Copenhagen

Denmark

I was thinking how should I start writing about Copenhagen…København- kaupmann (“merchant”) and hǫfn (“harbor”).

It was 2013 when my mother and I went to visit her old school friend from Sarajevo. We went to see Narcisa Vucina and her family. Narcisa lived and established herself in Denmark since many decades ago, long before Yugoslavia fell apart. She worked as a journalist at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. Now she is a dedicated poet and a writer. Her husband is also a retired journalist, a splendid, knowledgeable man without whom we couldn’t possibly enjoy as we did. Discovering Copenhagen through the words of Klauss was more than amazing and therefore I still feel the most sincere gratitude.

Since I’m a nature and animal lover, we will start uncovering Denmark with the Frilandsmuseet kongevejen lyngby, or in English- The Open Air Museum in Kongens Lyngby village.

The houses, farms and mills at the Open Air Museum tell the story of everyday life and traditions in Denmark, Skåne and the Faroe Islands. This fairy tale open village showcases houses that are more than 350 years old.

https://frilandsmuseet.dk/en

On their website you can check the opening hours during all seasons and the entry cost. Have in mind that children here are still considered up until 18 years old and for them the entrance is free. Not like in other parts of the world where even even toddlers are charged to enter.
And yes, it’s more than perfect for children to enjoy seeing old, cozy, beautiful farm houses, pet the rabbits and see wonderful horses.

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Tivoli Gardens is a lovely and lively amusement park and just imagine spending following Christmas here…Opened since summer 1843, it is designed in a real danish way following all the modern usual rides that amusement parks all around the world have to offer. So it’s not only about roller coasters, but it’s also about history, gardens in which gentlemen courted the ladies since long time ago. It’s about beautiful, charming corners of old architecture, music, theatre and ballet programmes.

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Copenhagen botanical garden invites you to immerse in the world of plants comming from all parts of the world.

Generally all Copenhagen gardens are such a wonder, designed by nature loving, experienced landscaping architects.
All city parks are big, lush, sustainable, natural looking, without sharp edges and constant interfearance of modeling machines and their annoying, horrific sounds (like in Dubai). Instead of constant shaping, cutting, molesting the plants, Copenhagen parks are following a gentle and romantic approach I would say because here the leader is nature itself and form is followed by the nature. Uncut grass, let to bloom and grow is not seen as something threatening, but something to enjoy your everyday life with. And not everything has to be put in a rectangle, right?

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Next to the Copenhagen Zoo is a huge Frederiksberg Have park that looks like a meadow with rivers and lakes. It’s one of the most attractive parks I have ever, ever seen. It is built during the king Frederik VI and is sprinkled with small rivers (canals, but I will not use that word) easily crossed by wooden bridges, so sweet, romantic, like a love poem. You can imagine Monet looking right at his next painting in pastel colors from the shore. And it is a lady with a white little parasol looking thoughtfully into the stream.
The park is a real horticultural experience where many new landscapers got the inspiration from. The gradual elevation of plants from low to high forms a beautiful scene, especially if spring bulbous plants with small and large bluish and lilac spherical inflorescences are included. I believe every season is a story and emotion for itself, but when spring bulbs start to bloom in various perfectly composed communities, they truly give off the impression of birth, of rebirth, as if we encounter our own new emotions through a new, fresh landscape.
Since an elephant section was later added to the zoo, which is located next to this huge park, you can see them beautifully, almost up close, from the park itself. They intentionally didn’t put up a high wall, but instead built a regular fence so that everyone could see them.

You see how this composition is so romantic, so gentle and pure

Those spring and from the beginning of summer flowers….

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There’s a lot of modern architecture too. I’m not a fan of modern, but at one point in recent history that kind of construction was really in full swing. I think we may now even consider it as an “old-modern” Scandinavian architecture. One of those is Students’ Residence in Copenhagen called Tietgen Residence and Black Diamond Royal Library.

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Now let’s move to the North and see how magnificent the town of Helsingør and the Kronborg (Hamlet’s) castle are. Even the car ride to the North is truly leaving you speachless. The light through the navy blue northen sky makes the houses, tall coastal yellowish grass (coastal water reed), rocks, trees…look different, like you are on a different planet. Many of the houses have an amazing old roof made with water reed. They call it – the thached roof. The north summer houses are a blend of nordic minimalism and rustic tradition which is just perfect! A well-maintained thatched roof can last around 40 years in this cold and windy climate.

So many castles in the northen Denmark, but apart from the Hamlet’s we can mention the Rosenborg castle. It is built in 1606 during Christian IV and is a part of the museum district Parkmuseerne. A purchased ticket to Parkmuseerne gives you access to all six great museums in one ticket.

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I like how these smart people don’t get rid of their old furniture so easily. The old is not easily replaced and thrown away like it’s garbage. They treat it with nostalgia, with warmth and soul, because it’s a heritage, it’s a real wooden art. Here, on the other side of the world everything is replaced with the cheaply made (it is not cheap, right…) furniture…if it can be called furniture in the first place.