took a trip to the Scandinavian peninsula and visited three countries there: Denmark, Sweden and Norway. It was an amazing trip – The cities were steeped in culture and history, the landscape was stunning and the food was delicious (especially if you like fish and other things pulled from the water) We visited some great museums and learned a lot about vikings (did not wear horned helmets, had surprisingly good grooming habits) and saw the Danish amusement park that inspired Disney World, Tivoli. We also noticed a few interesting things that stood out about Nordic culture and landscapes:
- Bikes & public transit: Nordic countries have more pedal power than a rose garden; the towns and cities had generously sized bike lanes and they were heavily utilized. Bicycles were everywhere and the rain did not deter them. Public transit was also heavily used but also surprisingly cheap. We were able to do our entire trip without renting a car, instead relying on trains and ferries to get us around. I think this might also explain why Nordic people tended to be so fit, they really get their cardio in.
- Gas stations & food: The public transit might be cheap but eating out is not. The Nordic countries are kinda pricy when it comes to restaurants so we tried to keep those excursions limited. This arrangement seems to have led to an interesting dichotomy where restaurants all tended to be rather “fancy” while fast food options were more limited to gas station food. But the gas station food there is really good, lots of of fresh and healthy meal options to grab on the go.
- Countryside: We took the train out of Copenhagen all the way up through Sweden and into Norway. Southern Sweden was surprisingly familiar looking – there was lots of agriculture with cows, fields, tractors and bailed hay. It looked like northern Ohio. Once we hit the mountainous region and crossed into Norway everything started looking like the Pacific Northwest and it suddenly made sense why so many Scandinavian immigrants settled there. On a similar note when we took the ferry out of Oslo it looked very much like the Puget Sound (also in the PNW).
