xx Denmark

Strange, fascinating lands beckon us, fittest revel in their exotic spenders. Come with us as we head for ports of call.

Northward across the cold blue waters of the North Sea, our majestic turbine steamer plows its way. Northward to a green and fertile land, a land of peace and plenty that stretches like a long tongue into the blue balding.

Denmark is our destination, a little country territorially, but with a mighty meaning, a proud and storied past. To think of Denmark is to think of the sea, for the Danes with their Viking ancestry have been going down to the sea in ships for more than a thousand years.

And the land itself, a long peninsula called Utlan, together with more than 500 islands, is essentially of the sea. It is to the largest of these Danish Isles, Ceylon, that our ship carries us. Here lies Copenhagen, which translated means merchant's harbor.

Truly, this is a fascinating port of call. Pour into its broad harbor, lined for miles with jutting wards, come each year, more than 23,000 vessels. And from the port of Copenhagen, Denmark sends daily its own merchantmen to North and South America, to Asia, Africa, and all the ports of Europe.

As we proceed to our hotel, we see the Copenhagen is the finest type of modern continental city, one of the loveliest and liveliest in Northern Europe, with widesbeats, spacious squares, canals, and waterways reaching inward from the glittering harbor, tall spires and gabled red-root houses, parks, museums, and a great then justly-famed university.

So this is where all the bicycles disappeared to. I always wondered. Did you ever see so many? Well, you're going to see me on one before we leave. I haven't ridden for ages. You certainly must be the cleanest streets in the world.