For our first trip of 2017 we chose to stay in Copenhagen. The Danish people are considered the happiest in the world so in my opinion that was a good enough reason to visit, just to find out why. We opted to stay in an Airbnb apartment right in the heart of the city. Now our girls are getting older, it’s not always easy to find hotel rooms big enough to accommodate us all, especially in Europe, so this has been our go to solution. We have been really lucky and stayed in some super cool places and Copenhagen was no different.

 

Most of the apartments we looked at were open plan with stylish Danish design features and were perfect for what we wanted. The great thing about Airbnb is that you can live like a local and have the option of cooking your own meals if you want to, not that you would in Copenhagen because there are so many amazing places to eat.

It’s a very compact city so easy to get around and see a lot even if you’re only there for a few days. So just to give you a little flavour of Copenhagen, I’ll give you a run down of what we got up to, what we ate and all the things in-between

Day 1
When we arrived, I don’t think any of us were prepared for the -8 degrees temperature that hit us when we stepped off the metro from the airport. So first stop was for coffee, in fact any hot drink, anything just for an excuse to go and sit somewhere warm. The first place we came across was Joe and the Juice which wasn’t really a surprise as they are on almost as many street corners in Copenhagen as you would find a Starbucks in New York. Two coffees and two hot chocolates. It was the perfect ‘pick me up’ and a chance to decide on the plan for the rest of the day.

  

Just around the corner we met the owner of our apartment and collected the keys for our home for the next two nights. It was perfect. Everything you need, nothing more and nothing less. I really do love the Scandinavian design style characterised by simplicity, minimalism and functionality and this place epitomised all of that.

  

After the girls had chosen which room they wanted (how does that work?) we quickly unpacked and then headed out for a late lunch.

I love how health conscious the whole city is and it made it really easy for me to eat out as there are so many healthy foodie places to choose from, it really was a dream place for me as far as eating is concerned.
They are really big into organic foods here, striving to be the first fully organic city in the world. Even in 7 Eleven there was a huge selection of Paleo inspired ‘to go’ meals, chia seed puddings, raw nuts, kombucha, fresh salads, organic Skyr and freshly made organic vegetable and fruit juices. Not your usual corner shop selections, that’s for sure.

We ended up in a place called Palaeo which I had read about and really wanted to try so was happy we just stumbled across it soon after we left our apartment. We have a habit of doing things like this but as it turns out, it’s not a coincidence at all, just all down to my clever husband who knows exactly how I roll. Now I know why it was ‘that’ apartment he chose.

Palaeo is my dream of a restaurant as the caveman style of eating is exactly how I choose to eat the majority of the time so anything on the menu was an option for me. I chose a salmon and avocado wrap which was actually made from egg, so effectively a portable take away style omelette. Inspired! Why have I never thought of this? We actually decided to ‘eat in’ partly to stay warm but also because I have a bit of a thing about walking around and eating. I’d rather appreciate one thing at a time rather than trying to multitask. Eating, for me, is an event not just to stave off hunger.

 

Sometimes the best way to explore a new place is just to aimlessly wander. You always seem to find the best things that way. Copenhagen has a very laid back vibe about it and very different to the usual hustle and bustle you find in most cities.

We spent the rest of the afternoon browsing in the many unique and quirky shops Copenhagen has to offer, frustrated that we couldn’t actually buy anything as we were ‘hand luggage only’ travellers this time. Beautiful things that inspired me to change the whole decor of our apartment and everything in it. Individual clothing shops made me want to throw out virtually the entire contents of my wardrobe and start again. Very simplistic, clean, fresh style.

We did actually buy a few things but mainly consisting of extra layers that if push came to shove, we could just wear them all home on the plane to bypass any overweight baggage issues.

Hygge
I couldn’t write this blog without mentioning this word. For Christmas I got the book called ‘The little book of Hygge’ and am obsessed with its meaning and what it encompasses.
It’s a hard concept to grasp as it doesn’t literally translate but it’s basically the danish way of describing cosiness and involves candles, warm blankets and good friends. So when it got dark at 4pm we arranged to embrace hygge and meet up with friends who also happened to be in Copenhagen.

Torvehallerne Food Market

This was the perfect place to meet. To eat and to drink champagne. It was my husbands birthday, not that we really needed an excuse. January 5th actually marks the end of champagne season for me. I don’t drink at any other time of the year and only champagne when I do and it begins on December 14th on my birthday and ends, as I said on the 5th January.


This place is just full of tasty treats and tempting smells and with over 60 stalls to choose from, it can’t fail to keep everyone happy. In the end we decided to travel a little further away into the district of Vesterbro to ‘Mother’, a recommended Pizza restaurant.

I haven’t eaten pizza for probably about 5 years so why this appealed to me I don’t know, but it was such a great atmosphere and a lovely evening, I don’t think it mattered where I was. Sour dough pizza with salmon and mozzarella was my choice and it was so good, I even ate the crusts! No room for dessert though, although very tempted.

Our friends who live in London then introduced us to the Uber taxi system which where we live in Switzerland there isn’t much call for, especially when I am mainly the designated driver when needs be. How amazing is that concept?!

So straight back to our Hygge apartment for some hot tea and a game of UNO. My FitBit tells me we have walked nearly 20,000 steps, and all in high heeled boots so its definitely time for bed.

Look out for Copenhagen Part 2 where we explore different parts of the city, taste test more of the delicious food on offer, drink coffee and generally have a very Hygge time.