Staying in the Danish capital - Copenhagen - in January, was experiencing Scandinavian style for what it really is. Go big or go home, right? It's idyllic snow scenes & hygge feel, makes it quite simply, a quiet, frosty & beautiful city.
The Union Kitchen
Where? Copenhagen, Denmark
When? 11th - 14th January 2019
Who with? My younger sister, Phoebs
Main highlight? The homey feel & sweet treats!
Main shock? P r i c e.
Grabbing last minute flights as a Christmas present in December 2018, to head for Copenhagen on the 11th Jan - didn't seem like a bad plan at all, so we went for it! We found a very luxurious bedroom on Airbnb for a good price, we shared the apartment with a young girl but we would never have known as she was rarely there & the bedroom/bathroom area was the perfect combination of vintage & modern that when we were at the apartment, we rarely had to go into the other rooms (we ate in the town most of the time). Saying that, she was a local & had some good recommendations for us - the perks of using Airbnb!
Our apartment was just off of Nyhavn harbour - where the beautifully iconic stretch of bright colourful houses are (a real life version of Balamory in a much more idyllic manner!), which was the perfect location to venture around the capital.
When we first arrived it was an adventure getting to the apartment in itself - we got on a self-driving train! It is a city of cleanliness, sleek ways & simplistic beauty & for us, the train was only the start. I had unfortunately been hit with the flu just in time for the trip, making the minus temperatures feel that little bit more chilly but it did not stop us enjoying a quiet trip away. From walking along one of Europe's longest pedestrian streets, Strøget, going in '& Other Stories', 'Stradivarius' & many other aesthetically pleasing Scandi stores to eating waffles on sticks & having dinner in rooftop bars full of heaters & fairy lights - a girly trip it certainly was! When you visit the shops in Copenhagen make sure to dip into the side roads where independent stores stock beautifully hand made candles, hats, gloves & everything you need for the snowy season.
My favourite thing here? The coffee shops. Filled with fresh cinnamon buns, steaming hot chocolate, fairy lights & candles lit all day every day. Let me tell you, when you have been out on a rainy canal trip, visiting Rosenborg Castle (worth the visit, as well as Christiansborg Palace!) or watching the guards change outside Amalienborg Palace then there is most certainly nowhere else you would rather go to warm up. A favourite of mine was 'the Union Kitchen' along Store Strandstraede just around the corner from where we were staying as well as 'Cafe Ermanno' just next door.
There is also a delicious food market not far from Nørreport Underground Station where we enjoyed a bowl of warm porridge topped with Apple, Almonds & Salted Caramel - the yummiest combination ever! It is safe to say that as much as Phoebs & I have a big big sweet tooth by the end of this trip, we were in desperate need of something savoury before we endured a serious sugar overload. Talking of food...our local 'supermarket' was the incredible department store Magasin Du Nord - so the Danish pastries we bought for our breakfast each morning were freshly delicious! That said...it was not cheap. People had warned that it was a pricey city & it certainly is a case of you pay for what you get, yet them cheap flights massively backfired when we started seeing the prices of a simple meal or when even a waffle on a stick even would add up to over £15! So as lovely as it is, make sure you take enough Danish Krone currency with you so that unlike us, on the last day you are not scraping by! Another hiccup for us was that the most iconic landmark of Copenhagen the Tivvoli Gardens were closed throughout January so we were unable to visit them - if you are planning a trip to Copenhagen for the Winter then booking it for February would be a good idea as that is when it may be the coldest but it is also most likely to have snow, & you will also be able to visit these gardens, which are seemingly beautiful (so we were told).
Overall, despite very few hours of light & the bitter cold, with multiple hot chocolates, laughs & many cosy layers later, I left feeling at home - thinking that I would happily move to live this version of a hygge life.
Magasin Du Nord