These days CPH is packed with American and Italian tourists. They all talk about the same thing, our outrageous prices. The Metro is a thing of beauty and apparently not a thing to be ruined by anything as vulgar as signs, even the platform numbers are hidden in the floor at the far end of each platform. You might easily get lost, but you can at least appreciate the use of space and materials as you go in totally the wrong direction.
Haha! Aesthetics certainly seem to trump everything in Copenhagen, which I have to admire, however perversely! Glad you as a Copenhagen resident weren't offended by our candour, Kevin!
"At the next door table a chronically bored teenage girl pecks at her mobile and seemingly waits for the food on her plate to evaporate while her completely oblivious designer-kagoule-clad parents order dish after overpriced dish in an apparent attempt to fill the gaping void in their relationship with their eye-rolling daughter, consuming the contents of her plate too after she slips away silently to meet her date"
LOL, love it. I was in Denmark and around via a 6 month Europe backpacking 20 years ago, and even then found it way too sterile and comfortable. Norway is a bit different, as people seem to have the spirit of wild nature in them, which matches the landscape. Denmark though, ehhh..
Hygge is a new (and rather lovely) word to me. Sadly it doesn't make an appearance in Chambers so not likely to put in a crossword appearance any time soon!
I really enjoyed your description of this trip, Marco, and am also a self confessed avid people-watcher. It’s the best game in over priced restaurants. A bowl of moules frittes with a cool glass of white wine is my ultimate Scandi comfort food, even with that accompanying bill! But ooooofffff that cruise sounded more painful than the food bills haha. Our son just came back from a gastronomic tour of Copenhagen and he came back a month’s salary down but regretted nothing. The food pictures he posted on his social media said it all. He also loved the perfect design of the architecture and interiors there. Each to their own.
I love Marco's reference to the Bridge, underlining the different characteristics of the two countries, together with his sharp observation of the unhappy family with the teenage daughter. Difficult to escape the outrageous prices, which I remember well when I visited Stockholm in the 1980s for a friend's wedding. On a stag night before the wedding, I inexplicably found myself banned from every nightclub in the city. In retrospect, that was a blessing in disguise as a full night on the town would have bankrupted me.
Sounds like the Köttbullar were not a hit! 😂 I visited Copenhagen once - very pretty indeed but felt too cookie-cutter for our taste (though not as much as Sweden, we hear!).
They were all of a piece with the strangeness of our brief visit across the Øresund, Sabrina- mostly weird to encounter them outside an Ikea cafeteria! Copenhagen is too pretty for its own good but the Danes do know how to live, even if it's a bit too perfect!
You're very kind, Jeanine! The hinest truth is without that trip to meet our friends in Sweden we would have felt very differently about CPH. Sometimes it just takes a new perspective to make you see things in a different light
Love the writing and the final twist in the plot. Must get to Copenhagen soon.
These days CPH is packed with American and Italian tourists. They all talk about the same thing, our outrageous prices. The Metro is a thing of beauty and apparently not a thing to be ruined by anything as vulgar as signs, even the platform numbers are hidden in the floor at the far end of each platform. You might easily get lost, but you can at least appreciate the use of space and materials as you go in totally the wrong direction.
Haha! Aesthetics certainly seem to trump everything in Copenhagen, which I have to admire, however perversely! Glad you as a Copenhagen resident weren't offended by our candour, Kevin!
MUCHAS FOTOS
SCANDI BLANC GRACIAS
"At the next door table a chronically bored teenage girl pecks at her mobile and seemingly waits for the food on her plate to evaporate while her completely oblivious designer-kagoule-clad parents order dish after overpriced dish in an apparent attempt to fill the gaping void in their relationship with their eye-rolling daughter, consuming the contents of her plate too after she slips away silently to meet her date"
LOL, love it. I was in Denmark and around via a 6 month Europe backpacking 20 years ago, and even then found it way too sterile and comfortable. Norway is a bit different, as people seem to have the spirit of wild nature in them, which matches the landscape. Denmark though, ehhh..
Sounds an amazing experience.
Hygge is a new (and rather lovely) word to me. Sadly it doesn't make an appearance in Chambers so not likely to put in a crossword appearance any time soon!
Haha! Cryptic, surely?
It makes Danes happy initially hearing you expect to receive goods (5)
Love it!
I really enjoyed your description of this trip, Marco, and am also a self confessed avid people-watcher. It’s the best game in over priced restaurants. A bowl of moules frittes with a cool glass of white wine is my ultimate Scandi comfort food, even with that accompanying bill! But ooooofffff that cruise sounded more painful than the food bills haha. Our son just came back from a gastronomic tour of Copenhagen and he came back a month’s salary down but regretted nothing. The food pictures he posted on his social media said it all. He also loved the perfect design of the architecture and interiors there. Each to their own.
Thanks Lena. It took that trip across the bridge for us to realise how lovely it is in CPH
I love Marco's reference to the Bridge, underlining the different characteristics of the two countries, together with his sharp observation of the unhappy family with the teenage daughter. Difficult to escape the outrageous prices, which I remember well when I visited Stockholm in the 1980s for a friend's wedding. On a stag night before the wedding, I inexplicably found myself banned from every nightclub in the city. In retrospect, that was a blessing in disguise as a full night on the town would have bankrupted me.
Thank you, and what a divide it is, Bertie. Although these days Sweden is relatively inexpensive- at least in comparison to Denmark!
Sounds like the Köttbullar were not a hit! 😂 I visited Copenhagen once - very pretty indeed but felt too cookie-cutter for our taste (though not as much as Sweden, we hear!).
They were all of a piece with the strangeness of our brief visit across the Øresund, Sabrina- mostly weird to encounter them outside an Ikea cafeteria! Copenhagen is too pretty for its own good but the Danes do know how to live, even if it's a bit too perfect!
GRACIAS
Great juxtaposition between the two countries. Love your fly on the wall take, too. And the photos, lovely as always.
You're very kind, Jeanine! The hinest truth is without that trip to meet our friends in Sweden we would have felt very differently about CPH. Sometimes it just takes a new perspective to make you see things in a different light
Absolutely beautiful photos!...but, ooof, that cruise sounds awful!
Copenhagen is special, it’s a vibe . Thanks for sharing your experiences and perspectives
Glad you enjoyed it, Lakshmi! How would you describe the 'vibe' that is CPH?
To me it felt straight out of a Hans Christian Anderson’s book . Maybe that’s because we did a tour led by “him”
Haha! That'd do it, Lakshmi!
Thanks Jodi- the quality of the light in a Scandi June is so luminous it's hard to go wrong.
As for the cruise, it was gruesome and excruciating in equal measure!
Es un ciudad muy espectacular, Amalia!