DAY 1-2

“28 degrees, but feels like 21” was the weather report for today. Obviously Fahrenheit and apparently considered a “sunny day” here despite the overcast skies. That didn’t stop these intrepid travelers from getting on bikes and seeing the sights of Copenhagen…. From the very underwhelming, but super famous Little Mermaid statue to the biggest Christmas market at the center of the city, to the famous Nyhavn area. We even tried “The best glogg in Copenhagen” according to our guide and it was so strong we just about passed out from the alcohol fumes. But hey, it sure did warm us up and our guide had a good laugh at our expense! 🙂

We spent the remainder of the afternoon visiting the Rosenberg Castle, where we saw the Crown Jewels and where I especially enjoyed getting the royal guards to talk (yes, they were cold standing there…yes, they are allowed to talk unlike their British counterparts…they still had over an hour to go before changing of the guard (if he could have rolled his eyes, I’m convinced he would have) and they are 18.. lol)

It is now pitch black, at 4pm, and we are back at the hotel trying to defrost our frozen limbs before heading back out to visit the famous Tivoli Gardens which are apparently decked out for the holidays.

DAY 3-4

Did you know that in Denmark, Santa’s elves are present all year round (and watching your behavior) or that Danes celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve and do absolutely nothing but recover on Christmas Day or that the infamous Glogg (pronounced “Gluke”) is only sold in November and December? We learned all kinds of fun facts like this, as well as Danish traditions on our “Taste and Experience Danish Christmas” tour today.

One of the big traditions here are the Christmas Markets……chalet style huts are erected in large plazas selling mostly traditional holiday foods, drinks, and Christmas decorations. We’ve made it our mission to see all of them. Our favorite so far was at Kronborg Castle, 45 minutes by train out of Copenhagen. Cute stalls filled the central courtyard, while every room in the castle had vendors selling things…..even the dungeons were filled!

We spent this morning visiting Christiania, known as Freetown, which used to be a hippy commune and now is a place where if you walk down a specific street you are met by calls of “HashWeed!!!!” by all the men selling, you got it, hash and weed. Aside from some interesting murals, we found Christiania to be rundown and kind of depressing with graffiti covering every surface.

Overall, we have really liked Copenhagen and the Danish people. They live and breathe “hygge” (pronounced “hooguh”) which is a laid back, appreciate the small things in life attitude. The city is very walkable with beautiful, colorful buildings, lots of cobblestone pedestrian streets, and truly warm, friendly people.