Copenhagen vs. Stockholm

Hej Hej!

So last week our friend, J., arrived for a visit and almost immediately we took off to Copenhagen. B. and I had already planned the trip before we knew she was coming but the three of us decided to go and after buying tickets with one airline that went bust we eventually made it there on airline number 2.

Reading the guidebook for Denmark, it made an outrageous claim. It said that Copenhagen was the most beautiful city in Scandinavia and that Stockholm shouldn't argue!!! Hmmmm. I had to wait to see Copenhagen to form an opinion but after spending 2 days there I would have to say that I remain faithful to Stockholm. Here are my reasons...

1. Stockholm is surrounded by water. It sits on 14 islands and the water is an integral part of the city, whereas in Copenhagen its more of a side thought.

2. Stockholm seems slightly cleaner to me (but I may be biased).

3. I like the old town of Stockholm better than the old part of Copenhagen (although it is beautiful too!)

I guess I have to be loyal to Stockholm, but for those of you who have yet to visit it, its definitely worth a visit. I believe that it is probably one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

While in Copenhagen we ate well. J., B. and I had a couple of very nice dinners, and we managed to fit a "fika" in most days. The first day we visited J. and R. (also of Saskatoon via Kamloops) and had coffee with them at their house. That pretty much took the afternoon and we got lost on our way there on the bus (but only momentarily). The next day we went to the "Bodies" exhibit that has been traveling around the world but was currently on in Copenhagen. They had some amazing displays complete with real parts from real people - including cross sections of bodies - very, very interesting. The afternoon was spent sight-seeing with Ben's colleague, who took us on a canal tour (where most of our photos are from) and up the Round Tower. We saw the Little Mermaid on the canal tour and while the guidebook suggested we would be disappointed I wasn't. I thought she was lovely. Our last day was spent wandering around the streets, checking out the fancy dept. stores and visiting the outside of the castle and a round church. The weather was not the best but it wasn't terrible either so we did ok.

Some interesting facts I learned while touring around Stockholm with J.: 47% of the MPs in the Swedish parliament are women. The only country to have a higher percentage of women in parliament is Rwanda and that is mainly due to the fact that they have a 50/50 quota in place. Second interesting fact, in the Stockholm City Council 52 of 101 seats are held by women. Pretty impressive, don't you think!

J. left yesterday and I have spent the last two days recovering. No seriously I was tired :) Now I'm ready to start getting organized for the move back and for Christmas (and B.'s 30th!)

Here are a few shots from our week! Photos

The days got shorter by half an hour in the last week. I am not impressed. The city has decided to put on a light show for the whole month of November to try and counter the dark days. I just hope the weather improves otherwise I might be a gloomy girl come December.

Vi hörs!
E.