2023 World Happiness Report

This year's World Happiness Report is in and just like last year Europe continues to be the happiest place to be with Israel and New Zealand being the only non-European countries to crack the top 10.

Finland came in first place for the sixth year in row.  This year's top ten countries are the same as last year.

The five Nordic / Scandinavian countries all placed in the top seven with Finland #1, Denmark #2, Iceland #3, Sweden #6, and Norway #7.

The BeNeLux countries did well again too.  The Netherlands came in at #5, Luxembourg was #9, and Belgium was #17.

Czechland again was the highest ranked of the Visegrád countries.  Half of Central Europe placed in the top 20.

Switzerland #8, Austria #11, Germany #16, Czechland #18, Slovenia #22, Slovakia #29, Poland #39, and Hungary #51.

Czechland kept its #18 place from last year.  The USA moved up to #15 from #16.

This year Lithuania #20 cracked the top 20; bumping France from #20 to #21.

Here's a short CBS News video I found out on YouTube.

©CBS News

Given Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it's no wonder that neither country ranks as happy.  Russia came in at #70 and Ukraine ranked #92.

Я за Україну. Я за Україною. Слава Україні  Stojím za Ukrajinou!  I stand with Ukraine. 

2022 World Happiness Report

This year is the 10th anniversary of the World Happiness Report. by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network of the United Nations.  The report factors in things like gross domestic product per capita, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make choices, perceived corruption and social support from friends and family. 

For the fifth year in a row, Finland came in first place.

Scandinavia did well as usual with the five countries all placing in the top eight places.  Finland #1, Denmark #2, Iceland #3, Sweden #7 and Norway #8.

Switzerland placed #4.

The BeNeLux countries did well too with the Netherlands #5, Luxembourg #6, and Belgium #19.

Europe is the happiest region with the eight of the top ten spots.  The only non-European countries to crack the top ten are Israel #9 and New Zealand #10.

The USA placed #16 and Czechland placed #18.

Czechland continues to be the happiest of the Visegrád Four with Slovakia #35, Poland #48, and Hungary #51.

Last place goes to Afghanistan, behind Botswana, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, and Lebanon.

2021 Social Risk Index

Euler Hermes is an insurance company that in 2020 created the Social Risk Index.  This was to measure business climates across the globe, at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, during one of the worst recessions since WWII. 

There are 12 factors and each country gets a score from 1-100 for each of the 12, the scores are combined for an overall score.  The 12 factors that are evaluated include trends in real GDP per capita growth, labour force participation, income inequality, public social spending on education, health and social protection, political stability, government effectiveness, corruption perception, trust in government levels of vulnerable employment, imports as a percentage of GDP, currency depreciation, and fiscal revenue as a percentage of GDP.  

All of this boils down to ranking countries according to potential economic and political instability during rapid change.

Last year, the USA came in at #23 and Czechland ranked #28. This year, Czechia came in at #19, while the USA is at #35.  The reason that Czechia jumped up nine places was the countries response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the stability of the labour market here despite Covid. 

Scandinavia topped the rankings as the countries usually do when it comes to any type of social score.  Europe did well with 16 countries in the top 20, and 13 of them are EU member countries.  New Zealand was the top placed country outside of Europe.  Most advanced economies saw improvements from last year but the USA, France, Portugal, and Greece all saw large declines.

Here are the 2021 rankings...

1. Denmark
2. Norway
3. Sweden
4. Switzerland
5. Finland
6. New Zealand
7. Germany
8. Austria
9. Luxembourg
10. Iceland
11. Canada
12. Ireland
13. Japan
14. Australia
15. Netherlands
16. Estonia
17. France
18. Portugal
19. Czechia
20. Slovenia

26. Slovakia

35. USA

The five lowest rankings belong to #181 Zimbabwe, #182 Nigeria, #183 Afghanistan, #184 Sudan, and #185 Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Dinner For One

Dinner for One, or Der 90. Gerburtstag (The 90th Birthday), is a black-and-white television comedy sketch that was released in 1963.  It was adapted from a British stage skit that was performed by Freddie Frinton and May Warden.

It enjoys cult status in Germany and is shown every year for New Year's.  Since 1995, it is the most frequently repeated television programme in Germany ever.  It is also very popular in Austria and Switzerland, plus in Scandinavia - Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland.  Despite coming from the UK, it wasn't broadcast there until 2018.  

What's remarkable about the show is that despite it being broadcast in English, and without subtitles, it is still tremendously popular.  Even Germans who can't speak English will still usually be able to quote lines from the comedy in English. 

The basic premise is that Miss Sophie is celebrating her 90th birthday and, as in every other year, invited her four closest friends.  Unfortunately, she has outlived everyone so her butler, Mr. Winterbottom, gives a toast by proxy.  He gets tipsy and there's a bit of physical comedy.  All in good fun.

Here's a short Meet the Germans video that talks about this cult classic.

©DW Euromaxx

Here's the show which is out on YouTube.

Retro TV

Mariehamn, Åland Islands, Finland

On Friday night I caught a flight to Sweden, spent the night and caught the 7 am ferry to Mariehamn.  From Stockholm it was a 5,5 hour trip.  

Mariehamn is the capital of the Åland Islands.  In Finnish the town is called Maarianhamina but even though the islands belong to Finland, Swedish is the official language so everyone knows it as Mariehamn. 

It is home to 11.000 people which is about 40% of the entire islands population.  

The town was founded in 1861 and is named after the Russian empress Maria Alexandrova from when the territory was part of the Russian Empire.

It's a small town and you can check out everything in a day.  Still well worth a visit.

Södragatan is one of the town's oldest streets.  There are lots of colourful wooden houses dating back to the 19th century.

The Maritime Museum is dedicated to the story of the island's seafaring tradition. 

Pommer, built in 1903, is the world's only four-masted freight sailing ship that is still in its original condition.  It is a museum ship but unfortunately it was closed when I got there.

Tusenskönan, the Daisy Park, was opened in 1993.  The spot was originally designated to be a parking lot before the city made it a park.

The Sittkoff Galleria is the most popular shopping centre and meeting point in town.

St. Göran's Church is the town's main church.  It was consecrated in 1927.

Lagting is Åland's Parliament House.

The town hall was built in 1939.

The Mission Church is the town's oldest church building.  The building has been a church since 1897.

The municipal library was built in 1989.

The Åland Museum is the town's museum of history and ethnography.  The same building houses the art museum as well.

The Mariehamn Museum covers the design and history of the town.  Unfortunately it too was closed this time of year.

The Alandica Culture and Congress Centre is located at the eastern harbour.

Lilla Holmen is an island separated from the town by a narrow sea channel.  It's a nice area to go for a nature walk.  

29.2. Leap Year

After a full day in town I caught the midnight ferry to Helsinki.  Apparently the Åland Islands are not part of the EU customs zone which means that duty-free goods can be purchased on board.  It seems popular but everything still had super high Scandinavian prices.

The ferry to Helsinki was 10,5 hours.  I hadn't seen Tommi and Eiko since their wedding 3,5 years ago.  They have moved from Stockholm to Helsinki now and picked me up at the harbour.

We went for coffee and I got got to meet their son.  He is such a handsome little chap.  After a nice visit they dropped me off at the airport and I got home late Sunday night.

Åland Islands

At the end of the month I'm headed back to Scandinavia and this time I'll visit the Åland Islands.  I swear that I go to places that most people have never heard of.  

The Åland Islands lie halfway between Finland and Sweden.  It's an archipelago of almost 300 habitable islands.  Though only some 80 islands are inhabited.  There are also about 6200 skerries and rocks.  Just under 30.000 people live here with about 90% of the population all living on Fasta Åland.  The capital and largest city is Mariehamn.

Here's the story... 

From the late Middle Ages until 1809 Sweden and Finland were united.  Following the Treaty of Fredrikshamn of 1809, Finland and the Åland Islands were given to the Russian Empire.  After WWI when Finland gained independence, the islands wanted to become a part of Sweden but Finland wouldn't let them go.

In 1921, the League of Nations ruled that the islands would remain under Finland but as an autonomous territory.  The islands are neutral, people here can not be conscripted in to the Finish armed forces and no military troops or installations are allowed on the islands.  The islands have the right to maintain the Swedish language, their culture and local traditions.  Fun fact...this was the first international agreement that the League of Nations ever achieved.

In Finnish it's called Ahvenanmaan maakunta and in Swedish it's Landskapet Åland but Swedish is the only official language here.  So I'm going to a part of Finland where no one actually speaks Finnish.  They have their own parliament, flag, and police force.  The Åland Islands are even an associate member of the Nordic Council.  Since 1984 they've been issuing their own postage stamps so I'll be sure to send out some postcards while I'm there.

A Day in Copenhagen, Denmark

After our day trip to Lund on Friday, Natalie and I hoped on the train across the Øresund Bridge for a day in Copenhagen.  It's been seven years since my last visit to here and this was Nat's first time in Denmark.



We did a free city walking tour.  Our guide, Magnus, was very entertaining and it didn't feel like we had been going for three hours.  Highly recommended.

After covering most of the city's highlights we went exploring on our own.  Our first destination was to check out the Little Mermaid.


Thanks to Atlas Obscura we made our way one kilometre past the Little Mermaid to check out "The Genetically Modified Little Mermaid."

Nat spotted the Hey Captain canal tour boat and the next thing I knew we were exploring the city by boat with a glass of wine in hand.

It was a nice time and, again, highly recommended.



Then it was time for some nibbles.
We came upon a nice area by the water with some open faced sandwiches (and schnapps).  Not quite chlebíčky but very tasty.






And no visit to Copenhagen is complete without a walk through Christiana.