When feeling stressed and overwhelmed, Copenhagen is the place to go. Read this post and I’ll tell you why.

I was travelling for work to the southern parts of Sweden – Malmö, which is only a 30-min train ride from Copenhagen. Then I thought that I would catch two birds in one stone and stay over the weekend at my friend Erika’s place as she moved there not too long ago.

I started working in October last year and I have really enjoyed living in Stockholm and working. But then there was the month of March and as much as I love to travel, travelling a lot both personally and for work means there is no time to rest. Every other weekend I was travelling to Finland for different occasions and during the weeks I travelled to client meetings. It was really fun but sleep and rest is very important for me too. This led to the feeling that I was just running around really fast to have the time to meet everyone and do everything. Just switching on the ‘go’ button and only turning it off to sleep.

Then why was Copenhagen so great? It was really great to just walk around the colourful and happy city in April. The weather was sunny and fresh and I really felt good there. It felt that I could just sit, relax and have a good time – just “hygge”. And this turned out to be exactly what I needed.

Of course one of the main things was that Erika was there and we had not seen each other in a long time. We could just talk about everything on our minds and it felt really great.

Some of the best things in life are these relationships that just work. When you meet again with these people it is great to catch up again and both are asking questions from one another and are understanding and supporting. This alone makes any place a great place of course. But back to the Danish capital. What did we end up doing to feel that good?

Copenhagen in April

Copenhagen. The home of hygge, which means to be cosy, present and happy. This said, Copenhagen is probably the most hygge place in the world (reference to the Carlsberg slogan, as Carlsberg also is Danish).

4 things we did in Copenhagen

1. Had drinks by the water

We ordered a glass of bubbly and sat by the water and watched people driving by on their rented boats, some gangs were having their bachelor/bachelorette parties which was fun to watch. And just talking over some sparkling wine in the sun was great.

2. Walked in Christiania

Because of the reputation of the place I was intrigued (albeit a tad scared). Our decision? To go there of course!

It was a bright sunny day and I quickly realised the following: if kids can be there running around then it is no need to be scared.

As for the reputation of being a mecca for drugs? In this Freetown of Christiania, there were people with their booths made of plastic boxes selling weed and whatnot. And of course there was a constant smell of marijuana.

But we also found a small jewellery shop which was cute.

Overall interesting area with interesting history!

3. Visited the Tivoli

It was great weather just to stroll around the amusement park with its Easter theme. Definitely recommend visiting Tivoli even though you do not want to go on any rides! We just sat by a bench, watched the pond and ate warm roasted almonds – in other words it was really nice (very hygge).

4. Just enjoyed life

When in Denmark, you have to enjoy life like the hygge religion right. And this we did. Coming from the north it was also a tad better weather there. The atmosphere in Denmark was nice and fresh.

Copenhagen is a city close to the water, has nice architecture and happy people

Would I like to live there? Why not! Then I would have to learn some Danish of course! Ah hygge. Can’t stretch this enough how important it is. In my opinion in life.

Oh and another things I learned:

• In Denmark they have rent control per apartment. This means that they, for some aparments at least, have a limit for the amount of people that are allowed in one apartment. This is to regulate the living situations I guess.
• Even though it is expensive, the salaries are also good. The Finnish news (Yle) made an article about which of the Nordic countries has the best salary and it was Denmark.

To sum up, these were the reasons why Copenhagen was the place to go when feeling stressed.

Of course there are people around and if you are stressed by that then think twice before going there. And it is expensive. But if not these two things are a deal breaker for you then its great.

Would not mind going back soon!

 

Any comments regarding Copenhagen?