Copenhagen Bound, I knew there would be loads to see design-wise and various experiences to be had. I expected to gain an insight to Danish culture and return with a camera full of photographs and memories attached to them. That I did. I say this trip was semi-spontaneous because I had no plans of going until a friend invited me around the time of my birthday in January, after I had mentioned wanting to travel for my birthday.
I had some of my products taken away at the airport as they didn’t all fit in the plastic bag required for liquids. I should have known better and not brought as many things. Luckily Lidl was just a 5 minute walk away from where we were staying so I could replace my Shea butter and shower gel with lotion & soap pretty easily. I also needed lip balm so went to a local pharmacy or ‘apotek’ to get some. For 39kr. I picked up the Burt’s Bees Rejuvenating lip balm with Acai Berry. That however wasn’t my main concern, I felt the cashier was a little rude….
I shared about my odd customer service experience in the Apotek with a hostel staff member and he said it wasn’t anything personal towards me. He proceeded to tell about red light district and how the black women around the area ‘worked’ at night and the white women ‘worked’ during the day. I felt quite sad to hear this and helpless in that moment. A moment I was wishing not to be true! I still enjoyed my day, but on the walk back to the hotel around midnight I saw exactly what he was talking about. I couldn’t sleep until about 2am. Thoughts of situation of those women haunted me. This is something I won’t go into very much on this post so we can keep it lighthearted. But I will say, my heart broke for those women.
Without placing too much emphasis on harsh realities, Denmark was great and throughout the weekend, I met some super friendly Danes! We just happened to bump into a gentleman on the metro who offered to recommend places for us to see, assuming we were visitors by the presence of our luggage. He kept in touch via e-mail while there and it left a lasting impression on me. His openness reminded me that it is much more important to gather impressions of people personally, rather than from a stereotype. I kept this in mind for my entire stay. Though I didn’t get to capture every single interesting moment, I still managed to get enough footage for you to get a feel for what we got up to, along with a few random moments!
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I found myself keen to learn about Danish culture in that short space of time. So, for the sake of adding a subheading we can call this…..
“All about Denmark!”
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1) The Danes are big on atmosphere | You will be comfortable in just about any restaurant you eat at. There are often blankets on outdoor seating. Lighting is appropriately positioned and mostly well designed. We noticed doors of places being quite heavy to pull and this was because they wanted to keep the heat in. Warmth really does contribute to good atmosphere.
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(Meal at SimpleRAW, Copenhagen)
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2) Most people cycle to get around | This is the most common mode of transportation with 4 million bicycles and more than 10,000 kilometres of designated cycle tracks and routes.
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3) Some coffee shops may are like exclusive clubs | You may have to make reservations to eat at some places which appear to be average coffee shops you would expect to walk into without a second thought. You will also find that the prices of those coffee shops relatively high! But they do offer a nice variety and the portions are large.
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4) Sweets | Of course Denmark is famous for its pastries. You will find bakeries like Lagkagehuset everywhere. If you stay long enough you will also come to learn about their love of black liquorice!
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5) Design is everywhere | Even in the least expected places. We noticed this on the metro from the airport to the city centre. It accommodated cycles and the sliding doors had the most discrete control buttons.
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6) Fashion is very monochrome | You will see most people dressed in black, white, grey, and maybe the occasion pop of pastel or bright pop of colour. This is typical of Scandinavian fashion. All you need to fit in fashion-wise are a pair of ankle boots/converse, some black denim (ripped if you like), a tote or backpack & a VERY big scarf!
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7) Most Danish people speak English | And that they do well. I found myself questioning if some were even Danish. Their accents are very neutral & just as easy if not easier to understand than that of a Londoner.
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8) There aren’t very many black people in Denmark | Just by walking around you will notice black people are scarce. 90% of population are of Danish origin. The other 10% are mostly made up of Inuit, Turks, Arabs, Vietnamese, Jews, Chinese, Pakistanis, Iranians, Somalis, Ethiopians, Sudanese, Kurds, Indians, Chileans, Bosniaks, Albanians & Bangladeshis. (a few statistics I looked at after noticing the scarcity)
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9) Worlds happiest people | This is apparently true! They have a word for the feeling that gives you ‘warm fuzzies’ inside. ‘Hygge’ (Pronounced who-ga) means ‘cosiness’ in English is all about creating a warm atmosphere & enjoying the company of friends, family and the simple things in life.
Oh and I realise this is quite a long post..But believe it or not, there’s a lot I left out!
If you’re curious about this Scandinavian country, by all means visit for yourself.
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And if you want to earn & save yourself £15 the next time you book a hotel or hostel be sure to use this special link on Booking.com !
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