Travelling Fletchers

We arrived at our last stop – Copenhagen. The city greets us with colour and energy at every corner. It feels both old and new – rebuilt through the centuries yet still fresh and alive. There’s a sense of care here too. Copenhagen is a city that takes the environment seriously, weaving cycling, green spaces and clean living into daily life.

After dropping our bags, we made our way to the centre and wandered along the harbour side. Each building stood in its own bright colour, lined up like a row of paints across the water. The sunshine made them shimmer, and the whole place felt alive with movement and warmth. Cafés spilled out onto the street, boats rocked gently in the water, and it was the perfect first glimpse of Copenhagen life.

We took the river cruise as part of the hop-on, hop-off system and listened as the story of Copenhagen unfold. The city has been transformed with each leader since the 1600s, rebuilt and reshaped after fires, wars and changes in vision. From colourful houses to grand palaces, and later modern harbour districts, every chapter of leadership has left its mark on the city we see today.

Today, Copenhagen focuses on the health of its people and on sustainability. Cycling is second nature here, with bikes welcomed on every street and corner. Even the recycling centre is more than just practical – it doubles as a hub for leisure. Inside there’s a snow zone, the highest climbing wall in Europe, and of course a viewpoint where you can take in the city from above.

Sitting in front of the recycling centre are also repurposed shipping containers. Converted into accommodation, they provide living quarters for the city’s students and again show the ethics of the city – reuse, sustainability, and finding creative solutions for modern living.

As we disembarked, we also noticed sea bins in the harbour. These floating devices act like underwater rubbish bins, drawing in plastic, oil and debris to help keep the water clean. Another small but clever way Copenhagen looks after its environment.

One of the most popular sights here is the Little Mermaid. I’ve seen her before – though last time she looked a lottle more green and was missing an arm. That arm had been sawn off by vandals but was later returned, just not reattached before my visit. She has also been decapitated more than once, but each time lovingly restored as the much-loved icon of the city. The irony of all this vandalism is that in Hans Christian Andersen’s original story, the only thing the mermaid grew was a pair of legs-and those have never been tampered with.

We returned to our apartment for the evening, passing a Netto store on the way. I’ve always thought of Denmark as being expensive-but this time, shopping for food for an evening meal felt surprisingly close to home in terms of cost. Eating out, though, is definitely more costly, helped along by a 25% VAT on restaurant meals and cafés.

At first, I wasn’t sure-everything seemed like such good value. Then I remembered that in Norway I’d spent a whole week converting 100 NOK to about £7. Now, using Danish krone, 100 DKK is closer to £12. It was a subtle shift, but one I could really feel as we settled into our first shop here.

When we were shopping, we couldn’t remember if we had a full oven or not-so we played it safe and opted for salad and cold meats. We even tried looking up the facilities online while in the shop, but that didn’t give us much of a clue either. Sure enough, we did have an oven – and had a laugh about it as we thought how nice it would be to add eggs and some freshly boiled potatoes to the meal. The only snag was the kitchen came with just one saucepan, so it turned into a showdown: potatoes or eggs? And yes – you’ve guessed it -the potatoes won. The eggs will just have to wait their turn.

With the potatoes we thought we’d add some butter we’d recently purchased. We were quite chuffed with ourselves for picking what we thought was the smallest block – a perfect size for a family of four staying just two days. Only later did we discover our clever shopping wasn’t quite so clever after all.

It wasn’t butter – it was baker’s yeast. So instead of a creamy topping for our potatoes, we were all set up to bake bread for an army and even had the oven to do so!