Family trip and wedding in Denmark
In the second half of October, we flew from Budapest to Copenhagen, together with my parents and my boyfriend. My brother was to get married in a small town in Denmark, right at the seaside. We decided to stay for a few days in Copenhagen to do some sightseeing. On the last day of our stay, we went across the Öresund bridge to Malmö, Sweden, which was a perfect daytrip. Let me tell you more about this beautiful family event and the interesting culture that we could experience in the North.
Arriving in Copenhagen
In Budapest, it was mild, sunny weather when we got a taxi to the airport. I only had my autumn jacket on my arm. In Denmark, I quickly realized that it had been a mistake to only bring that jacket: I should have brought a winter coat and warmer clothes, shoes. In that northern city, it was almost like wintertime with cold, strong wind, rain and changeable weather conditions. We quickly put on all the warm clothes (including hats and gloves) that we had with us, before we went into the city center to meet my brother and the others for dinner. They had reserved a table at a Japanese restaurant, and it was just the beginning of a culinary experience. In the following days, we tried all kinds of food, such as Thai, Italian, French, Swedish, Danish… As the Northern cuisine didn’t become our favorite, we often stuck with hamburger or Asian food. It was actually a good choice as some of us were from Asia.
Our accommodation was a nice apartment right next to the sea, and just a few stops by metro to the city center and downtown. When we arrived there, we were surprised to see that the neighbors living on the same floor seemed to store their shoes in the corridor. Well, although we were almost laughing at them, the next day we already did the same thing. Our shoes got wet and muddy in that rainy weather. But at least it didn’t rain all the time, just every day. We were lucky to have some sunny periods of the day, too.
Wedding at the Nordic seaside
Our first day in Denmark was a long and exciting one. We all – that means nine people all together – took a train and headed towards a seaside town called Rodvig because my brother and his fiancée (now already wife) got married there. We started the day early in the morning and took a taxi to the central railway station in Copenhagen. It was an interesting experience as it was still dark in the morning hours, but many local people were cycling to get to work or somewhere. After a time, we got used to seeing so many bicycles on the roads and so many people cycling in that bad weather. But it was still funny in those dark morning hours. Our journey by train was a bit stressful, as there were some issues and they announced information several times, but only in Danish, so we couldn’t figure it out, what was going on. Finally, my brother went up to someone and asked if it was the right train for us. Well, we actually had to get off and get on another train several times during that short journey… We only hoped that we’d be able to make it on time, but we were then lucky to arrive at the hotel well in time. The ceremony was at a cute little hotel, from which windows the sea was visible. That coast is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site with its beautiful white rocks. In the gray, rainy weather it wasn’t so beautiful but still nice. After the ceremony, we went out to see that place and to take some photos outside as well, but the strong, icy wind was terrible! We couldn’t bare it for more than a few minutes, but it was enough for the pictures.
It was challenging to find a place for lunch as we were in the countryside and many restaurants were closed, too. Finally, we chose a place for pizza and such, and later on we had a fancier dinner in a French restaurant back in Copenhagen. We gave some small gifts to the newly married couple and enjoyed a nice evening, celebrating together in family circle. It was a very nice day, but we were quite exhausted once we got back to our apartment. And the sightseeing part of the journey was just to start…
Exploring Copenhagen: castles and other sights
The next morning, we went downtown to visit some famous sights of the city. We started at Nyhavn which is famous for its colorful houses and is probably the most popular tourist attraction in Copenhagen. We were lucky with the weather as it was partly cloudy and partly sunny, but the place was crowded with tourists. It was on the one hand no surprise, on the other hand it was a bit surprising for me as there were not many tourists in other parts of the city. Well, I guess it’s not the most popular time of the year for sightseeing in a Northern capital city. Anyway, at least it was more peaceful, and we could enjoy walking around in the downtown area. We also targeted a gluten-free bakery, which was a little bit in the outskirts, so that I could buy some staff for myself for breakfast (for the rest of the days as there weren’t any gluten-free bakery products in the smaller supermarkets in the city, for example near our apartment). I was happy to find so many products in that bakery and could choose from a variety of things, including a few local specialties. For lunch, we met my brother and all the others, so we could eat together just like the previous days. It was their last day in Denmark before they took a plane back to Berlin in the evening. So, we decided to eat together and then go to a famous castle, also because the weather got much worse and it was raining the whole time. We ate at a Thai restaurant (the food was delicious) and walked across a park to reach the Medieval castle where there are a lot of nice and historical objects, including coronation jewelry. After that we decided to stay warm and dry (or rather to get dry…), so we went into a food market where we could buy some snacks and drink a coffee or tea. It was also nice that we could spend some more time together and chat a bit more before the others headed towards the airport. It seemed like the second half of our trip had just started…
More sightseeing in Copenhagen – and two more royal castles
On the next day, we explored a bit more of the city, for instance we went to a modern part of it, which was recommended to us by my brother as they had visited the place before. There were some modern office buildings right next to the water (there was sea basically everywhere) but also an old, historical church in the background, and some interesting-looking bridges. I liked it that we were able to see even this face of the city, not only the historical buildings. By the way, before our trip to Denmark, I had thought that Copenhagen would look similar to Stockholm in Sweden, but it was very different indeed. It rather reminded me of Northern Germany – for instance Hamburg – and I also imagine the Netherlands like that (although I have never been there). Even the people seemed to me more similar to those in Northern Germany than the Swedish people. So, I can say that culturally it was an interesting trip to Denmark.
Back to sightseeing in Copenhagen, we visited two more royal castles, one of them was extremely beautiful with fully decorated rooms and furniture, pieces of art… It took us about one and a half hours to briefly see everything. It was already lunchtime and we were hungry, so we decided to have some lunch. In the afternoon we went into the third castle which was much smaller than we had expected and only the exhibited objects were important, but it was rather chaotic and not so nicely presented… Anyway, we only needed about twenty minutes there which was good because they were to close in the middle of the afternoon! Well, at least we had some more time to walk around a bit more in the city, for instance to visit the famous Little Mermaid statue at the seaside. Although we had been recommended not to go there as it was a bit far away from the center and was not a big deal, we actually loved it! The whole place was beautiful, with the open sea in the background, and because the weather was quite clear and sunny at that time. It was a nice afternoon walk for us, and we even saw a helicopter landing on the water! If you have enough time when you are visiting Copenhagen, and if the weather is not too bad, I recommend you take a walk to this seaside and to the Little Mermaid.
By the way, we visited all three royal castles because a combination ticket was worth it. If you have enough time, it’s better to buy this type of ticket, and it’s manageable to visit the three castles within two (or one and a half) days. Plus, they are all very different, so it’s not boring to visit all of them.
We then went back to the City Hall because it was still daylight, and the previous evening we could only see it in darkness. It was actually interesting to compare the two, in daylight and with some illuminations (although I think it was not so much illuminated). The statue of the famous writer Andersen is right next to it, so we could also take some photos, even if we had to wait for the other tourists a bit.
An afternoon coffee and some shopping in souvenir shops could not be missed out, but then we headed towards the restaurant where we reserved a table for dinner. Finally, I could have my gluten-free pizza! Wherever I travel, I like to have pizza at least once, but it’s not always so easy with my gluten-free diet. The restaurant was cozy and warm, the pizza was delicious, and we were right next to the famous place, Nyhavn, which we could see in the evening, with the lights, too.
Daytrip to Malmö, Sweden
On our last day in Denmark, we actually did not stay in the country, but took a short train-ride to get to Sweden and visit Malmö which is considered as a suburb of Copenhagen. Many people from Malmö go to work in Copenhagen, and as there are no party areas in the previous town, young people often cross the bridge by train to go to party in Denmark’s capital city. I couldn’t really believe it, but then we actually saw some young people doing that when we went back to Copenhagen in Friday evening.
On the way there it was daylight so we could see a lot from the sea that we crossed. It was quite stunning to cross the sea and that our train went across a bridge to get to the neighboring country in about half an hour!
Malmö was very different than Copenhagen. Even the local people were so different! We could clearly see the differences between the two countries, but of course Malmö is also a much smaller city. We found ourselves in front of the city hall after walking about five minutes from the central station. It didn’t take a long time to explore the downtown area, walk around in the little streets, but then we tried to find a restaurant for lunch. We had decided earlier that we would like to have the traditional meatballs in Malmö since we were in Sweden! After having searched for a bit, we found a nice terrace in the middle of a square where there we blankets on the chairs and Plexiglas walls around the terrace to keep the guests warm. The sunny weather also helped! The food was delicious and after this meal we felt ready to continue our trip and head towards the seaside. We knew it would mean a bit more walking, but the weather was actually nice. We went through a nice park and saw some famous buildings on the way, but as we reached the sea, it had already got cloudy and it was very windy and cold. That’s why we couldn’t stay there for long, just took some pictures and had a look at the sea with the Öresund bridge over which our train had crossed, and then needed to get back to the center. It was always so cold and windy right next to the sea, both in Rodvig, at the place of the wedding, and in Malmö. Then it also started to rain as we were walking back downtown. When we finally reached that area with the small, nice streets, we first went into a coffee shop. It was really nice to have a break, eat a cake and drink something warm – that was the moment when I truly understood why this afternoon cake and coffee has such a big tradition in the Nordic countries. Well, it’s first of all because of the weather. After this nice break and getting warm again, we only wanted to go for a bit of shopping, to souvenir shops and to a cosmetics shop where we bought some makeup for ourselves. It was still raining outside plus it was starting to get dark, so we decided that it was time to go back to the station and catch the next train back to Copenhagen. This one-day-long trip was just enough for Malmö; we had enough time to explore the city center.
Saying goodbye to Denmark and coming home
On the next day, we went to the airport by taxi early in the morning. It was just a short drive, and we had enough time for everything, but we also needed it because the airport was crowded and we had to wait quite long for the security check. We were lucky to have enough time for breakfast and coffee before going to our gate. It was quite far away from security and the duty-free shop, and we realized that the airport in Copenhagen was a big airport, indeed. The flight was smooth and we had some nice views of both the Danish capital city as well as of Budapest. It’s always so nice to see the Danube with the bridges and Margaret Island, the Parliament building and all the other famous places, such as the Basilica this time. But the weather in Budapest was also cloudy and the temperatures were actually very similar as in Denmark, but it felt warmer because of the lack of wind and rain. Since it was Sunday midday, we went into a restaurant together with my parents, and this meant the end of our family trip.
I liked travelling to the North and spending a few days in a Scandinavian country where I hadn’t been before. However, I hadn’t brought proper clothes with me, I should have packed some winter clothes and a winter coat for this trip. I decided one thing during our stay in Denmark: if we ever go again to a Nordic country either in autumn or in spring, I will definitely wear my winter coat, boats and several layers. That’s my best advice to you, too, if you’re planning such a trip. Besides that, Denmark is a very expensive country, probably one of the most expensive ones in Europe. Although you don’t need to give a tip in restaurants, both eating out and using public transport – or booking a taxi – do cost a lot of money, so it’s good to be prepared for that.
Both my boyfriend and me said that we had preferred Stockholm over Copenhagen, but it was nice and interesting to explore another country and another culture.
