When
- March 2012 for a weekend
- December 2012 for a week
- April 2013 for a long weekend
Places
Copenhagen
- Another city I could live in..
- We got shown around by our cousin who was like our own personal tour guide. He took us to numerous places such as: the Little Mermaid statue (a lot smaller than you think it would be), the Town Hall Square, the pedestrian area full of shops and street performers (called Strøget and also Købmagergade), the royal quarters (with guards out the front), up the round tower for a cool view of the city, the royal horse stables, the industrial area, the old torpedo sheds which are now built into apartments and had a play with our younger cousins at the playground outside the Carlsberg Factory;
- The Christiania area is really cool and very interesting, otherwise known as the ‘Freetown’ (Christiania is the land of the settlers) – it’s called the ‘green light’ district and is full of gypsys, they also sell a lot of weed here and have underground ‘secret’ tunnels to escape if the police come.. No photographs are allowed here but you can go through and jump on your bike and ride along the water;
- The main pedestrian/shopping street of Strøget is cool to stroll down;
- We checked out Noma, voted the best restaurant in the world numerous times – from the outside only..
- We went to similar sites once again on the bikes when I returned with my Aunties in 2013;
- The Torvehallerne food markets are one of my favourites and has some great food choices, especially the Danish cuisine – grab a take away picnic and sit in a park to eat the food;
- You will not believe the amount of bikes there are here – especially the area where they are parked (near the Torvehallerne food markets)
Värde
- I was lucky enough to spend Christmas with the cousins here and they took me over to their family home in Värde for the Christmas celebrations;
- Even better that there was a big snow storm so we had a white Christmas which of course included many snowball fights and snowman building;
- We also went for a few walks in the pine tree forests, on the family farm to see the horses and around the town of Värde.;
- On one of our walks around the town we came across a tree with dummies hanging all over it – apparently where the mothers take their children to tie their dummies too once they don’t need them anymore.
Blåvand
- We went to my cousin’s holiday home in Blåvand (the most westerly point of Denmark) and the houses were all hidden away amongst the sand dunes and designed so that they blend in to the landscape;
- Blåvand was beautiful and we spent the days eating, drinking Akvavit (snaps) and rugging up to go for many walks around the sand dunes and along the coast;
- Blåvand is also home to many German bunkers and it was cool to walk through and check them out (there is a notice to watch out for land mines here too!!).
Accommodation
- Copenhagen – each time I went I stayed with family in the Frederiksberg area which was very handy
- Värde – I stayed with family at their house
- Blåvand – again at the family holiday home amongst the sand dunes
Language
- Danish but English is widely spoken and you will not have any issues.
- Hello: Hej
- Thank you: Tak
- Good bye: Hej hej
- Yes / No: Ja/nej
Visa
- Visa not required for Australians for a stay of up to 90 days
Money
- Danish Krone (5.48 DKK = $1 USD)
Food
- Smørrebrød (open sandwiches) rye bread topped with various toppings including: salted beef, curried egg, pickled herring, shrimp, sautéed mushrooms, remoulade (pickled mayonnaise) – soo many toppings to try and all so delicious
- Breakfast includes Danish pastries and rolls, especially croissants
- Danish ice cream
- Roast Duck for Christmas and dessert is Risalamande (ride pudding with whipped cream, vanilla, chopped almonds and hot cherry sauce) typically served on Christmas Eve (Danish tradition: there is a whole almond in the bowl of the pudding and the one who finds it wins)
- Lots of hot dog vans around the city
- Akvavit – Snaps with all meals especially during the festive season with each and every meal – definitely warms the insides up!!
Tips and tricks
- They leave their babies in their prams outside in the backyards and out the front of cafes (to ‘acclimatise’ to the cold)!! Incredible amount of trust here and everyone does it!!
- Christmas Day is traditionally celebrated on Christmas Eve with dancing around the Christmas tree singing about The Yule-Man (Julemanden) and dancing around the Christmas tree before the opening of the presents..
- Sweden is only a short 20 minutes train ride away so on one of my free days I caught the train across and had the afternoon in Malmo (Sweden), too easy. A lot of people live in each country and travel for work including my little cousin going for a sleep over at a friends in Sweden!
- As Denmark is another Scandinavian country – it is not cheap.
Denmark blog posts
