Dane-sing in the Street

First off, sorry about the title of this entry. I couldn't help myself. Its in my editorial genes to take the piss out of everything. But not the 'hagen. Now, yesterday, whilst I was trying very hard to concentrate on the incredibly enjoyable task of conjuring up a variety of different slogans for our sister company's new ad campaign (corporate branding is just oh! so much fun - not my job but sometimes you have to take one for the team... specially when you've just been away on two all-expenses paid luxury trips with work) my mind wandered off to the task at hand; clearly I have difficulty with keeping written posts to a certain word count.

 THEREFORE ladies and gentlemen, the genius inside me held up a beautifully lit lightbulb and said, 'Use images instead of words!' Hence, my darlings, here is a variety of shots chosen especially for your greedy little visual loving eyes and minds of the remains of day number on in Wonderful Copenhagen. With captions.

The site of our first Danish luncheon, Orangeriet. The most charming little restaurant in the world, located just next to the beautiful King's Garden

There were numerous potted mandarin trees inside the restaurant - it is called Orangeriet after all. One of the pleb journalists that was with us on the media tour decided to pick a couple off the plants. And ate them. And threw the peel in the pots. Im still wincing.

                   Window sill in the waiting room with views of the King's Garden outside. I loved the lightness and simplicity of Scandinavian design

We feasted on smorrebrod, or open faced Danish sandwiches - simple but delicious. The roast beef *drool* 

Wheat beer! Not my first time tasting it, but this *was* the Danish counterpart

I think I clean up pretty good after a monstrous working day AND flight

Statue of literary genius Hans Christian Andersen in the King's Garden

Walking through town to the canal, I spotted this charming little balcony - should be lined with flowers

Views from the canal tour - Im not sure what the building on the left is, but on the right is the Church of Our Saviour. 400 steps to the steeple.

The spot on the canal where the royal family set sail

Noma - rated as the world's best restaurant and boasting the cream of Nordic cuisine in gorgeous settings

We hid from the sudden rain in this beautiful cafe, nestled in the courtyard of some castle

I love photos of flowers. There were bushes of these everywhere

The view from one of the rooms at Hotel Skt Petri, where we dined on asparagus soup, mouth watering pepper steak and chocolate creme brulee with cherry sorbet

Did I mention I loved Scandinavian design? Clean, bright, innovative. Fantastic. 

There's something about Mary... and Copenhagen

So, where were we last? Yes, packed and ready to go traipsing off into the wild jungles of... oh, wait. I was going to Copenhagen. What??

Glorious. Flag pole out at the entrance of the King's Garden

In all seriousness, I hadn't given Denmark a second thought in like... ever. Apart from the fact that their crown princess is a Tasmanian stunner, this little gem of a country never crossed my mind. Stereotypically, when one vacations in Europe, the regularly frequented spots are the likes of Italy, Spain, Greece, maybe venturing out to Eastern Europe for the really 'crazy' types. Scandinavia, I dunno.. maybe its just me but the last thing I ever wanted was to spend my summer in freezing temperatures (anything under 20 degrees is cold in my world) when I could be slathered in coconut oil and soaking up the sun on a sandy beach somewhere, perving at men in Calvin Jockey-like swim trunks al a Daniel Craig's baby blues.

Anyway, before I ramble on too much, let me tell you what a surprise Copenhagen gave me *deep sigh*

Champers, courtesy of standout airline, Qatar Airways

• dropped off at the airport

• briefing from Qatar Airways staff on facilities within their business/first class premium lounge.. they have sleeping cubicles. And a masseuse. And a fully equipped spa. And buffet(s). Really?

• get on plane - business class rocks my world. Where were these seats when I was flying back and forth from Sydney, cramped up in economy with throbbing knees and the fear of developing deep vein thrombosis? I was served warm nuts, champagne and a salmon starter. I need to get rich.

• an incredibly comfortable sleep later, BAM, we land in Copenhagen airport. Not much to say, not much to it really.

• hello Thomas from VikingBus (yes, yes, I know). So far, its cold, Im not impressed. Now what? Thomas decides to drive us into Copenhagen city center using the highway route. Silly, considering later during the trip we take the beach route leading to the airport - a MUCH better first impression. 

• And speaking of first impressions... EVERYONE is on a bike. Umm... is this one of those places where absolutely everyone is incredibly healthy and beautiful and no-one is overweight? Yes. Yes it was. 

• arrived at the Kong Frederik hotel ( definitely worth checking out if you're looking to stay in Denmark for any number of days, one of the most charming hotels I've ever stayed at and part of the elite First Hotels chain - http://bit.ly/9V5zUT ) My room was, what I've labelled as, literature chic - pretty self explanatory really. Incredibly comfy bed, all amenities on offer, perfect.

Excuse my jeans and the mess I managed to make 3 minutes after walking into the room

The view to one side of my room - town hall and on the right hand corner, the magical Tivoli Gardens 

The green tower head is only part of the Bank of Denmark building but I still found it charming - no people on the street, 8am

• Get dressed, misjudge the weather due to the glaring sun outside and head out to lunch at Restaurant Orangeriet via, wait for it, bicycle taxi. Must we do this? I asked our tour guide. YES! You must! Answered the contagiously enthusiastic and all round charmer Henrik. Its the Danish way, he says. Fine. 7 minutes of severe frozen wind whiplash, sniffles and ducking to hide my now Copenhagen residing face from the gorgeous locals, swanning about gracefully on their cute bicycles, we reach Orangeriet, which is located in the King's Garden.

A sneak peak from one of the windows at Orangeriet and out onto the King's Gardens where a certain literary legend lives

Aaaaand that's all Im telling you until next time... and it'll be sooner than two weeks, I promise. Work has been hectic and I've been all over the place with business trips, deadlines and trying to stick to my triathlon training (the London Tri, yes. Also, yes, I AM insane). But for the sake of keeping these short *ahem* and sweet, I need to do this in batches and I really dont want to miss out on any of the magical details as it all deserves to be done justice.

So yeah, tune in next time for the fruit display stealing media scum that was with us on the trip, drinking ridiculous amounts of Snâps at lunch (not to be confused with Schnapps) and being rained on during an hour long canal tour, out on the.. erm.. canal, and dinner at one of Europe's first designer hotels, hosted by one of the most gorgeous men I had ever seen *deep breaths* Hai hai for now lovers!

Jeg elsker København

Yes, I did what every wanker on the planet does and used Babel translator to transform the dull and overused phrase 'I love *insert person/place/pet/spotty, vampire-playing, teenage celebrity*' into I love Copenhagen in Danish. I do apologise for this behaviour, but in all honesty, I really do think I've fallen in love with that tiny and GORGEOUS city. Anywho, since most of you probably have no idea what Im on about, Im about to relay the events of probably one of the luckiest days of my working life thus far, so hold on to your socks, knickers and fake tache's; this is a riveting one:

Email *ping* on Regional Managing Editor *Jorge's computer. *Samson, *Mona and myself ignore this as we have become accustomed to Jorge's obnoxious mobile and computer ring/ alert tones.

Jorge: Well looky here, who wants to go to Copenhagen?

All three of us: *Insert collection of the 5 W's alongside oh me! No I cant! Dammit, I want to go! Really? Copenhagen? etc*

Jorge: Yup, Qatar Airways has just launched its direct route to Denmark and we've been offered a spot on their first media tour out there.
(Side note: This is purely because the airlines expects some sort of kiss ass in return, and to be completely honest, they deserve it much more than a cheek grazing kiss.)

This map is for the benefit of the embarrassing number of people who don't actually know where Denmark is. Yes, you.

Cue raucous arguments over who last went on what trip and when, discussions over magazine deadlines, who can afford to leave... and then it hits us. When is this mystery luxury, all expenses paid, beautiful thirst-quenching mirage set to take place??

Jorge: The flight leaves tonight. Its for five nights, return Saturday morning.

Samson: Agh, I can't leave the magazine. We're already behind on deadline.

Jorge: Neither can I - I was only in Seville last month the same time as deadline, and as much as Id love to scarper off to Scandinavia, I think that's pushing it a little *hearty, slightly bitter Welsh guffaw*

Mona: Dammit!! I want to go to Denmark! I can't go though, Im leaving to London on Thursday!

Me: Umm.... I'll go?

What? He can't go? Im not going either! (errm.. you know that's just for him, yea? Cool)

What ensued was an afternoon of restless 'work', a tiny evening run (I was afraid I wouldn't get the chance to keep up my tri training while I was abroad so the 20 minute run was a bit of a guilt compressor) and hectic packing for weather the organisers called 'chilly', my boss labeled as 'freezing' and the internet said ranged between 'below zero and 14 degrees'. Right.

And so began the best five days I have had in a long, long time. Possibly the best five days of my life if I was to be completely honest. However, I do have a habit of romanticising everything and developing irrational emotional attachments to places I visit, therefore this normal.

Stay tuned for the flight and day number one in Wonderful Copenhagen. There will be pictures.

*names have been changed for privacy issues and even though I know noone actually reads this blog, I dont want to get bitten in the ass by angry people who would have appreciated it had I NOT directly quoted them, thanks.