Jul 22, 2013
Denmark Sweden
John and I are so excited to be celebrating our 15th consecutive year of visiting a new country together. We spent all weekend making our last-minute preparations and packing up the suitcases. It’s going to be a little cold in Denmark and Sweden–we’re looking at 60/70 in Copenhagen and 50/70 in Stockholm. So we made sure to pack pants, socks, long sleeves, and jackets.
How did we decide on Denmark and Sweden? Well, coming off the high of hiking Kilimanjaro last year, we had started to research details on climbing Mt. Elbrus and had corresponded with a guide and were looking at flights and dates. But then I got this FB message from our friend Kathryn:
I know it’s a long shot, but please think about joining us in Denmark next July because we will be celebrating Ole’s 50th birthday at some weird Scandinavian Long House/Compound on a remote Danish island (Lolland). Nothing but a cold ocean, 40 of your closest drunk Danish friends, pickled herring, and…well, not much else. Could be interesting…think about it! You can stay for free but the plane ticket is a bitch!
Now really. How does one turn down an offer like that! I’ve been wanting to go to Denmark with Kathryn and Ole, well, since I met them about 15 years ago. And I haven’t been to Copenhagen since 1991 but I loved it so much I’ve always wanted to go back and do it properly. I think Kathryn might have been a bit surprised when I wrote back 30 minutes after she sent her message and told her we were a go.
Since I’ve already been to Denmark, we needed to add the “new” country so we decided to spend a week in Stockholm, where John’s going to run an Ultra Marathon. I am going to run a few laps of it with him. We’ll also visit the Vasa museum, do an archipelago tour, and take a day trip to Uppsala. We’re really looking forward to the trip.
