Something to Declare

June 13 – 29, 2025

Welcome back to Something to Declare!

When we last left our travel blogger in December 2024 , he was recuperating from a sprained neck after a fall at the Airavadesvara Temple Durasuram in Kumbakonam, southern India. The bad news was that I had to leave the tour early and return to the U.S.

The good news is that my travel insurance company, Allianz, came through big time, reimbursing the unused portion of the trip, as well as additional travel expenses. This included the medical costs charged by Our Lady of Health Multispecialty Hospital in Thanjavur.  Fees for medical examination and treatment came to about 1,000 Indian Rupees (a little over 10 U.S. dollars, definitely not covered by Medicare). 

Happy to report that I am fully recovered and, on June 13, Stef and I are off to Scandinavia (N.B.: none of the pix below are mine).

The 15-day trip will take take us to Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Helsinki; while in Helsinki, we’re planning a day trip (by ferry) to Tallinn in Estonia:

Technically, “Scandinavia” refers to Denmark, Norway and Sweden.  Finland is actually a “Nordic” (not “Scandinavian”) country.  But most people consider all these “Northern Europe” countries to be Scandinavia, so we will too.  Estonia is a “Baltic” state, but what the hell……

As is our wont, we are renting Airbnbs for 5-day stretches, so we can  live like the locals and do a lot of cooking for ourselves, taking advantage of neighborhood outdoor markets.

Rest assured that there will be the usual amount of food porn, including Smørrebrød (Danish open-face sandwiches), Sill (herring) and Köttbullar (Swedish meatballs).

There will be day trips to take in the respective Old Towns, the architecture, art, design, and music scenes, including the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk (just outside Copenhagen); the ABBA Museum in Stockholm; and the Designmuseo in Helsinki.

Why did we choose Scandinavia, you may ask? 

Our travel guru, Rick Steves, put it so succinctly : “Denmark is cute.”   And the 2025 Happy City Index ranked Copenhagen “the happiest city.”  Rick holds that Sweden is “a public service announcement for good living,” and that “Finland holds its own among the Nordic capitals for its renewed waterfront, modernist architecture,  steamy saunas.”  Sounds refreshing, right?

Politically, Denmark and Sweden are constitutional monarchies, each with a democratically elected parliament and a prime minister; Finland and Estonia have democratically elected presidents. No headline-grabbing, narcissistic, wannabe autocrats in sight. Sounds refreshing, right? 

Finally, we are eager to see countries that played a crucial role in rescuing Jews during World War II. Neutral Sweden served as a haven for refugees, sheltering thousands of Danish and Norwegian Jews, along with others from across Europe.  Today, Scandinavia continues to be considered a welcoming place for Jews, with low rates of antisemitism and strong cultural values of religious tolerance.  Sounds refreshing, right?

Also worth noting:  We will be there for the Summer Solstice, when these countries enjoy upwards of 18 hours of daily sun.  Sunrise around 3:30 am, sunset around 10:00 pm, more time to play! 

Check your in-boxes for the first post, including your “Social” files. See you soon!

Or (as the case may be): Vi ses snart! Or Nähdään pian! Or Varsti näeme!