To be perfectly honest, I had started to believe I would never actually make it to Denmark. But make it I did, on a morning where the roads were covered in ice, and proceeded to piss off everyone on the metro with my copious amounts of luggage. I was definitely underdressed for the weather, and spent a good forty-five minutes shivering in the cold before I could get into my apartment (thanks to the plane touching down half an hour before schedule – it’s been both one of the few times I’ve ever been early to anything, and been mad about it.)

But despite the inauspicious start, I’ve really enjoyed the time I’ve spent here. (All 2.5 weeks of it.) I’m still squarely in the honeymoon period where I fall in love with the city every time I leave the house.

So, without further ado, some notes I’ve made about Denmark and the people within it:

The Danes are comically dismissive of their country in the winter, but I find Copenhagen exquisitely beautiful in the snow. I thought that I too would detest the freezing temperatures; fortunately, I am not quite jaded to its charms yet. I have spent many a day walking through the city’s gardens, in awe at the immaculate snow blanket covering the ground, trees and decorations.
On one of my first days, I’d made up my mind to visit Copenhagen Zoo in Frederiksberg (I’d wanted to see a polar bear in something approximating its natural habitat.) As I was walking, I decided on a whim to go through Søndermarken. It was the day after a snowfall, and I entered to find the most beautiful scene.

Of course, if the chill does seep through to your bones, there’s always a cafe nearby. I’m here to tell you that hygge is real, and the Danes have perfected it.
Every Danish cafe I have been to has managed to foster a cosy, homely vibe. Is it the warm lighting? The decor, which somehow manages to tread the thin line between modern and kitsch? Or just the relief of stepping into safety after being buffeted by brutal winds? Probably all of the above, and more.
It’s the national winter pastime to collect a few friends and sit for hours over a cup of something steaming, just chatting away. I don’t have many friends yet with which I can practice hygge, but I do have my trusty notebook and pen. It’s gorgeous to spend a few hours curled up in the corner writing, doing a crossword, anything – as long as it’s with a mug of varm chokolade. There are no rules but to enjoy yourself.

Copenhagen has a reputation as a culture capital, and it certainly delivers. I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that Carl Jacobsen and I would get along swimmingly, purely based on his collection of art housed in Glyptoteket. We have the same love of antiquities, especially marble sculptures. Glyptoteket has got to be my favourite art museum yet.

Not to disregard the other museum I visited, Statens Museum for Kunst. That wins another distinguished accolade of housing perhaps my favourite artistic depiction of a bird ever.

English is widely spoken here, which is not a groundbreaking revelation by any means. What surprised me is how integrated it is into society. Maybe I’m scarred by the French, but I was genuinely shocked when people I talked to switched to English with barely a lapse in conversation. One could comfortably live here without learning a lick of Danish.

Which brings me to Danes themselves. I’ll admit, I arrived fully expecting the worst. The Danish have a reputation for being cold and blunt, bordering on antisocial. But to my relief, every Dane I’ve met has been nothing but kind to me. They’ve offered assistance when I’ve asked without a hint of rudeness. Reports of their incivility, I’m happy to say, have been greatly exaggerated.

(Of course, it might help that I have also been described as solitary, at best. Maybe I’ve just outdone them.)

Was this post too saccharine? Idealistic? Don’t worry. I expect that soon I’ll stop looking at my surroundings with starry eyes. Maybe I’ll get caught in a horrendous blizzard, or I’ll be broken by a particularly gruelling bike ride. But for now, I hope to hold on to this feeling for as long as possible. And I’ll enjoy every minute of it.

If you’d like to look through my rose-tinted glasses for a while longer, here are some photos.