Before leaving we are asked of our destination:

“Copenhagen this weekend”

“It’s very pretty.”

“So we hear.”

“No, it really, really is very pretty.”

“Everybody tells us so.”

“It might snow”,

“Oh goody, can’t wait.”

“But that’ll be even prettier”.

Arriving at Copenhagen airport amid a blizard may well have been pretty. Had there been suffiecient visibility we would have been in a better position to judge. As we emerged in arrivals at Copenhagen the screens foretold of departures cancelled and flights to be rescheduled. The airport is the size of a small town and absorbs people like the proverbial sponge - just as well, we thought as we made our escape by rail to the city centre, though even the normally clockwork efficiency of the Scandanavians could not withstand the storm resulting in a rare delay. The wrong kind of snow on the lines perhaps?

This was a heartening expereince for anyone living in the south east of England. It gives the lie to the idea that places that have cold winters simply cope with snow as a matter of routine. They do, but everything is relative - even there the weather provides exceptional events that bring the city to a standstill. Half an hour later flights were being diverted and nobody was leaving.

But it has to be admitted Copenhagen is indeed very pretty, beautiful, in fact.

We found ourselves in what is genuinely a city of culture (or rather a cultured city) where the lifestyle and the attitudes reflect a centuries old development of libertarian and democratic thought. Liberty founded on wealth, of course. Wealth than oozes from the well heeled districts surrounding the central area of the city. Wealth that is evident in the well maintained and efficient city. Wealth based on the position of the City at the heart of the Baltic’s commercial corridors of old. Wealth that is now, thankfully, on display at the exceptional range of museums and galeries on offer.

Copenhagen is also a democratic place. Somewhere where we are led to believe that it is quite possible to run into a member of the Danish royal family out shopping for a load of bread and the Sunday papers. This may be a slight bending of the truth -though only slight. However despite keeping our eyes peeled we didn’t see anyone wearing a tierra in the kebab shops of Stroget. Beyond the cliche of accessible royalty there sits a reality of an open, classless, literate capital with a pride in its heritage and at seemingly at ease with its history.

But first and foremost, Copenhagen is very pretty, elegant, in fact.

The Danes like to talk. We find it easy to strike up conversations with just about anyone we meet. Always in English, always welcoming and always proud to be Danish, except when they are, in fact, English. It is so hard to tell - the English is that good, and somehow it is English, rather than American that prevails. While chatting to a Danish TV crew braving another blizzard to set up for an OB on Hojbro Plads we find their local knowledge limited by the most vocal of their number hailing from Oxford. Copenhagen exudes learning and a value in knowledge, not just in the Latin Quarter, but throughout the City. Bookshops abound, coffee shop culture and corner cafes add to the atmosphere of thoughtful sophistication. The Danes, in common with the rest of Scandanavia, understand the importance of doing business and the speaking of English is re-enforced by the subtitling of native English content on Danish TV. There are those who are keen to tell us that English is the only thing that holds the nation together - as Danes from the east cannot understand Danes from the west whilst speaking Danish! This may or may not be an urban myth, though a number of Copenhagen natives seem to agree.

Those who have gone before us have armed us with a weekend of wall to wall culture, of views and vistas, spires and streetscapes, palaces and prospects. We explore it with all the passion that the extreme cold of winter permits, learning quickly that central Copenhagen’s compactness means we don’t have to miss too much. Denmark’s failure to adopt the Euro is something of an irritation, but Copenhagen delivers an understanding that it is part of the mindset of both tolerance and national pride which makes Denmark tick.

And more than ever under cobalt blue Baltic skys we cannot deny that Copenhagen is very pretty, charming, in fact.

Arriving back we are enquired of:

“How was Copenhagen?”

“Cold but very pretty.”

“Oh it’s much prettier in summer.”

 

5 Top Copenhagen Tips

1. Take an early flight on Friday

2. Put warmth above style in winter

3. Eat early - or make do with a kebab

4. Outside of winter pick up a bike - it’s free

5. Buy a Copenhagen Card