I have had a fascination with the Nordic countries since I was very young, after hearing of them from my mother, who was an exchange student in the Småland region of Sweden back in 1985-86. After well over a decade of waiting, I was finally able to make the trip there in the month following my high-school graduation. And I immediately fell in love.

 

Scandinavia is a place of breathtaking beauty. It doesn't have the ancient, foundations-of-stone feel of Rome or Athens, but it has a strength all of its own. It is one of my favorite places in the world.