The story of Crown Princess Mary captured the Australian imagination, including mine. A young professional from Tasmania, she met Prince Frederick while he was visiting the Sydney 2000 Olympics. When they first met, she had no idea he was a prince, and they spent the evening talking and connecting. They started dating, and then he asked her to marry him, to become his princess and one day Denmark’s queen. She accepted, surrendered her Australian citizenship, learnt Danish, and became on of its most beloved royals.

Adrian claims that I would give up our life for the chance to be a princess of one of these European countries, and I must say I might be tempted if it were Denmark. We had a five hour stop-over between Seattle and Brussels, which was enough time to spend two hours walking through the streets of Copenhagen.

It was a beautiful day in a stunning city. We strolled past the colourful houses lining the canals, noting the house in which Hans Christian Anderson once lived. The park was lush and full of people napping, sunbaking, or picncing. Crime is so low here that people not only leave dozens of bicycles unattended, they often leave their babies- in huge raised cribs – outside the store while they pop in. We were able to see Princess Mary’s palace, although sadly she was not in, as she is visiting family in Hobart this week.

Then back on the train and then the plane, and now we are in Ghent, a fairy tale city of tall towers, ornate buildings, and flowing canals.