Denmark

We flew to Longyearbyen, Svalbard from Oslo today. The three hour flight took us north of the 78th parallel. Because the Earth tilts on its axis, days are longer the farther north one travels in the summer. It is the exact opposite in the winter. Days get shorter as you approach the winter solstice. I’m a geography geek so I began to ponder this concept (much to Lisa’s dismay).

Think about it this way: The equator is at 0 degrees latitude. The North Pole on the other extreme is at 90 degrees. Hawaii, in the tropics, is at 20 degrees latitude, San Francisco at 38 degrees, New York City and Boulder, Colorado are at 40 degrees.

We started this trip in Copenhagen. It is way up north at 56 degrees latitude. Oslo, where we spent the past two days is even farther north — 60 degrees.

The days at the equator are always the same. Exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. Hawaii days vary, but very little from winter to summer. Most of us live in 35 to 40 degree latitudes and we’re all familiar with those long summer days and the very early darkness in winter. Norway, on the other hand is known as the Land of the Midnight Sun in the summer and sees the sun set not long after noon in the winter.

Well, here in Svalbard, we will not see a sun set the entire week we are here. The sun will simply circle overhead, never even approaching the horizon. No Northern Lights for us. Our grandson Max asked us how we will know when to go to bed. I told him, “I have no idea.” I write this at 10 pm with the sun blazing overhead. Lisa and I are forcing ourselves to sleep.

The view from our deck at 9:30 PM. The sun will get no lower than this. It will simply circle around the sky.

Conversely, the sun will not rise at all in December. Darkness all day for days on end.

The Arctic Circle is defined by the point farthest south where there is at least one day where the sun does not set in the summer and does not rise in the winter. The Arctic Circle is at 66.34 degrees latitude. So, with Svalbard being so deep beyond the Arctic Circle it will experience many days with no sunset. Kinda cool. Kinda strange.

Svalbard is just south of the North Pole near the 80th parallel.

Anyway, we boarded the National Geographic Resolution, a new ship equipped with icebreaking capability and luxury accommodations. First, however, we spent a little time with husky dogs, the ones who pull the dog sleds around here. The weather was an unusually balmy 43 degrees. Very fun.

The dogs are out sunning themselves on this beautiful summer day.

More to come as we embark on our search for polar bears, walruses, and arctic foxes. But first, we have to figure out how to go to sleep with the sun shining through our curtains all night long!

We have never been to any of the Scandinavian countries. We decided, by seeing other people’s photos, watching the show the “Bear” that featured Copenhagen, and knowing that we enjoy good food and wine, that Copenhagen was top on our list. My friend, Joan Stucka, sent me a book by Michael Booth about Scandinavia entitled “The Almost Nearly Perfect People” and it certainly had us intrigued. Denmark has been named the Happiest Place in the World. Oprah even came to visit and agreed that the Danes were surely the world’s happiest. We were ready to go to Copenhagen and share in some of this happiness for 72 hours.

Although the weighty job of judging world-beating happiness in just three days is impossible, I will say the city is extremely vibrant, young, clean, and just plain contagious. We arrived on a beautiful, warm sunny Sunday afternoon and the place was bursting with people enjoying the sunshine. The famous canals and waterways were packed full of boats. People were swimming and sunning themselves. Every café was filled to the brim along Nyhavn, a popular street full of colorful buildings and a variety of restaurants. Jet lag was no longer a possibility with all of this energy around us. We walked the famous shopping area, The Stroget and began to enjoy the vibrancy of Copenhagen.

Nyhaven Street. A historic area full of open air restaurants, colorful buildings, and old sailing vessels.

A beautiful day on the canals — pleasure craft on the water, cyclists on the bridge, and sunbathers on the shore.

In the following three days, we learned a lot about Copenhagen’s history through a wonderful Old Town city and food tour and a boat trip out on the canals and waterways. We took to the streets on our bikes and worked our way to the famed Little Mermaid statue (Copenhagen was the home of Hans Christian Anderson), and saw the current palace of the monarchy. We figured out the subway and train system and went out to the Lousiana Art Museum in Humlebaek (Thanks to our friend Shelley Freeman who gave us the recommendation). We ate lots of open-faced sandwiches (smorrebrod) and dined on outstanding Danish-inspired French Cuisine.

The famous Little Mermaid statue. Hans Cristian Andersen, who wrote the fairy tale, was from Copenhagen.

A sculpture from the Louisiana Art Museum about 30 miles north of Copenhagen. We could see Sweden across the strait.

An upscale, modern take on smorrebrod, the traditional open-faced sandwiches of Denmark. These featured herring, beets, and cheese foam. All were delicious.

A more traditional display of smorrebrod.

After pondering the question of happiness, talking to as many people as we could and reading Michael Booth’s book, here is what we came up with:

— The Danish people seem to be a very content group. The live in a society that values income equality. There are very few people at the top or at the bottom of the income spectrum. They have free quality education and health care and take good care of their senior citizens and their pre-schoolers.

— The Danes trust each other and their politicians. We were there during a run-up to an election and there must have been about ten different political groups represented. Apparently, they get together as a coalition and represent the wills of the people so there is little divisiveness between parties. They certainly are not envious of America’s current situation.

There were posters all over the city for the upcoming election to represent Denmark in the European Parliament.

— The Danes love their Royal Family. They feel that they are one of them and they are often seen in public (The King even sponsors – and runs in – a half marathon). Their children even go to public schools. The Danish Queen, Queen Margrethe abdicated her throne in January of 2024 to let her son Frederik become King; an act that astonished the people because she was so beloved. King Frederik is known to be a man of the people and even met his wife Mary at a bar in Australia rather than some arranged affair.

The Amalienborg Palace, the royal residence.

— The Danes pay a lot of money in taxes — up to 72%. That means they work until Thursday before they earn their own money. Amazingly, they seem to do it without complaining because it helps give them all a high standard of living. 90% of Danes can be considered middle class. And, no one can cheat and pay less on their taxes like in other countries.

— The Danes love their bicycles. The streets are full of hundreds of bikes at all times! 60% of Copenhagen people ride their bikes to and from work. There are a couple of reasons for that statistic. There are bike lanes everywhere so it makes cyclists safer on the roads. But most likely the main reason is that cars are taxed at 100% so owning a car is a very expensive proposition.

There are more bikes than cars on the road.

There are many of these contraptions out and about. Moms and Dads taking their kids along.

Entire parking lots of bikes were everywhere.

— Danes are very social and love being involved in clubs and groups of all kinds. We saw many running clubs while we were walking around the city. Apparently there are clubs for everyone and every interest. The saying is that a Dane will go to a party and within eight minutes figure out three degrees of separation with everyone at the gathering. Forget Kevin Bacon’s six degrees of separation. They only need three! Our boat tour was called a social sailing trip with the main objective of getting to know each other and share in experiences rather than simply hearing a lecture about history.

I think the answer is B but our captain says it’s C.

Our captain showing us the ski slope built into the recycling plant seen in the background.

— Recycling, electric cars, and environmental measures are very important to the Danes. We saw nearly as many electric cars as gas-powered ones and the government is very proactive when it comes to the environment. Their trains and subways are clean and efficient and a very popular way to commute.

— Sadly, they smoke a lot and they smoke at restaurants outdoors. Our one big complaint. Apparently the Danish tobacco industry has a grip on its population.

— Their language is impossible to translate for Americans but everyone speaks English so it is easy to get information. They have added three extra letters to their alphabet to make it even more confusing.

OK, we know what you’re thinking. But, this translates to “Your Speed.”

— If you are into Legos, the company started in Denmark in 1932. The word lego means, play well. They have the original Legoland about three hours out of the city! Our hotel had a replica in their lobby made completely out of Legos.

Copenhagen ended up on the very top of our list of favorite places to visit. The city is walkable and bikeable, the people are vibrant, and there are no safety concerns, and it is a culinary paradise. We loved our 72 hours in this beautiful country.