Because Debra and I like to be home in Connecticut for our summers, we haven’t been able to see much of the northern part of the Northern Hemisphere.  So we’ve been giving up a month of our summer to try to remedy that.  Last year we did Greenland and part of Canada, this year, after St. Petersburg, Russia, we did Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.  We invited 16 year-old granddaughter Emma to join us.

She was a trouper, joining us for all the museums and tours (even if they were before noon), trying all the new foods (and some massive ice cream sundaes). But to make sure Emma thought of us as young and cool, we signed up for all the fun stuff we could find – roof walk, hi speed boats, white-water rafting, etc.

The weather was not always great, but of the 6 stops we made, we all enjoyed Stockholm, Sweden the best.  A great Old Town, interesting museums and parks, lots to see and do.  My brother Jim and wife Cathy were also along, so I didn’t get to take as many photographs, videos, or history lessons as usual – but it was a great couple of weeks.

Never-the-less, I offer two interesting factoids for your lesson of the day:

I knew that the Scandinavian countries are noted for their very generous social programs, but I was still surprised by Sweden’s family leave policies.  Parents can SHARE 480 days off with 80% pay (up to a limit) any time for the child’s first EIGHT years – PER Child!  That’s a lot of Little League Baseball games. 

The Nobel Prizes are funded by a trust set up by inventor and chemist Alfred Nobel who is best known for inventing dynamite!  Dynamite – Peace Prize, I found that a funny combo.  Actually, he developed it in response to the extreme danger of making and working with Nitroglycerin, a noble cause (ouch).

Copenhagen, Denmark

Rib boat tour, Stockholm

Emma, Dave, Debra, Jim, Cathy

Rooftop walk

Stockholm Old Town

I did make a video of some of our fun outings with Emma, but she also made one that’s way more fun.  Compare and contrast below, and tell me if I should hire her full-time.  Um, no – skip that.

My version (5 minutes):

Emma’s hip version (1 minute!):