God bless those spending their only two weeks of vacation in Vegas every year, but I've never really understood the logic. For me, one of the biggest questions when considering any trip is "Have I been there or done that before?" Why sit for hours gazing on fruits, triple-bars, and lucky 7's, regardless of the free beer, while fallow sits the Great Wall, the mighty Amazon, the hallowed cathedrals, the Pyramids, the Serengeti, or even a secluded beach somewhere in the South Pacific or Thailand, book and mai tai in hand?

As much as I've enjoyed all my trips taken in the past, seldom will I return to a locale already visited (unless seeing family, friends, or have other specific purposes overseas), as this world is much too large and interesting a place for me to not want to explore every nook and cranny humanly, or shall I say financially, possible! And as much as I hate long airplane rides, I especially savor trips that string together three or four of them in a row, as that means you're gobbling-up vast distances with reckless abandon. Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and yes, Scandinavia - these are all areas so far removed from the islands that whether you travel East or West, you still cover roughly the same distances! Can't get any further than that! To and fro, Kumi and I gladly put up with about five days of flying in exchange for the pleasure of our latest particular journey, which saw us visiting three of the four countries in Scandinavia - Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, Finland excluded only because of time constraints.

And speaking of time constraints, I'd better move along quickly with the main order of today's business, Scandinavian foods. Can't say there was anything extraordinarily different from what we see right here at home, only, it wasn't as much a matter of what they do have, but what they don't have! I mean, you can't just peruse the Asian section at the grocery store and find a midnight snack of Cup Noodles, nor can you expect to order poke or sashimi with your beer, nor can you avoid the biggest local-bruddah foodie dilemma there is - no white rice to speak of! At least outside the minority of ethnically-themed restaurants, that is.

But even beyond being relegated to bread and potatoes alone for starch, there's another interesting culinary craving I found in Scandinavia that hit me almost as hard. At first, I couldn't quite put a handle on what the gaping puka in my stomach even was, but then, all of a sudden, and only after a good week or so, here was a sensation I'd never felt before in my entire life - I absolutely longed for something, anything, hot! Is that weird or what? Here in Asia-inspired Hawaii, especially, we don't bat an eye going day after day with Portuguese sausage and eggs for breakfast, a plate lunch at high noon, and steak for dinner - all hot foods (and all rice!). Try going a week or more with only cold or room temperature foods for two or more meals a day, and I promise, you'll be craving a hot bowl of pho, saimin, soup, or a freshly-made pot of white rice like you'll never know!

Though hot foods are standard for dinner, it is common for both breakfast and lunch meals to consist of the non-heated variety. Here's a few commonly-found items in Scandy, all cold except for a few sausages on the last shot:

Parma ham sandwich from the excellent Baker Hansen in Oslo, Norway
 

A various assortment of brined or picked vegetables and seafoods
from the Legoland Hotel buffet restaurant in Billund, Denmark
 

There are as many pickled herring varieties as there are ahi poke!
 

A typical Scandinavian breakfast from the Radisson Hotel buffet in Odense, Denmark

In short, what you'll find is lots and lots of cereals, breads, potatoes, cheese, cold cuts, fresh vegetables, sandwiches, and seafoods of all kinds, such as pickled herring (oh, boy, are there lots of varieties!), cured salmon, smoked mackerel, baked halibut, steamed mussels, shrimp, and other such similiar fare. Like I said, nothing we haven't really seen before, only, all are just extremely prominent here, is all. Over-all flavorings are relatively simple, almost to the point of being bland, especially in comparison to the much stronger and wider variety of tastes found in Hawaii. Instead of pungent sauces and marinades like shoyu, teriyaki, patis, hoisin, sweet chili, and oyster sauce, there's mostly butter, cream, vinegar, and, mostly, good ol' salt. On the plus side, however, whether they be vegetables, seafoods, or meats, they were usually fresh, cooked well, and presented with a good deal of quality.

Keep in mind that though we did experience a handful of relatively high-end meals, Kumi and I didn't have the opportunity of dining at the Alan Wong's and Mavro's of this particular part of the world. After all, while there are a few individual cities elsewhere considered more expensive, when it comes to entire countries, it doesn't get any pricier than Scandinavia, especially Norway. That being said, you can bet Kumi and I often partook of the cheapest meals we could find, including grocery store specials like entire loaves of bread with canned sardines, peanut butter, and tubes of pate-like fish spreads - all quite good, actually, and very common items for locals. But after you've had your fair share of truly indigenous meals, there is one particular type of economical street food I recommend more than any other:

Lamb and vegetable-filled shawarma from a street-side stop in Goteborg, Sweden

Shawarma is just one of many similiar but slightly varying dishes found in this part of the world, all of which share the common denominator of seasoned, grilled meats wrapped in some type of flatbread, usually with lettuce or other vegetables and a sauce also included inside. Most employ a giant rotating meat tower of lamb, of which thin cuts are incrementally sliced-off as it cooks, although other types of meat are readily found. Greeks may use the names gyros and pita, Turks will say doner kebab, and Indians, naan, but whether they be of Lebanese, Moroccan, Tunisian, Jewish, or Iranian origin, shawarma eateries are found everywhere and are a must when visiting Scandinavia. For us, there was no other type of cheap meal (US $4-$8) that could satisfy our island cravings for something hot, something filling, and something loaded with strong flavors!

Shawarma stops often include burgers, hotdogs, and fries as well, but who needs them when there's a mix of other exotic dishes like this samosa and plate of grilled kebabs, both absolutely delicious!

Deep-fried samosa from a Lebanese shawarma stop in Copenhagen, Denmark
 

Grilled kebabs, of chicken, beef, and lamb from the same eatery in Copenhagen, Denmark

As for pricier cuisine, all three countries we visited share no shortage of world-class cuisine, lemme tell ya! With local chefs like Terje Ness and Geir Skeie of Norway, Marcus Samuelsson and Erik Lallerstedt of Sweden, and Rene Redzepi and Adam Aamann of Denmark, to name a few, Scandinavia is well-represented on the world culinary map. Not that Kumi and I, however, had the luxury of visiting any one of these renowned chefs, as just one exquisite meal for two with drinks at any of these places could easily have been, quite literally, almost as much as my plane ticket! The relatively fancier meals we did get to experience, however, only on a much lower scale, are covered in the remainder of this page. Alongside, I'll also present a sneak-peek into a few trip highlights, one of the most memorable being a 4-day cruise aboard the Hurtigruten Line's MS Polarlys, a beautiful ship that sails in and out of the gorgeous array of fjords found in Norway.

Cruising Norway aboard the Hurtigruten Line's MS Polarlys

There's an interesting reason a cruise through the Norwegian coastline is world-renowned and so stunningly beautiful. The same turquoise-blue, bikini-friendly waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and Florida are the same waters that find their way up to Norway! 82 million cubic feet of warm ocean, forming a giant swath over 60 miles wide, flows past the country every minute, providing ice-free inlets ideal not only for human habitation, but also for many types of seabirds and some of the most productive fishing grounds in the world. Without this blessed Gulf Stream, the entire coast would be almost as brutally inhospitable as nearby Greenland or Iceland! Instead, however, the towering walls and sheer beauty of these fjords, some of which cut more than 100 miles inland, are now open and accessible year-round. According to Utopia, three of the top ten most beautiful fjords in the world are located right here in Norway, including the number one spot-holder, Geirangerfjord, shown here:

Geirangerfjord, mother of all fjords!

To give you an idea of just how expensive Norway is, we checked out an excellent restaurant smack-dab in the center of its capital, Oslo, called Brasserie 45. Though we paid a respectable $25-$35 for our main entrees, it was actually listed as a budget restaurant in city guides! Walking in, however, you'd never know it, as everything from the atmosphere to the service to the food itself was excellent. We were both impressed by Kumi's deer medallions, which were tender, juicy, and somewhat of a cross between lamb and beef:

Deer medallions smothered in mushroom gravy, w/sauteed potato from the excellent Brasserie 45 in Oslo, Norway

My dish was an assortment of tapas on one plate, and consisted of Swedish meatballs, fried scampi, filet of catfish, Spanish tortilla, baked potato with majo picon, ham and garlic mushrooms, bacon-wrapped dates, balsamico baked cherry tomatoes over toast, and a grilled paprika salad, all fantastic!

Tapas from Brasserie 45

Lying next to Norway is the country of Sweden, with its large, modern, chic, and very much bustling cities like Goteborg and Stockholm. As in most important cities of Europe and Scandinavia, there are large areas of town preserved and protected as historical sites. These often serve as some of the biggest tourist attractions here, with streets, buildings, and other structures dating back to medieval times! Next is a shot at one of the largest and best-preserved old cities in all of Europe, the island of Gamla Stan in Stockholm, which was easily the most beautiful we'd seen on our trip. Having had the pleasure of staying only steps away from this next shot, we spent an entire day exploring its miles of cobblestone streets, narrow corridors, and other hopelessly enchanting features.

Stockholm's beautiful and world-famous medieval section of town, Gamla Stan

One of the truly great and enjoyable traits found here in Scandinavia, and Europe in general, are the many sidewalk cafes lining just about any retail street. Whether for business, family meals, or pure play, good conversation and good company, along with a seemingly mandatory cup of either hot coffee or cold draft, is an essential part of daily life! Come around 4pm, it feels like the entire country is out paying tribute to these open-air shops, making them ideal for enjoying the local vibe and experiencing the true ambience and cultural richness of any city or town. Kumi and I did as the locals do often and well, this time after saying eenie-meenie-mynee-mo in Goteborg, with fried squid rings and local tap:

Squid rings in Goteborg, Sweden

Just up the street, we continued our restaurant-hopping ways at another sidewalk cafe called Brasserie Lipp, where a hot, steaming bowl of fresh mussels, which is something you'll find everywhere here, definitely hit the spot in the cool 50-something degree air. Inhaling both the aromas of fresh seafood and the buzz and electricity of the city, life truly couldn't get any better!

Mussels n frites at Brasserie Lipp in Goteborg, Sweden

Our final country, Denmark, sits below Norway and East of the bottom of Sweden, just above Germany. Oh, how I wanted to bicycle through some of the famously flat roads leading past windmills, green pastures, and Lilliputian towns, but time and logistics were indeed a problem. Instead, we took a few more conventional visits to spots like the Hans Christian Anderson Museum, Odense Train Museum, Legoland, and Tivoli Gardens, to name a few. Tivoli Gardens is one of the largest and oldest amusement parks in all of Europe, and is supposedly where Walt Disney received his inspiration before anyone knew who Walt Disney was! It's about US $18 to get in, but if you want a multi-ride pass, as Kumi and I did, it's an additional US $38! Attractions are similar to any other major theme park, with rides that'll make you scream, games, kiddie parks, processions, live entertainment, and other make-believe enchantments that'll make you forget the real world outside. If at all possible, however, you'll wanna be here at night, when the many pubs and restaurants are in stride and up to 2 million lights, depending on the time of year, are on full display!

Tivoli Gardens by night

Legoland was also a blast. Though we mostly chose a stay at the Legoland Hotel just because its geographical area made it a suitable stop, we surely didn't have any regrets afterwards. The rooms were large and comfortable, its restaurants and bars, very good, and the over-all family atmosphere, fun and relaxing. There was also free pool (billiards) right next to our room, where we spent a good part of our late-evening. But perhaps the coolest thing about Legoland was the many cities and towns represented from all over the world, all made from Lego and definitely not child's play anymore!

Legoland mini-town

In the city of Odense, home of Hans Christian Anderson, and close to the Hans Christian Museum, Hans Christian Park, and Hans Christian Dry Cleaners, we thoroughly enjoyed a fine-dining eatery named, what else, Hans Christian Restaurant! From what I've heard, it's one of the best restaurants in town but was surprisingly inexpensive for this part of the world. Before enjoying an aromatic French bouillabaisse of fresh local shellfish and a waiter-recommended lamb with onion/mushroom sauce, this skin-seared cod with mushroom risotto, red wine foam, and trout roe was absolutely dee-licious!

Seared cod from Hans Christian Restaurant in Odense, Denmark

After nearly three weeks and over 4,000 miles of Scandinavia by air, train, bus, and ship, we got as good a look at this set of countries as we possibly could in so short a time. It was all go-go-go from beginning to end, as we didn't schedule more than a single night in any one place except for the last few days, ensuring us very little rest and a busy, yet highly fulfilling journey. Like my chipper-young mom says, you don't go on vacation to sleep-in or stay in your room!

Sure, we did miss our white rice, soup noodles, chicken katsu w/mac, and hot foods thrice per day, but we didn't travel to the other side of the world to eat the same things we eat at home, and besides, exploration and experience always trumps the comforts of familiarity, yes?

Hey, hope you all enjoyed this very condensed look from beautiful Scandinavia, and hope you're all having a wonderful week! Make this weekend even better! I'll leave you with one last shot from the gorgeous town of Bergen, with its Hanseatic Villages dating back to the 16th century!

Hanseatic Village in Bergen, Norway

Aloha till next time!

Stan