Scandinavia 2016 Summer

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Summer of 2016, our family made a trip to Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. In Denmark, our visit was mainly limited to Copenhagen, the capital city to which we flew in and Odense, the birth town of Christian Andersen. In Norway, we did the "Norway in nutshell" tour travelling from Oslo to Bergen and Flam. We experienced the fjords and mountains by travelling by flam railway and cruising fjords by boat. Natural beauty of Norway in unparalleled and Norwegians are the most kind and helpful people. In Bergen, we took funicular to Mount Fløyen and see all of Bergen from up top and the view didn't disappoint. Coming back to Oslo from Flam, we experienced something we never encountered before- not being able to secure a hotel room till mid night as hotels on route were all fully booked. We enjoyed Vigeland Park in Oslo very much. This is a large scale sculpture park dedicated to the work of the Norwegian sculpture depicting the cycle of life from birth to death. It was inspiring to tour the city hall where Nobel peace prize is awarded on December 10 (anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death) each year. Stockholm is a modern sprawling city with many attractions. I particularly enjoyed the visit to ABBA museum which brought back lots of memories from my childhood. We all enjoyed the Vasa museum where a ship that sunk in 1628, brought to the surface in 1961 and then reconstructed. Its size and beauty are beyond description and it is a must see in Stockholm. Trip to Finland was spontaneously planned. We found out about overnight cruising to Helsinki from Stockholm only few days before. The detour was hastily planned but beautifully executed thanks to our cruise ship company Tallink silja. Helsinki is a walk-able city which we enjoyed immensely in spite of overcast weather. The white neoclassical Helsinki Cathedral and Uspenski Cathedral were especially spectacular. Only disappointment was we weren't able to visit the Supercell headquarters without prior appointment. Coming back to Stockholm we visited City hall which is the venue of the Nobel Prize banquet held on 10th of December each year. The City Hall of Stockholm can only be visited with a guided tour and our guide took time to explain each and every significant architectural and artistic detail. Coming back to Copenhagen for our last leg of the trip, we visited the famous little mermaid sculpture displayed on a rock by the waterside at the Langelinie promenade in Copenhagen, Denmark. Then it was time to enjoy the oldest amusement park in Europe (second oldest in the world), Tivoli. It has different vibe to Disney, more charming and old school. The ballet performance of the Cinderella was amazing, the water/light show was quite pretty and all the little decorations/plantings around the park were exquisite. The visit was enjoyed by all topped off with a fabulous dinner at famous Wagamama restaurant within the park. Visit to Christian Andersen’s birth town Odense was next where we toured his birth home and museum learning more about the man and his fairy tales. Final visit was to Rosenborg castle in Copenhagen which houses a museum exhibiting the Royal Collections including King Christian IV’s crown, artifacts spanning a breadth of royal Danish culture, from the late 16th century of to the 19th century. This is a very brief description of one of our most enjoyable summer trips.

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