Inside the City Hall

Having looked outside, here we are now inside the City hall of Copenhagen. It's pretty fun to spend some time in the corridors while employees run around looking busy . The interior decor is as impressive as the exterior, with large volumes (reception room, large hall office) and you can have a nice view of the gardens.
You can see everywhere the insignia of the city (with three towers, the sun and the moon), and the monogram of Christian 9, the king in charge of that construction.



Look up, some stairwells are painted ... Don't miss them!

Copenhagen City Hall

Copenhagen City Hall is located in the center of the city, at the end of the main pedestrian street Strøget, very close to Tivoli, the amusement park.
The building itself is from around 1900. It looks at first sight very solid and a bit austere, but it is in fact a quite interesting building, especially for all the little details on the facade. For example, the little stone benches on corners of the facade. Or the small floral or animal statues between the windows and doors on the sides of the building - do not forget that in 1900 a lot of countries in Europe was influenced by the Art Nouveau.



At the center of the facade, you can discover a golden statue of the founder of the city, Absalon.

At the center of the buildings, you can freely visit the courtyard which has been turned into a public garden.

In addition, as it is a public building, the doors are open (at the Danish office hours of course) and the interior can be freely visited. But that, it will be for the next post ;-)!

Access: S-tog Vesterport or Kbh H.

China 101

Well, making a Royal Copenhagen plate sounds damn easy.
You take a white plate, a lady with brushes that you just watch working and you put it in the oven (the plate of course), and voila!


Well of course I am simplifying a bit ... In fact, depending on the model, there may be several stages of painting, gilding, more polished gilding, and so on, ... All this is hand-made in Denmark of course which justify the price (at least some of it)! As a bonus, you even get the signature of the artist itself underneath the object.
If you drop the piece right out of the mold, it gives this. Just joking, actually this is a character assembled from multiple print forms.

For the most courageous, Royal Copenhagen offers china painting lessons. There you can learn how to cut the brush end in order to be be able to paint very tiny details and keep it broad at the base to have a back-up of paint. They are so clever... those Danes!

Royal Copenhagen : the visit continues

But Royal Copenhagen is not only a store. It is also worth a full visit!

Upstairs, you can access an exhibition of more traditional models of the brand. The most common pattern is the "blue mussel".

The famous collection "Flora Danica", which puts the flora of Denmark on your plate is also exposed. Everything is available, upon orders... But who is motivated to invest 110,000 crowns in a soup bowl?

Another noticeable particularity, Royal Copenhagen has made a habit of producing commemorative plates every year, at least for Christmas (the laws of marketing also had them produce plates for Mother's Day, Easter or other ...). You can also see the complete collection of these plates in a dedicated room.


Last step: how do your own dishes.

Bike tuning

Thinking of tuning your car? No way, it is way better to customize your bike!
There are so many way to tune your ride: multi-tones klaxons, artistic paintings, cute little plastic animals....
No limit !

What's a lagkage?

What's a lagkage (as odd as it may seem, prounonce laokéé)? It is a "multi layers cake". This is THE local dessert. Humm careful there, dessert is a big word, as the Danes are more accustomed to eat this kind of cake in the afternoon around 3-4 pm. This is the traditional cake for any birthday - even if all situations are good to celebrate.
This cake consists of layers of biscuit (like sponge cake) alternating with cream. Here for the basis. After that, many variations are possible: almond paste frosting, a layer of fruit, a layer of meringue, praline ...

The quality of a lagkage varies greatly depending of the bakeries (or of the cook), but one thing is certain: you must not abuse it if you want to be able to lift yourself up of your chair!

Royal Copenhagen

Royal Copenhagen is THE brand of Danish china. The flagship store of the brand lies in the city center, on Amagertorv.

The facade is obviously the oldest one of the square, from 1616 as written on the building itself.
The emblem of the brand is a royal crown placed on three waves representing the three inlets once controlled by the Danish kingdom.

The downspout is rather special ...

Well, enough time spent at the front, let's now enter the store. Here you can find ... porcelain (mostly). The collections on the first floor are the most recent: Mega and the new one Elements. I think it's a successful adaptation of the traditional motif of the mark, and the transition to color (blue instead of basic) rejuvenates the drawing. But still I do not see myself using it for dinner...

Let's be honest, nothing in there is cheap. Maybe because everything is painted by hand (with the artist's signature on the back of the item please) in Denmark that the price is so high... In the basement, the second choice china is a -little bit- more affordable.
To prepare your visit: http://www.royalcopenhagen.com/
The tour continues ...

Welcome to Danskviking!

After 3 years running the Danskviking blog (in French), we thought "well, what is the next challenge?" And here it is, Danskviking is now in English. We'll take you with us through our everyday life in Denmark. We have been in the country a long time, so we have plenty of experiences to share with you. Welcome on board!