Copenhagen at Christmas 2004

COPENHAGEN, DK. 26-29 December 2004

A post-Christmas trip, a quick blitz in Danish lands, staying in Copenhagen and visiting Kronborg Castle at Helsingør, the one from Shakespeare's Hamlet, to be clear. There were five of us: father, mother, children, a girlfriend. We stayed at the Hotel FIRST VESTERBRO, an excellent 4-star, brand new and very close to the Central Station and Tivoli park. We recommend it to everyone. Convenient for 'out of town' trips by train and only a five-minute walk from the 'Strøget', the longest pedestrian shopping street in Europe! The hotel has Wi-Fi internet access in every room, all the various gadgets of a proper 4-star, an Office area – with free access – equipped with printer, scanner, free internet (for those who can't connect from their room or are without a laptop) etc.

Very rich breakfast at only 12 euros per person, but above all, if you make do – and we think many will – the possibility of a mini breakfast with milk, coffee, chocolate and croissants 'free' in the reception area of the hotel. Newspapers included: many Danish and a few English. There's no lack of the Financial Times for the managers and the big spenders. A lexical/linguistic aside: the Danish alphabet (like the Scandinavian one in general) is rich in letters not present in ours. Characteristic are the 'o' with a bar, the A with a dot on top. In these notes for technical reasons we'll write 'oe' whenever we come across the barred 'o'. The Danish language, with its difficult, guttural pronunciation, all in all isn't as hard as it seems: many words – knowing a bit of German and English – can be easily deciphered after an hour or so of getting used to it.

We refer you to the various paper and online guides for everything concerning tourism and geography of the area visited (the Danish tourism website is more than good and thorough, easily found with any search engine), recalling here only the main and classic, unavoidable appointments: the Little Mermaid (a disappointment, as I imagined), Amalienborg and the changing of the guard at 12.00 sharp every morning (Buckingham Palace is quite another thing!), Rosenborg Castle and park – in the city centre –, Nyhavn – the new harbour, the one with the canal and the multicoloured houses, lovely –, some churches beautiful outside and obviously bare inside, the hippie district of Christiania (on the little island opposite, but beware, a slightly risky area), the Stock Exchange and the Royal Theatre, the Grand Hotel etc.

On returning to Italy, some friends immediately said to us: 'What a beautiful Copenhagen at Christmas, what a typical Scandinavian-Christmas atmosphere!'. Dear friends, you'll be disappointed! Nothing of the sort. Copenhagen is a very fine capital, fascinating and elegant, in winter always wrapped in the typical 'ghost ship' mist, not a metropolis, on a human scale, acceptable car traffic, plenty of bikes of course, impeccable Scandinavian precision in managing public utilities, but Christmas atmosphere almost 'zero'. Just think that on the morning of 26 December the municipal workers ceremoniously sawed down the huge decorated pine in the town hall square, and by the 27th they were already removing the lights in the centre!!! An example: Tivoli park – a city emblem, remember – is closed from 23 December to the end of March. Always, every year. So we saw it from outside.

The Danish Christmas – in the sense we Italians mean: atmosphere, religion and liturgy, rites, lights, markets and events – begins in late November and ends on Christmas Eve eve. In true pure Protestant Christian spirit, the rest is an intimate, private, homely celebration, made of looks, sensations, personal emotions, silences, reading, chamber music, plenty of 'gløgg' (Danish and Swedish mulled wine), 'smørrebrød' (the typical appetiser) and Danish goose (the equivalent of the American Thanksgiving turkey). The railways work divinely: punctual to the second, comfortable carriages, silent trains that seem to glide on a cushion of air. To reach the various places out of town leave the rental car in the garage and take the train; it costs little and is very convenient.

And then you witness a bit of Danish life: these serious, prim, very blond Vikings, the girls beautiful though all a bit cloned from one another, very respectful – even too much – but very, very sad. Maybe it's the weather, maybe the geography of their lands, maybe because at 15.00 in winter evening falls, maybe they're just like that by temperament, nature, modus vivendi. Kronborg Castle is stunning, located at Helsingør, a town north of Copenhagen; half an hour by comfortable train (there's one every 20 minutes on the circular Helsingør-Copenhagen-Malmö-Helsingborg/Sweden line). Once off at the station you see the castle right in front of you, behind the ferry terminal for neighbouring Sweden (Helsingborg). It's cold and a strong, icy, arctic wind blows. The visit is highly recommended, otherwise what are you going there for? Entry 50 kroner, about 6/7 euros.

Shakespeare set his famous tragedy, Hamlet, here. The construction is typically Nordic; an immense, well-kept castle-fortress at the mouth of the channel-strait that leads to the capital and separates Denmark from Sweden, here practically almost touching. Inside the main courtyard they must have shot dozens of Second World War films. This is the set. Only the armoured cars and the Mercedes of the Obersturmbannführer and the SS are missing. For Danish emigrants it was the symbol of their homeland: when from the ship they saw Kronborg magically appear in the mist they knew they were home! One last comment. Costs in Denmark. They had told us: Denmark is very expensive.

It's absolutely not true: maybe it's the effect of our strong and powerful 'euro', maybe because, not having yet entered the 'euro' area (indeed the Danes voted to stay temporarily outside it, and now they bitterly regret it), the doubling effect of prices hasn't happened here yet, as it has instead in Germany, Italy, France above all. And if you arrive with kroner changed in Italy, so much the better. In Denmark they accept – of course – euro banknotes (not coins, mind you) everywhere, but the exchange rate is quite different. So pay in cash kroner or by credit card! In Copenhagen the sales appeared on the morning of the 26th (to stay in line with the absence of Christmas atmosphere after 23.12) and the prices were really interesting. Good buys for clothing, CDs (one address 'GUF MUSIK', in the so-called Latin quarter – so to speak –), shoes, various objects (Royal Copenhagen).

Worth visiting are the department stores ILLUM and 'Magasin' (compared to Harrods, much overrated), but above all 'Larsen', a temple of smoking, tobacco and above all pipes. For food you manage very well anywhere, at all prices, with all the international chains present (from the usual Mac to KFC) and excellent Danish steakhouses. There's also a nice HRC (Hard Rock Café), right next to Tivoli. Coupons for a typical dinner can be bought together with the travel package in Italy, with notable further savings! Proliferating – as in all of western Europe – are the kebab houses, moreover of a good standard. In the picturesque 'Nyhavn' area (pronounced 'nuiaven' with a closed 'u', à la chicken) there are many typical restaurants, but prices go up, though never as high as in Milan, Italy.

To finish: we organised the trip (Alitalia flight + overnight stays at the First Vesterbro Hotel) online, with excellent results in terms of prices, discounts and savings. Electronic plane ticket included.