Today I’m selling Denmark and Sweden! Most people don’t think of these two countries when visiting Europe, but after spending a week in each this past month they are definitely worth a visit.
Meet ZaZa (pronounced ce-sa). She was born in Greenland and moved to Denmark when she was a teenager. She happens to be one of my co-workers siblings and is a very cool chick. We spent our first week with ZaZa as our tour guide, learning Danish and eating lots of pickled herring.
Denmark was a fabulous country, and I was surprised how much I loved it there because I had Sweden on my brain from the moment we booked the trip. Maybe it was the fact that we had our very own Danish tour guide who spoke the language and knew how to get around this hustling yet quiet city. Or maybe it’s just that they really do have a lot to offer as a country. I think one of my favorite things about the countries capital of Copenhagen was that most people were so laid back and friendly. Also everyone (and I mean everyone) rode a bike everywhere and anywhere. Bicyclist and buses even had their own traffic lane and their own traffic lights! 
We jammed our week packed full with medieval castles, churches and we ate some of the most amazing food. As an island fish is a huge part of their diet and I was in heaven. It was bitter sweet when we said goodbye and made our way to the next leg of the trip.
So then there was Sweden! I always knew I would visit this country because a little piece of my heritage stems from here. Although when researching the country and background where my great grandparents hailed from I never thought I would actually find living relatives. A little bit of research and some of my mormor’s cousins (whom she has never met) are still residing in the same little town in Southern Sweden. I love culture; and I love history; and the fact that we were standing on soil from my heritage is still pretty surreal at this moment.
My new found relatives made me feel like I had known them my whole life, and they were all as sweet as can be. I stayed with Bruno and Gunilla (Bruno is my mormor’s cousin), and I slept in a bed only a few hundred yards from where my great grandmother, her parents, and siblings lived. Gunilla made a special Swedish feast on Saturday, and I made sure to get all the recipes.
me with Bruno and Gunilla Eliasson
Our first night they took me on walk around the town, and we saw the school my great-great grandfather had built as well as the house he built in 1906. We saw the church where my great-grandmother was confirmed as a little girl and we even walked in the woods where my she and her siblings played as a child. There were several moments where I wished my American family was with me to experience something so special.
Unfortunately I only spent the weekend with them and then we were off to Stockholm where I also got to meet my mormor’s cousin, Thord, and we shared some conversation and coffee looking over the city. Again a very surreal moment. Also I cannot forget to mention while we were in Copenhagen we travelled to a small city in Sweden, Malmö, where we hung out with more of my Swedish relatives!
I’m not really sure how to sum up the love and engery that was felt during the most amazing weeks in my life in a few paragraphs on a blog. Some of the pictures don’t even do it justice, but the memory will surely be imprinted for a long time. I can’t wait to return to these two beautiful countries (with my American family in tow of course).
the whole gang in Jämjö, Sweden 2011
One Response
June 11th, 2011 at 9:40 am
Liss, I’m so glad you were able to have this incredible experience. And I can’t wait to hear more about it and see all of your photos!
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