Denmark
Southernmost and smallest of the Scandinavian countries, Denmark is a pleasant little place to spend some time, with the largest city in Scandinavia (Copenhagen), lots of greenery, bogs and even beaches. Just don�t go in winter-time unless you have a thing for the bitter cold.
Essential Facts
The national language, amazingly enough, is Danish. Most Danes can communicate in multiple languages with ease, and you�re unlikely to need more then a few words of Danish to get by, although as always, your attempts will be appreciated.
The currency, until the Euro takes over at least, is the Krone, worth about 7 to the USD (at least when I was there) Costs are on the high side, but not exorbitant, and cheaper then the rest of the region. It�s definitely possible to get by on $30-40 a day if you�re frugal. ATMs are everywhere, and all connected up to the Cirrus/MasterCard network.
Danish food, in my opinion, is not the best: heavy meat and potatoes fare, with lots of herring and pickled vegetables thrown in. This said, there are some good dishes, and in Copenhagen at least, a wide selection of International foods, as well as good breads, cheeses and meats available from markets to self-cater.
Getting there and away
Southern-most of Scandinavia, guarding the entrance to the Baltic. |
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Getting to Denmark is fairly easy. Copenhagen has many flights (although not always the cheapest) to and from many other destinations. Train, bus and ferry links are frequent to the rest of Scandinavia and into Germany, as well as to the UK and Poland. One word of warning is to avoid the Amsterdam-Copenhagen night train unless you�ve pre-booked a sleeper. I know it�s not really a Denmark tip per say, but my friend and I did it and it was most unpleasant.
Aabenraa
Aabenraa is a port city abot 25 km into Denmark from Germany. My foray to Aabenraa was for lunch. We were driving in Schleswig-Holstein and my friend said remarked that we should go to Denmark... and eat lunch there. So of course, we did. Aabenraa happened to be the largest dot on the map inside Denmark, so we headed there and ate lunch. It seemed a pleasant enough little town, and the food was acceptable.
Capital since 1812 and largest city of Finland, Helsinki is small, and easily manageable. As discussed above, my friend and I were there during the Midsummer's holiday, so it was pretty dead. Whether this is the case during the rest of the summer I doubt. Helsinki seems like a nice place to spend a couple of days.
Attractions
Helsinki has a lot of museums, all of which close down during Midsummer's holiday, so we didn't see a one.
Senaatintori, the central square modeled on St. Petersburg is a nice venue, dominated by the Tuomiokirkko (right), a Lutheran church. |
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 | When it's going on, the market in Kauppatori is lively and has food to buy to boot. | |
Across from the square is the Presidential palace (above), home of Marti Ahtisaari, (amazingly enough the president) I wonder if the flags are normal or an outpouring of Finnish nationalism. A short ferry ride away from Helsinki is Suomenlinna, the island fortress built by the Swedes. It makes a nice trip from the city. Also a bit outside the city proper is Seurasaari Island, the open-air folk museum of Finnish years gone-by - a bit corny, but not a bad place. Note that the bus no longer leaves from the train station, as says the Lonely Planet guide.
Food and Lodging
I stayed at the Kes�hotelli Satakunta, a summer hostel run by S�dexho-Marriott. It's a tad bit off the beaten path, but cheap and friendly. They have cable TV, kitchen facilities, sauna, and passable dorms rooms (not co-ed). Caf� Esplanade and Caf� Strindberg, near each other on Pohjoiseplanadi, are both good for a quick fresh sandwich, pastry, etc. for reasonable prices. For a more substantial meal, the food at Zetor is tasty Finnish nosh, but the service! My friend and I waited three hours for our food. Apparently, our first waitress' shift ended and we got lost in the shuffle� we kept trying to signal other staff about our lack of food, to no avail. Finally, when another waitress realized that we hadn't been served, our orders got filled post-haste and we got the meal free for our troubles. While it seems we were an aberration, if you're in a hurry you might want to go elsewhere. The market at Kauppatori had great berries for sale - strawberries, cloudberries, lingonberries, etc. Locally grown and amazingly sweet.
Copenhagen: A VERY cool city, in which you could easily spend a week or so just chillin' and seeing the sites. We were there during Midsummers' holiday, and unlike Finland, Denmark was rockin' We stayed at the Hotel Selandia, which is at Helgolandsgade 12, not a bad little place, though i'm sure you could find cheaper and/or better. It had the plus of being near the train station when we arrived exhausted from not having a coucette on an overnight train (BAD BAD BAD BAD idea!) A brief rundown of some of the sites...
Erotica Museum: A museum, of well, Erotica. Kind of funny, but nothing great. My friend is still haunted by the Shania Twain song "Don't Impress me mch" which was playing as we entered this room full of TVs showing porn film after porn film.
Nyhavn: Kind of the main canal, i guess, and the terminus for the Stroget, Nyhavn was the site of Copenhagen's Midsummer festivaties, so it was pretty rockin' when we were there - this jazz band was playing on a stage set up by Tuborg, a big bonfire was lit in the harbour, and tons and tons of people were just crashed all around, drinking, singing, etc. The Midnight Sun is just kind of freaky too - It should be dark at 2am, not twilighty, but no...
Stroget: Billed as the longest ped zone in the world, Stroget is this long street (i think it's like 5 or so, actually) that runs through the heart of the city. It's neat just to stroll down and window shop, though those with money could real shop as well.
Tivoli Park: Tivoli is this big amusmement park right in the heart of the city - one of the first things you see when leaving the train station. We ate lunch/dinner at a Viking themed restaurant within its walls, they also have rides, bands - the normal amusement park type of things. Not bad i guess, but nothing fantastic. Maybe we just weren't there at the right time.
Pictures: I have some, i just need to scan them.
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