Wonderful Copenhagen part I

I can say with confidence I understand why Denmark is among the happiest countries in the world.

We were supposed to visit Denmark and Croatia on our honeymoon in May 2020. That obviously got kiboshed by the pandemic, but luckily, we were able to cancel our bookings without any issues. As a result, we had vouchers for Icelandair burning a hole in our pockets for the better part of two and a half years. This year, we decided it was safe enough to travel again, and we jetted off to Scandanavia for 10 glorious days.

My husband and I often joke that we are old souls. Our idea of a vacation is 1-2 activities per day — usually some kind of museum or landmark, and dinner no later than 6 p.m. You’ll find us reading in bed around 9.

I learned a lot about Denmark and its culture from the book The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell, wherein a British journalist emigrates to Denmark when her husband gets his dream job at the Lego HQ on a one-year contract. She spends her time there researching why Danes are so happy by exploring societal norms and traditions. The book came out in 2015, and Russell and her family are still in Denmark today. It’s an endlessly fascinating read, and it made me all the more eager to visit the small coastal nation.

Much like Russell, we went into this vacation assuming this would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, not knowing whether we’d be able to or interested in returning to Copenhagen. It didn’t take long for us to fall in love with it, though, and we can easily see ourselves coming back.

To save on expenses, we rented a studio apartment in Amager East — a beachy residential neighbourhood on the east side of Copenhagen. Being in a far more “lived in” area than the touristy districts in the heart of the city made it feel like we too were living the Danish way, and we bore witness to a lot of local traditions.

For example, we noticed dozens of teenagers sporting white sailor hats throughout our visit. Turns out, it’s roughly the equivalent of a graduation cap, donned by upper-secondary students once they complete their final exams. At first, we mostly saw the becapped youths milling about on the metro or out with their families. Then as the days went on, the celebrations became more raucous. Military vehicles pumped music through the streets while drunk teens sang and danced from the truck beds as they traveled one by one to each classmate’s house for a drink.

June 23^rd was St. John’s Eve, Denmark’s midsummer celebration. There were events all over, and it was the perfect day for it — a toasty 23 degrees, but it felt even warmer from the reflection of the sea. Families gathered at the beach near our apartment to lay in the grass, swim, watch live entertainment, and light a bonfire. The event in our neighbourhood also doubled as a Pride celebration as it’s the anniversary of LGBTQ+ Denmark’s founding. It’s simultaneously vibrant and subdued, we didn’t even know what was happening until we happened to see the beach was a bit busier than usual when we popped around the corner to pick up ice cream.

We made our way down to the beach ourselves to check it out briefly, and it was so serene; families and couples setting up blankets, patio dining, a small stage with a musical act, and a smoking pyre ready for sunset. Of course, even the biggest parties end at a reasonable hour in Denmark.

Besides its happiness, Denmark is also widely known for the concept of hygge. Hygge, pronounced like ‘hoo-guh,’ is a Danish and Norwegian word that roughly translates to cozy in English. It’s a huge cornerstone of their culture, where candles, delicious food, and comfy hand-knit sweaters reign supreme. And considering this blog is primarily about knitting, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how ubiquitous the fibre arts are in Denmark.

I met so many folks wearing handmade knits, and yarn was incredibly easy to find. Back home, a boutique touting “handmade goods” will usually include jewelry and quirky housewares — but in Scandinavia, you’ll also find a wall of handmade yarn in such a place. There’s an abundance of gorgeous standalone yarn shops as well, so I ended up with quite a haul after dragging my very patient husband into every yarn store I came across.

There’s so much still to say about Denmark and our vacation that I can’t possibly fit it all into one post, so stay tuned for another installment of our exploration of wonderful Copenhagen!