Unfortunately, Grun didn't get back to me in time, so he's going to have to settle for a couple of digital shots of the Thor Heyerdahl museum, one of those eye-check boards at the rest stops along Norwegian motorways, and a Systembolaget store in Sweden. Just to give that last picture some perspective, I'm considering adding some footage of half-drunk Swedes (and possibly some Norwegian grandmothers) lugging crates of beer through Helsingør before boarding ferries back north.
As for Pierre, I spent a couple of months in and around Paris about three years ago and used most of that time to communicate with my Danish best-friend-at-the-time-who-happened-to-be-male-and-is-therefore-more-than-just-a-friend-now. As a result, there wasn't much time to look for a Pierre, especially because my Dane already had a French name. Besides, my own name could easily be translated as Pierrette and the alliteration would get on my nerves faster than even Grunherz could at his most irritating. (Disclaimer: most of the time, Grun's a pretty good guy. Just don't mention politics, World War II, psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, music, the Canadian border police, etc., in his presence and things will go quite smoothly.)
Edit: After a talk with Grun, it seemed prudent to add the following for the board's non-Scandinavians. I'd appreciate any changes/corrections from the Scandinavians, as I am only a humble Adriatic Slav toddling around the chilly expanses of northern Europe.
Thor Heyerdahl: Famous Norwegian explorer who proved through a series of voyages that ancient civilizations could have populated other far-away continents by traveling on boats of their own making, using available technology.
Eye-check boards at Norwegian rest stops: For reasons of public safety, Norway has installed by its roadways eye boards like those seen at your friendly local optometrist to test your vision, with equally friendly advice that if you can't read the letters on the largest line, you shouldn't be driving. Some countries prefer to take care of this before handing you your driver's license. Of course, some other countries (Denmark) have licenses that expire 50 years after being issued, meaning that citizens are constantly apologizing at foreign car-rental counters for not at all resembling the studs they were at 18 when the original license picture was taken.
Systembolaget: Government-owned stores in Sweden that are the only places you can purchase beverages with more than 3.5% alcohol content. They are open either 5 or 6 days a week (depending on the city) and close around 6 pm weekdays and 1 pm Saturdays (again, depending on the city). No alcohol purchases can be made after the stores are closed and all purchases at the store are recorded by the government. According to anecdotal data, the government has been known to call you up after a large purchase, concerned about your health.
Helsingør: As a result of the aforementioned Swedish restrictions on alcohol, southern Swedes tend to hop on ferries to Danish cities to buy beer. Helsingør, popularized by Shakespeare as Elsinore (the location of Hamlet's castle), is a common such destination for Swedes in pursuit of alcohol breath. Thus, it's not at all unusual to witness boatloads of Swedish refugees making tourists to northern Denmark believe that Sweden is an odd place indeed.
