It seems as if the Danes have made a wise decision as to not invest billions into the US's Federal Debt fund. As a matter of fact, the Danes have no national debt of their own to worry about, thanks to the robust economy and the efficient Danish economic model!
EU passports are maroon, US passports are blue. There are probably a million bureaucratic reasons why, but it is also an efficient way to instantly spot a US citizen. I have noticed throughout my travels that in airports, people wait around in queues with their passports in hand. As if there weren't 589 other ways to identify Americans, this makes us easy to spot (stay tuned for the other 588 ways!)
Traffic engineers called on politicians Monday to scrap proposed plans for a 19 km link over the Femharn Belt and instead focus on a link that would drastically reduce travel time between the country's two largest cities, Copenhagen and Århus.
Denmark and Germany are in the midst of negotiations over a Fehmarn link and Hansen said that while he couldn't rule out the new proposal, the bridge to Germany took priority.
'The Fehmarn Bridge will connect Scandinavia with the rest of Europe,' he said, noting that a bridge would cut 155 km off a trip to Hamburg.
Hansen added that this was not the first time a bridge across the Kattegat waterway had been proposed, but that he would nevertheless ask the Infrastructure Commission, which is to look at Denmark's traffic infrastructure needs for the next three decades, to consider the plan.
Other MPs agreed that the time to build a Kattegat bridge was not now.
'It's very visionary,' said Kristian Pihl Lorentzen, traffic spokesperson for the PM's Liberal Party. 'But it is also a gigantic proposal that we're not ready to take up just yet.'
The opposition Social Democrats felt the proposal was worth looking into, but agreed that a Fehmarn bridge was still most important.
Traffic engineer Uffe Jacobsen said on Monday that up to five times as many cars would pass over a Kattegat link between Jutland and Zealand than a southern link. The distance between the two regions would also be reduced by about 150 km.
Currently, both stretches are directly linked by ferry service.
Apparently, St. Patrick didn't do much for Danes, because they had no idea what St. Patrick's Day was. One Danish guy commented, "is that the day people dye their beer green and drink the whole day?" Despite this being "Swede in America," I am also a little Irish, so it was a shame not to be able to celebrate this day. We did however make a bathtub full of glogg, so I learned a new tradition, be it related to St. Patrick or not.
Ghanese people lined the streets as hundreds of guard mounted white horses made their way down the streets, followed by golden chariots carrying England's Queen and the President of Ghana. So yes I was England and I didn't see the changing of the guard, but I think what we saw was much more memorable! I did however miss my chance to pose, Austin Powers style with a guard, as the square was closed for the celebrations.
Denmark  | Wisconsin  | |
| Climate | Temperate; humid and overcast; mild, windy winters and cool summers | Continental; cold, windy winters, humid mild summers |
| High Elevation | 567 feet | 1,951 feet |
| Low Elevation | 22 feet | 581 feet |
| Economy | Agriculture: Dairy, Cattle, Hogs Industry: machinery, food processing, paper products | Agriculture: Dairy, Cattle, Fish Industry: food processing, machinery and transportation equipment, electronics |
| Population | 5.4 million | 5.5 million |
| Date of Statehood | 1849 | 1848 |
| GDP (USD) | $256 billion | $300 billion |
I leave for Spain in about 20 hours, and I am unsure about my ability to blog while there, so this may be it for the weekend. Sixty-eight degrees, mostly sunny while I am in Madrid... finally some time with Mr. Sun! The list of places I plan to go:
