Europe 2017: Denmark

When we were buying tickets to meet my family in Italy, round trip flights were pretty expensive from Chicago for the dates we needed. So we explored a little and found that flying WOW air to Copenhagen and then a separate ticket from Copenhagen to Milan through Ryan Air significantly reduced our costs. When we book tickets through two separate airlines, we make sure to give ourselves plenty of time between flights in case of an emergency (flight delay or lost baggage, etc.) Plus it always seems like a great opportunity to visit another country without paying for additional flights. This particular itinerary allowed us to stay in Copenhagen for 36 hours. Copenhagen hasn’t ever been on our “top places to visit” list and we’d probably never buy tickets just to see it. It was a perfect opportunity to get to explore Copenhagen when it was just a little stayover.

One thing that we have learned in the past is that if we are in a place for only a short amount of time, it is worth it to throw down the extra money and get an airbnb (or hotel) right in the action. We stayed in the cutest bright yellow airbnb right near Nyhavn. Our front door lead us to the cobblestone streets and beautiful old buildings of Copenhagen. When we were in Paris for two nights, we stayed a little out of the city to “save money.” But by the time we paid for the commute to downtown a couple of times, we basically spent the money we “saved” and we had to spend the time commuting. It ended up being fine, but we do wish that we stayed right downtown since we were only there two nights. Just a little lesson we learned.

We met up with one of our friends, Kathrine, in Denmark. We met her in Ghana at the same time that Austin and I met and we have been friends ever since - she is the greatest! We had so much fun with her and it was so great to have her show us Copenhagen. She was laughing at us about some of things we took pictures of. We were totally those tourists. Haha! Sometimes I think about home (Utah) and how we just get so used to the beauty of the life that surrounds us. It is so easy to take it for granted.

I loved all of the bicycles in Copenhagen! It was insane. There were SO many bikes - way more than cars. And tons of them had baby seats on them too. Denmark is a Nordic country and is pretty cold and dark in November - but it didn’t seem to bother anyone. I LOVED it.

Another thing I loved was the bright colored homes. Now I want a bright orange house. Or maybe yellow. How about half yellow and half orange? Haha! Somehow they make it look adorable!

I also loved the restaurants that were set up so cute outside. Each table was set by a fire or heater and each chair had a blanket folded on it. It seemed so romantic to me - not even the cold weather could stop the romance. I love the culture in Denmark, and most of Europe, of deliberate social dining.

We spent most of our time eating amazing food and walking around the city - it is such a fun city to get lost in. We loved Nyhavn area. We walked to the Little Mermaid and although it was fun to see, the walk from Nyhavn to the Little Mermaid was worth it in itself! Walking around Copenhagen was such a highlight for us.

We also walked up a tower called “Rundetaarn” or “Round Tower.” It was one of my favorite towers I’ve ever climbed. The view was amazing from the top, but the whole experience was so cool. The inside of the tower was absolutely beautiful and so charming. It was built so that horses could get to the top too, so it had a really fun walkway almost the entire way up. The center of the tower is hollow, and near the top they’ve placed glass over it so you can stand over the hollow center and see down to the bottom. It is supposed to mark the “Center of the Kingdom.” Addison slept the entire time, so she had no idea we even went. There was a narrow spiral staircase at the top and it was just big enough for her stroller.  It was pretty funny carrying her up there. She always feels like our little princess, but even more so when we carry her in her stroller up to the top of a tower. Haha!

Copenhagen was ten times better than we even hoped for and also ten times more expensive! It was a good thing we were in and out in 36 hours. One thing that helps us keep our costs down when we travel to pricier places is to grab a few groceries at the market so that you don’t have to eat out as much. We noticed that the grocery prices were shockingly similar to the U.S. prices - it was only restaurants and shopping that seemed to be more expensive. We’ve found this to be true throughout other places in Europe.

I love it when a new place beats your expectations - and that is just how Denmark was. So glad it got thrown into our itinerary. It was a perfect kick-off to our trip.