i bet you look good on the dansk floor.

Wheresnate has been a sleepy 'burb in Internets-ville since mid-July. That's because Paige and I spent about two weeks in Scandinavia as part of our last hurrah before jumping back into the working world. Ahhh, the smell of responsibility.

Anyway, for your reading enjoyment, this is the first of three installments about our trip. Let's call it, "Part One: Denmark".

Why Scandinavia? It's a question we heard a number of times. It's not a cheap or trendy destination like Southeast Asia (undoubtedly the locale-of-choice among my fellow Ross grads). It's not the first place Americans go in Europe. And it's not warm and tropical and full of golf courses.

All of the reasons listed above contributed directly to our decision to leave the beaten path. We wanted to go someplace new for both of us (Paige has done huge chunks of continental Europe, I've done Asia, Australia, and much of Europe). Plus, I'm basically Swedish and German. And I've already been to Germany.

Copenhagen, our first stop, is an amazing city on the narrow strait between the Atlantic and the Baltic. It's built on a series of canals and features the most extensive pedestrian mall in the world (Stroget). We spent a considerable amount of time wandering the narrow and winding streets and took a clever, multi-lingual canal tour around the city.

With Paige in Nyhavn.


Copenhagen canals and boats, oh my.


Obligatory photo of obligatory landmark.

I was very impressed with the old part of the city and would put it up with Paris and London (without the Louvre and Buckingham Palace, obviously). But what Copenhagen lacked in must-see sights, it more than made up for in charm, cleanliness, and sidewalk cafe dining. In particular, Nyhavn, the picturesque old port in the heart of the city, melts all of these traits into an old world Danish feelings.

We also joined the locals at Tivoli, the oldest amusement park in the world (or something like that), for a free concert on Friday night by a band named Grand Avenue. Drinking Carlsberg beer and listening to one of the most popular bands in Denmark in an outside amphitheatre, all under a cloudless sky and a dusk that lasted until 11:00pm. Does it get any better?