Copenhagen, Denmark

01 Jul 2019

This was a flying trip, but Denmark is certainly worth a mention in the blog. On account of the wedding and honeymoon which proceeded my trip to Copenhagen this was possibly the least researched piece of travel I’ve ever done. It turned out that research wasn’t really necessary, Copenhagen is a wonderful small city and is very easy to navigate.

Our office is located in Nyhavn which is essentially central Copenhagen, the trip from what felt like a rather small airport was completely painless, one metro ride straight downtown. Once in Nyhavn you find yourself in a location which feels a bit like a Nordic Amsterdam, everyone is riding bicycles, the cars are all German or Swedish, there are picturesque canals but a subtle Nordic design aesthetic which seeps into the architecture of buildings, shops and restaurants that just doesn’t seem to be present in Amsterdam. Certainly not a complaint, it was very pleasant indeed and I recall mentioning to my colleague that it’s like a ‘nice Amsterdam’ which I do stand-by.

The small cobbled harbour of Nyhavn feels a lot like it belongs in Bruges, with colourful cafes alongside wooden barges and moules frites and seafood on the menu of almost all outlets. Walking along the harbour to the end soon reminds you that you’re in a different city, with views opening up to ultra-modern architecture of an art museum and walkways allowing pedestrians and cyclists to cross the water. It was quite beautiful with much of the new constructions seemingly embracing the water and making it feel as one.

The trip was a breeze and frankly I can’t find many negatives except perhaps the availability of beer which isn’t Carlsberg - it seemed to be in every place we went, although I suppose that is to be expected. Somehow we didn’t visit a Mikkeller, although I did take a few days off drinking so it was probably a good thing! Conversely I did almost lose my mind when I discovered that you can buy bottled Carlsberg water in convenience stores, which I don’t think I’ve seen for any other beer brand anywhere in the world. Having spent some time thinking about it since I can’t decide if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. Would you buy Stella branded water? I’m not sure I would.