Dutch or Danish?

From my American-centric perspective, the Dutch and the Danish are easily confused (hey, it's not my fault they sound alike). But as soon as we stepped off the plane in Copenhagen (literally, in the airport), I realized there were significant - if often subtle - differences between the Dutch and the Danish aesthetic and way of life. Which prompted the immediate question (as any good American would ask): which is better?

Traditional sweets: Jeff loves his hot n' fresh stroopwaffel, but I love real "Danish", with raspberry jam. Mmmm. Point: Danish.

Design: As Jeff pointed out, the problem here is that the Dutch are too practical (by which I mean cheap) to invest in the best of Nordic-style design. We love the Dutch frugality, but I also loved the Copenhagen department stores full of beautiful Danish housewares. (Can I register for a wedding in Denmark?) Point: Danish.

Hot spiced wine: The Danish glogg is omnipresent - sold in every restaurant, on every street corner, and at every church bazaar. The gluhwein available in the Netherlands just doesn't have the same punch (and also lacks the almonds and raisins). Point: Danish.

Money: I was annoyed to find that Denmark does not use the Euro. But the kroner is not all that bad. For one thing, it's called "kroner," which sounds friendly. For another, the kroner coins have hearts on them, which is super-friendly. Furthermore, I like any coins that have holes, which makes for instant jewelry. Point: Danish, for friendliness.

Street food: Raw herring or hot dogs served with glogg? Point: Danish.

Language: Neither are pronounceable (for Americans at least) and neither have much re-use potential outside of traveling to Suriname or Greenland, respectively. But Dutch is becoming comfortably familiar, and it also has funnier sounding words. Point: Dutch.

Snow: When it snows, the Dutch are like Portlanders and the Danish are like Bostonians. It snowed most of the time we were in Copenhagen, which translated into a lot of little kids in full body snow suits, sledding down park slopes. Meanwhile, the trains in the Hague stopped running. Point: Danish.

Public transit: Despite the recent inability of the Dutch train system to operate between the Hague and the Amsterdam airport, I really appreciate the coverage and convenience of the Dutch public transit system. The much-hyped Copenhagen metro, meanwhile, does not really go anywhere and also smells like spilled beer. And while kids love the fact that the trains have no drivers, I am merely reminded of how computers caused the deadly Red Line crash in DC last year. Point: Dutch.

I could go on, but I've already lost count. It doesn't really matter, though, because the Danish had me at glogg. Game, set, match.