Copenhagen | The LITTLE Mermaid
Anna and I had the pleasure of meeting up with family during our most recent journey. Anna’s cousin Michaela has been living abroad for most of her adult life and recently settled in Copenhagen. Leading up to this trip, we had been tackling new cities twice a week, so we were excited to have seven full days with no agenda.
We explored the last seven (or so) cities on our own, so having a local tour guide who could tell us where to go and what to see was a game changer. In addition to Michaela, Signe, her roommate and Copenhagen native, was willing to share all the local secrets as well as the do’s and don’ts in Copenhagen. Like, definitely do get a cinnamon bun and definitely don’t ride the metro without a ticket (they call this crime riding—which only made us want to do it more).
The trip started with a tour of Carlsberg Brewery, which is a must-do if you are in town. Having spent the last five years in Richmond, where you can find ten breweries in a three-mile radius, I had initially thought another brewery tour would be a waste of time. What I learned and now appreciate is the legacy or history of a beer or brewery which cannot be reproduced, copied, or created.
We decided to go with a history tour, the Carlsberg Exbeerience, which provided a guide and a 30-minute stroll through the campus and brewing facilities. J.C. Jacobsen founded Carlsberg Brewery in 1811 naming it after his young son Carl who, as it turned out, would grow up to be his biggest rival rather than successor. After many years and a long story, Carl would start “The NEW Carlsberg Brewery” next door to his fathers. Each brewery had their share of ebbs and flows but eventually Carl’s brewery would win. Ironically, once J.C. passed, Carl donated his brewery to his father’s dwindling company under the stipulation that he become the CEO.
Carlsberg is no longer produced in the original location and rather than leaving the massive production facility in ruin, they are in the process of converting the entire plant and corporate offices to high-end condos and apartments. So, if we return to Copenhagen in a few years, we very well may be staying in Carlsberg, a brand new hub that’s a few metro stops away from the city center.
If you are thinking, “I just read three paragraphs on a brewery, we must be on to the next topic” you would be wrong.
I have to mention this last bit as a fair warning to our readers that may venture to Carlsberg. Carl was an avid art collector and philanthropist who spent and gave away so much money he was close to bankruptcy several times in his life. Part of the art that is still on display, to our surprise, include swastikas. At the brewery, swastikas were put up during the late 1800s and early 1900s, representing good luck and well-being, but were discontinued in the 1930s because of the designation with the Nazis. Most of the swastikas have been removed, except for three, two of which can be seen on elephants at the base of one of the towers. The sculpture of the elephants was completed in 1901 as a tribute to Carl’s children.
One more fact. In the 1930s, the Denmark military set up a secret war room in a storage room in the basement of the vast brewing facility. In this room, the military could track all foreign aerial operations and could scramble fighter jets in just one minute if they were in imminent danger. The room was actually in use until the late 2000s.
Ok enough about Carlsberg.
Copenhagen started as a Viking fishing village and overtime, after surviving multiple fires and a spurt or two of the plague, became an amazingly beautiful city with lots to see and do as long as you’re willing to hop on two wheels.
The bike scene in Copenhagen is hard to describe. Rather than big yellow school buses taking kids to school or traffic ridden streets from adults making the commute to work, people of all ages are on the road riding their bikes regardless of weather. School buildings are easy to identify because the sidewalk is littered with bikes. One would think that residents whose primary mode of transportation is a bike would splurge on their ride but that’s actually not the case. As bike theft is quite popular, the strategy for locals is to get a decent unattractive bike that gets you from A to B. (Ie. Michaela’s bike, Wendy, is a beautiful stale purple that no one is looking to ride.) For any future visitor, please note that walking in a bike lane is risky business that could result in injury.
Copenhagen is known for its creative and artistic scene. The city is also filled with museums and must-see attractions. In every country leading up to this trip, Anna and I have been averaging 25K steps a day, trying to fit every museum and notable landmark into our short visit. We decided to take a break in Copenhagen and only made it a to a few attractions, like The Little Mermaid and the Rundetaarn.
Anna and I both know and enjoyed the film The Little Mermaid, of course. What we didn’t know until our trip, is that it was originally written in 1836 by Hans Christian Andersen. Hans was a Danish author who lived in Copenhagen. He wrote many poems and fairy tales throughout his life, many of which did not get much recognition until years after they were published. Coming full circle, a statue depicting The Little Mermaid was commissioned in 1909 by Carl Jacobsen, as previously mentioned, the son of the founder of Carlsberg. (If you have a second, it is worth a quick Wikipedia search to see how much this statue has endured over the years (decapitation, explosives, limbs sawed off...).
Our photo albums are filled with shots that unfortunately do not capture the size, scale, or beauty of what we are actually seeing in real life. That has been true for everything leading up to the statue of The Little Mermaid. This piece of art is surrounded by a beautiful seaside landscape, a grassy hill shaped in a star (literally), and blooming cherry blossoms that capture the essence of spring. The only thing that was not worth a picture or the storage space on my phone was The Little Mermaid. Once you make it over to this nautical princess you can’t help to think, how does something so small captivate such a large audience?
The other landmark that we saw was actually very interesting. This rotunda-style castle was built to house early astronomical equipment for studying the galaxy. At the top you can find the oldest functioning observatory in Europe. Unlike all of the castles we visited previously, the only way to the top, is to walk a steep circular road. Common folklore (Michaela, Anna’s cousin) will tell you that the castle was built wide and with no steps so that the king during the time could ride his lazy ass up to the top. But the ever trustworthy Wikipedia advises it was engineered to allow a horse-drawn carriage up to the top so that the heavy equipment used for space exploration could easily be brought in and out. The floor below the observatory was at one time a massive library that included stacks of books that were also transported by horse and carriage. To her credit though, there is a notable story where Peter the Great ascended to the top on his horse with his wife in a carriage behind him.
Each neighborhood in Copenhagen has its own unique charm. One neighborhood in particular is definitely worth a visit. The area known as Christiania is an actual free town ruled by its inhabitants. It started in the early 70s and has sustained its independence from the state ever since. Christiania has about 1,000 residents (fun fact: one of them is singer/songwriter Lukas Graham), its own school system, parks, and restaurants. You can find great art, live music, and, of course, for those looking for extracurriculars, they are also readily available and on display. There are no photos allowed in Christiania, so aside from the few pics we quickly snapped, you will have to visit it on your own to get the full experience.
Residents currently living in town do not own their property and cannot pass their property down to their siblings. Once someone dies or leaves the area, the residents meet and vote on who will take the home and if new a new resident can be allowed in. Christiania has existed under special conditions for 40 years with constant conflicts and clashes between the local Christianites and the Danish state. Recently Christianites formed a foundation to take ownership of all of the land. To help pay for the property, they raised money by selling symbolic Christiania shares almost like a stock.
Outside of the free and open spirit of Christiania there is also a style of bike that is coveted in Copenhagen that was invented by one of the residents. You can see these bikes peppered into the masses as people ride by. They are easy to spot as they look like a bike with a wheelbarrow in front. The bikes are used to transport goods for deliveries and also function as a people mover as well. As an example, we saw adults dropping one or two kids off at school on their ride to work using the front cargo area as seats. We also saw adults moving adults.
The last thing I want to address is the food scene. Coming from the melting pot that is America, I love seeing and experiencing new food that I have not heard of or tried before. We have come across many open-faced sandwiches while abroad, but the Danish take it to another level with Smørrebrød. They have their own unique “bread” called rugbrød, and it’s pretty much all grains stuck together (it almost looks like couscous). If I had to compare it, I would say it’s most similar to Ezekiel bread, but that comparison does not do it justice. They put every type of topping you can think of on it—pickled fish, fried fish, egg salad, cheese, pâté, veggies—it’s like an art form. The grocery stores have an entire section of Smørrebrød toppings.
Denmark really emphasizes the meats food group, especially pork. We had dishes like crackling pork (complements of chef Michaela), where the top is so crispy you can peel it off and eat it like a pork-rinds. We also made another traditional dish called frikadella, which would be the Danish equivalent to a meatball, but they serve it with a delicious brown sauce, potatoes, and pickled beets. We got a liiiittle carried away and made about three dozen (one dozen traditional frikadella, and two dozen experimental recipes). The leftovers were used for Smørrebrød toppings. Adding to what seemed like a meat-only diet, the very next night we joined Signe and a few other friends for dinner at a new restaurant they wanted to try. To our surprise, the only thing on the menu was meatballs… of course!
We loved Copenhagen. Just like every other stop on our trip, seven days flew by. I would like to think we’ll be back in Copenhagen again—it was a clean city with beautiful seaside shops and restaurants, everyone was so friendly and speaks English so it wasn’t an issue communicating, and that (meat-heavy) food was excellent. Best of all, we have family there who was willing to give up their bed for the week and play host! Thank you (tak, or tuk ;)) Micheala and Signe for being so hospitable and showing us an amazing time!
Skal! (“Cheers” in Danish)
