Tuesday 27th – Thursday 29th June, 2023 – Copenhagen, Denmark

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were mostly about the workshop, and thus about work, but we did manage to have some fun as well.

I started Tuesday with a run in the neighbouring park, where I managed to get lost and ended up covering a lot more distance than I’d intended. Amager Fælled (or in English Amager Common) is 223 hectares of what used to be a military area but is now a nature reserve. It went out of military use in 1964, and is now very popular with walkers, runners and cyclists, among others. Apparently, it was also an execution site which was last use in April 1845, so there’s a cheering thought! Anyway, getting lost was annoying because in theory I do know the park (it’s the site of the first ever non-UK parkrun). Somehow, after encountering an unexpected paddock full of out of context highland cattle, I must have gone the wrong way because I ended up by the metro line, which I know was wrong. Fortunately, there was a map there and I was able to figure it out and make my way back to the hotel with enough time to shower before heading to the office.

After a busy morning, we walked over to colourful Christianshavn to board one of the canal boat trips. I’ve done this before, but it was still fun to travel along the waterways, and it was even more fun making sure our new colleagues knew what they were looking at. even if you’ve never been to Copenhagen, you’ll know Christianshavn; it’s the place on all the postcards with the multi-coloured houses providing a backdrop to all sorts of sailing ships, surrounded by tourists pretty much day and night. It’s not somewhere you would base yourself if you wanted peace and quiet, but it’s a good place to pick up one of the tourist boats in relation to the office.

There was a bit of milling around as we tried to get 18 people onto a boat together and not mislay anyone, but we finally managed it, and given the weather, the fact that we missed the initial boat (which had no roof) was no bad thing. The tour took us out into the main harbour, and then around the city centre canals, eventually landing us back where we started in Christianshavn. The next stop was at Vaffelbageren for waffles and an ice cream scoop (which should have been just what was needed in Midsummer). The lack of clement weather didn’t put anyone off and a mango ice cream on top of a waffle was just perfect, even if it’s not the easiest thing to eat while walking around.

We walked back to the office the long way round, over the iconic Circle Bridge, which is very photogenic, especially with the Black Diamond library building in the background. We did some group shots, and there was some selfie taking by some of our party, before we made our way back to the office for dinner provided by the work canteen.

Wednesday was work all the way before an evening visit to the home of one of my Copenhagen-based colleagues, who very kindly invited me and one of the other out-of-town contingent to dinner at hers. The resulting Indian feast was delicious, and her kindness was much appreciated.

On Thursday we again worked most of the day but then headed out for an organised tour of Christiania, followed by dinner in one of the restaurants there. We walked the same route that I had run in the morning before work but then turned off into Christiania to meet our guide. Apparently he is the official historian of Christiania, and he was very interesting both on the foundation of the freetown, and its current situation. He was able to explain how the residents are trying to deal with an influx of dangerous drug pushers on Pusher Street, and how they’ve ended up with the refuse collectors going on strike as a result of that, but also how the place is organised, how decisions, are taken, and more. It was a fascinating hour or so and I doubt we’d have learned anywhere near as much without a local to guide us. What’s happened with the bin men is that when the police arrive the dealers have been hiding their stashes in the bins, and then when they come back and can’t find them, they accuse the guys who empty the bins of stealing from them. This has reached the point where no rubbish is now being collected because the bin men, have, understandably had enough of the resulting harassment.

A lot of the history of Christiania is clearly visible in the buildings. For context, the town was founded in 1971 when a group of people cut a hole in the fence to the military barracks in Bådmandsgade and settled in. Today, around 750 people still live there, many of them the original residents like our guide, or descendants of them. A lot of the homes are self builds, where they’re not converted barracks buildings, and a collective council is responsible for running the place day-to-day. Some of those 750 inhabitants make their livings from the eco-restaurants, workshops, galleries and music venues scattered throughout. In 2011 the state seems to have given in and decided that Christiania was a permanent fixture, and the Foundation Freetown Christiania came into being in 2012, meaning that the foundation owns all of Christiania except the protected 17th century ramparts, and leases buildings and land on the ramparts which are still owned by the state. Money for this is raised by selling Christiania shares.

At the end of the tour we headed to the restaurant Spiseloppen, which prides itself on its very international nature. The establishment is in another of the old military buildings that face Prinsessegade, and you get to it up some alarmingly ricketty seeming stairs. Once you get inside, it’s charming, with chefs and waiters “from as many as 16 different countries. And the guests are just as diverse, everyone from politicians, through tourists to students come to enjoy some great food”. I’m certainly not about to dispute their claim to great food. Considering how many of us were sitting down to eat, the service was slick, the food (pre-ordered from the set menu) arrived properly piping hot, and the results were indeed very tasty.

I started with rillettes of fresh and smoked salmon, with smoked cream cheese, herb blinis, and baby spinach with a red onion, lemon and basil dressing. As you can see, as well as being delicious, it was huge. You won’t go hungry here, even if you only eat your starter.

For an entree, I had pan-fried venison fillet, with pommes anna, a butternut squash puree, forest mushrooms, root vegetables in a balsamic glaze, and game sauce with elderberry juice. Perfectly cooked meat and beautifully executed vegetables were not what I would have expected from the location, but I was very happily surprised by it all.

I just about managed a dessert of mocha brûlée, and was very glad I’d had a long run in the morning and plenty of walking. I could just about justify the calories!

Afterwards we walked back to the office and checked into the company bar (gotta love working for the Danes – the HQ building has a bar because “people weren’t socialising enough and were working too hard”) for a night cap, before finally retreating to our hotel rooms after the wine ran out and we didn’t know where to look for supplies!