Denmark

We're just back from 10 days in Denmark, a place that is special to me since my family spent a month there the summer I turned 13 and another month the summer I turned 16. It's a place I wanted to share with my own kids, and I wanted to do it while old family friends would still be around to visit. In many ways, the country seemed the same as it ever was -- ever so tidy with beautiful flowers everywhere, friendly people, and half timbered cottages with thatched roofs by the dozen. We watched the changing of the guard at Amalienborg Palace and enjoyed the pantomime show at Tivoli Gardens, ate smørrebrød (open faced sandwiches on dense rye bread) and wienerbrød (what we Americans call Danish pastry), and visited Hans Christen Anderson's home in Odense. Plus we spent a lovely day catching up with friends.

The best part of the trip was the four days we spent biking on the island of Funen. My husband and I used to be avid bikers and it was great to once again experience the landscape that way. Plus the Danes have built the infrastructure to support biking both as a pastime and as transportation including dedicated lanes in the cities and trails in the countryside.

Although we'd done our best to get the kids ready for the trip, I had some trepidation about what we were in for. But they were troupers and hung in for three days at 50 kilometers each and one lighter day on the island of Ærø in the Baltic Sea. Denmark being a maritime climate, there was always the threat of rain and wind. But we actually had quite a bit of sunshine and only rode through one heavy downpour, never getting completely soaked.

Thus completes the travel portion of our summer; school starts in two weeks anyway. But it looks like we can look forward to more biking adventures in Europe.