Cozy Nook Explorers
Cozy Nook Explorers
16. Copenhagen, Denmark
Jackie and Jon argue about pelicans and talk about Copenhagen!!!
Jackie Reilly: Host
Jon Schaller: Host
Charles: Producer
Instagram: @cozynookexplorers
Email: cozynookexplorers@gmail.com
Community Shoutout:
CopenHill Website
BBC Article about CopenHill
Mentioned in this episode:
Alchemist Restaurant Impressions
Alchemist Restaurant Website
CNN Article about Christiana
** 1 Disneyland = 500 acres **
JACKIE: I’m Jackie
JON: And I’m Jon
JACKIE: And we are the cozy nook explorers!
JON: Welcome to our show where we explore the world from our cozy nook here in Southern CALIFORNIA using the power of the internet!
Jackie: Yes and it’s Wednesday which means it’s time for another exploration! AND we made it to our cozy California nook! Isn’t this so exciting?! It’s so nice to finally be here!
Jon: Yes, it is wonderful to be here.
Jackie: Do you know where else is wonderful? COPENHAGEN, Denmark! And that’s where we will be exploring today!
Jon: Copenhagen is amazing. It was so great to learn all about this magical city.
Jackie: But, before we can jump into it- what’s keeping you cozy, Jon?
WHAT’S KEEPING YOU COZY
Jon: Parchment paper
- What’s your favorite use for parchment paper?
- Would you rather be able to bake with parchment paper the rest of your life or be able to watch television?
Jackie: Naps- Since we moved I’ve been taking more naps and it’s been really enjoyable! I try to lie down for a little nap whenever I feel tired and I am near my bed.
- What’s your favorite time of day to Nap?
- How long is your ideal nap?
Let’s Get Into It
Jon: So I would like to start this episode of Coppehagen by talking about Pelicans.
Jackie: Why?
Jon: Well I went down a bit of a rabbit hole when and when I came out I felt like it might be a cool piece of knowledge I found.
Jackie: Does this rabbit hole have to do with Coppehagen?
Jon: Yes but in a very loose way
Jackie: Oh man this is going to be a tangent isn’t it. Jon- we just started the episode. Can I at least to do the Disneylands first?
Jon: Ok.
Jackie: Copenhagen is about 21,805 acres which is about 43.61 Disneylands. Speaking of Disneylands- did you know that Walt Disney went to Copenhangen?!
Jon: Yes but indulge me- have you heard the expression “Pelican in Her Piety”
Jackie: Oh wow- you’re relentless today. I have not heard that expression. I didn’t think pelicans could be pious.
Jon: Well when I was doing research on the crown jewels of Denmark that you can see Rosenborg Castle in Coppehagen there is a crown.
Jackie: And this crown has pelicans on it?
Jon: Well yes it has images that are supposed to show what a king is supposed to be: There is a guy riding a bear that shows a king should have fortitude. There a woman holding a scale
Jackie: Oh is that for justice? Like a King should be Just. Is that right?
Jon: Yes. There is a woman breastfeeding and that represents Charity
Jackie: Oh there is a Fountain and a sculpture that are similar to that
Jon: Yes breastfeeding seems to be a common image in art to mean charity and it is only because of Copenhagen that I understand that.
Jackie: Jon- let’s get back to pelicans. You just had a tangent within a tangent.
Jon: So the crown has a pelican to remind a King that he must be
Jackie: willing to carry fish in his mouth?
Jon: Hehehehe
Jackie: Hehehe
Jon: Well it means you must be willing to sacrifice
Jackie: Ok… I don’t get it. Explain please.
Jon: So when Pelicans feed their babies they hold the fish in their mouths and open their mouths against their chests and the baby pelicans eat the fish out of them. So when some people from ancient Europe ventured to where they could see Pelicans doing this the came back with stories about pelican babies pecking at their mother’s chest so a misconception was born.
Jackie: Now your explanation needs an explanation. And pelican babies are called adorable chicks- or just chicks for short.
Jon: Hehehehe Ok ok so they believed the chicks would pierce the skin and pelicans would sacrifice their blood for their children which is like Jesus. So, when you see a pelican on a piece of Royal regalian it is reminding the monarch to be pious which means devoutly religious.
Jackie: Is that it?
Jon: Yes.
Jackie: (Said sarcastically) Welcome to Coppehagen!!!
Jon: Yes welcome to Coppenhagen. Their population is over 600,000 and their native language is Danish because the city is located in Denmark.
Jackie: You did not want to start by talking about Hans Christian Anderson or the incredible architectural designs or the amazing pastries?! Instead, you wanted to start by telling people that Europeans used to think pelicans fed their babies by bleeding on them.
Jon: Hans Christian Anderson can get very Dark
Jackie: Oh very Dark. He created the Little Mermaid and that ends with the Little Mermaid turning into sea foam.
Jon: Although, it’s weirdly a kind of happy ending. But still Dark.
Jackie: There is a statue of The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen that’s really beautiful and one of the more popular tourist attractions!
Jon: Hans Christan Anderson also wrote The Princess and the Pea, the Ugly Duckling, and my favorite the Emperor’s New Clothes and they are all wonderfully light.
Jackie: He also wrote the snow queen which was LOOSELY used to make the Disney blockbuster hit Frozen- I love that movie- and Frozen 2! But, his version is much darker.
Jon: When they say loosely I mean so lose it is basically not the same story anymore but it still has a happy ending.
Jackie: What about the Red Shoes. That’s a dark one.
Jon: No argument here on that point.
Jackie: If you don’t know the story of the Red Shoes and your curiosity is getting the better of you, well you can look it up. But be warned it is not a cozy story. At ALL.
Jon: But the city that he wrote those stories in I think wins for the coziest city I have seen so far. Especially during the winter
Jackie: This is a place I need to go to twice when the pandemic is over. It seems like it is one place during the Winter and a completely different place over the summer. And both seem delightful!
Jon: In winter Ny Carlsburg glyptotek which is an amazing museum with all those incredible statues and the indoor winter garden with several mediteranian plants. Carl Jacobsen commissioned the creation of the museum and he also commissioned the statue of the little mermaid that we spoke about earlier.
Jackie: What is your favorite sculpture in that museum?
Jon: It is a tie and they are both in marble. Rodans “the kiss” which is like love cast in marble and is a depiction of a man and a woman kissing. The other is called Water Mother by Nielsen which is a depiction of a woman trying to breastfeed 14 babies. Just like Charity from the crown earlier.
Jackie: I prefer “the kiss” because “water mother” sounds like a very stressful situation
Jon: because of the 14 babies
Jackie: Yes. The statue also very creepy. They are little tiny babies- yet- they can climb. They are too little to climb. I’m no expert, but they are so small they probably shouldn’t even be able to hold their own necks up yet. Are they superhuman babies? I have too many questions. It’s just too much.
Jon: What would you want to do in the Winter in Copenhagen.
Jackie: I would love to put on a fuzzy scarf, find a cozy restaurant, and eat a yummy Danish!
Jon: I never even thought about what the Danish call Danish before then
Jackie: They don’t call them Danish the call them “Viennese Bread”
Jon: Well, that’s what it translates to but the actual Danish word is something else.
Jackie: For those of you guys that are just joining us we have an adventure jar where we put a quarter when we make a mistake in pronunciation or a mistake in general. Ok- so the name the danish call danish is “wienerbrod”. I am sure I owe a quarter. Danish is a difficult language. But, interestingly, the pastries originally came from Austria and the Danish put their own spin on them. But however you say it, and wherever they came from- they look delicious.
Jon: Copenhagen is also famous for open faced sandwiches!
Jackie: Yes- they are called Smørrebrød and these sandwiches are served on rye bread. They have been around for generations and have evolved into the most epic open faced sandwiches ever.
Jon: They look so good!
Jackie: They traditionally eat 3 sandwiches at the meal- herring, meat, and cheese.
Jon: Speaking of meals, how about Alchemist?!
Jackie: Copenhagen is home to a Michelin Star restaurant called Alchemist that serves you 50 impressions. This is the only menu offering, so you go for the 50 impressions or you don’t go. I watched a great video of a woman eating there and there was a lot going on. I’ll put a link in the show notes because it’s a very interesting 5 minutes video.
Jon: What were your favorite courses?
Jackie: They are impressions, Jon. Honestly, a lot of the impressions didn’t look that appetizing, especially when she was eating bugs. The cheesecake looked good though! The drinks looked neat too because some would smoke while she drank them and they reminded me of halloween. And the glasses were very interesting! I really liked the more meta parts of the meal. Like, they brought a goldfish in a bowl to the table and she fed the goldfish. They also gave her a piece of toast and headphones and she ate the toast while listening to Beverly Hills 90210.
Jon: What does that even mean?
Jackie: It’s art Jon- I don’t know. Speaking of art- she also was given a little canvas and paints so she could paint a picture! You could also eat your picture!
Jon: This sounds so interesting. I’d like to check it out.
Jackie: You’d better start saving now. The 50 impressions currently costs about $460 US Dollars. And that doesn’t even include the drink menu addition which I would imagine is necessary.
Jon: Oh wow. I don’t think the adventure jar will cover that. But Copehagen has more Michlin star restaurants than any other city in the world. So I am sure I could take my pick.
Jackie: True.
Jon: MMMMMM What about Tivoli? Would you want to do that in the winter or the Summer?
Jackie: Yes!
Jon: Hehehe
Jackie: In the summer you have the flowers AND the rides and in the winter you have the Christmas market!
Jon: Tivoli is an amusement park
Jackie: It was one of the first! The park has been open since 1843.
Jon: This place was the inspiration for Disneyland but it is 1/25th the size
Jackie: Yes! As I mentioned earlier- Walt Disney traveled to Copenhagen and I’d imagine at least part of the reason was to visit Tivoli and do some research. It is only 20 acres, but it has 100,000 lanterns and gorgeous christmas decorations and rides like vertigo which I will not be riding. Vertigo is awful- why would you name a ride vertigo?!
Jon: Well, people like the thrill of adventure.
Jackie: I’ll stick with our cozy nook thank you very much. No vertigo rides for me.
Jon: Just the kid rides?
Jackie: Always the kids rides! Except when they are too scary. To change the subject, what are things you would like to do in the summer in Copenhagen?
Jon: I would love to go skiing and bike riding.
Jackie: You can go skiing in the summer! But we will talk about that later in the community shoutout.
Jon: Agreed but even the biking is super impressive. Over 55% of the population commutes to work on a bike.
Jackie: They even have biking tours of the city. This is one reason Cophehagen is on track to become the world's first Carbon Neutral Capital in 2025.
Jon: Take that Climate Change.
Jackie: You have been biked
Jon: In fact if you can maintain a speed of over 12 miles an hour you get nothing but green lights on the bike superhighway.
Jackie: What how?
Jon: They have a speedometer that is a certain distance from an intersection and if it reads about 12 miles an hour it will change the light to green by the time you get there you have a green light. Can you believe that genius?
Jackie: You can also take your bike with you on their very quiet subway system.
Jon: It seems so refreshing to have a quiet subway that has places for a bike so it doesn’t crash into other people.
Jackie: And there are areas that you can just walk. And we will talk about that after a Quick words from our sponsor
Ad #1
This podcast is brought to you by napping. Jackie was supposed to write this ad, but then she got tired and took a nap. She said it was and I quote ‘her journey.’ Even though she’s not going anywhere. So, now I’m here recording this while whispering so I don’t wake her up. I would have waited for her to wake up, but it’s Tuesday and this podcast comes out on Wednesday and Charles said this needs to get done. Ok, back to the show.
Jackie: So back to walking in Copenhagen. There is an place called the Stoget which is the first shopping road that was converted from automobiles to just for walking.
Jon: That idea certainly took off. I loved those streets in New Jersey like Division Street in Somerville that did that. I am really looking forward to seeing the original.
Jackie: Plus on that road is tax free luxury shopping and dining. They should have named it after an airport terminal or something.
Jon: Ummm- that doesn’t sound very exciting. And if you really want a nice place to sit Nyhavn and look at the boats in water. Water which is so clean you can swim in it.
Jackie: Jon, we need to talk about Christiana!
Jon: Christiana is an experimental hippie village that was formed in 1971 from old military barracks and it is still around today.
Jackie: The barracks are from the early 1600’s and were made for a war between Denmark and Sweden.
Jon: After the war the island was abandoned.
Jackie: It was abandoned from the 1600’s until the 1970’s- wild!
Jon: Christiana has been active since the 1970’s and is still active today.
Jackie: The whole area is filled with graffiti art and is very colorful. I was watching a video of someone walking through and there are even old cars that have been graffitied. And there are areas that you are not allowed to film like the green light district.
Jon: The green light district is an area where weed and hash are sold even though these drugs are not legal in Copenhagen. Everyone knows about it and it seems like there are many strong opinions for and against the area.
Jackie: There’s a history of more dangerous drugs being sold in the area, but according to everything I saw this is not something that goes on today.
Jon: Christiana has had some more violent moments in history, but my overall impression was that it is a community of artists and free spirits with the goal of living differently.
Jackie: I read a CNN article that said that Christina and the area around it are actually becoming one of the more popular parts of Copenhagen and it’s driving up the real estate in the area. Many people who have lived there for years are now being forced to leave because the rent is too expensive. I’ll include a link in the show notes to the article.
Jon: So much of what we have spoken about are all things you can see or do today. but Copehagen has a lot of history. It was founded in 1443
Jackie: Even earlier than that- 900 years ago it was a harbor
Jon: In fact Cophehagen translates to Merchants harbor.
Jackie: How old is this place? well, the university of Copenhagen was founded in 1476.
Jon: That is 300 years older than America!
Jackie: That’s nothing. There are settlements stretching all the way back to 6000 years ago.
Jon: There are musical horns that are in a museum called lorgehorns that are 3000 years old that are still playable
Jackie: (Excited) Can anyone play them?
Jon: No!!!
Jackie: ok then..
Jon: But you can look at the cool designs
Jackie: Ohh Danish design is so cool
Jon: So much of Cophenhagen is design in Architecture that goes from older with colorful multistoried houses the modern glass building such as their theatre or their opera house
Jackie: What was your favorite building?
Jon: The church of our savior with the corkscrew tower. It has 360 degree view of the city you can even see the panoramic online. What is your favorite building?
Jackie: The Rosenborg castle. I want to see the guards doing their guard performance.
Jon: The changing of the guard?
Jackie: Yes. I also like the fact that it is now a museum. Anything else stand out to you in terms of design?
Jon: The oresund bridge which is 5 miles long that connects to a 2.5 mile long tunnel which connects denmark and sweden.
Jackie: The one that looks like a bridge to nowhere when you see it from above?
Jon: That is the one!
Jackie: Anything else
Jon: Yeah there is this tradition that if you turn 25 and you are not married they shower you in cinnamon.
Jackie: That can’t be true.
Jon: I suggest looking it up. Anything else?
Jackie: Copenhagen was originally a walled city and by the mid 1800’s over 100,000 people were packed inside the walls. There was a cholera outbreak and they realized that they needed more space so they got rid of most of the walls. Anything else?
Jon: Cholera is not very cozy
Jackie: Neither are Pelicans, and with that we will be back for our community shoutout after a brief word from our sponsor.
Ad for Parchment Paper
Rutherford B Pennyfarthing 75th Earl of Glendale here for a new product I call Parchment Paper
Jennifer: (exasperated sigh) You’re not an Earl you’re not even English
Rutherford: And this is Jennifer. she is my maid.
Jennifer: I’m your personal assistant
Rutherford: Yes maids offer personal assistance
Jennifer: Oh my goodness
Rutherford: Well you see I have two problems
Jennifer: You have more than that
Rutherford: two problems! One is that I have far to much Parchment via post
Jennifer: You mean your Junk mail
Rutherford: Quite Right! What what!
Jennifer: You can just recycle that into…
Rutherford: The second problem I have is that my maid
Jennifer: Assistant
Rutherford: Thinks it is too difficult to clean the residue from my baking sheets.
Jennifer: Cuz it’s not my job
Rutherford: Well the I put the old noggin to the old grindstone
Jennifer: That is not an expression
Rutherford: I decided to line my baking sheet with my incoming parchment.
Jennifer: You put the mail in the oven!! I’ll get the fire extinguisher. (Turns to the camera) Actual parchment paper amazing, but you are insane.
Rutherford: Quite right! Parchment paper so good its insane What! what!
Community Shoutout/ Outro (thank Liana for episode suggestion)
Jackie: Every episode we like to research and highlight something special in the community that we are exploring!
Jon: Today’s community shoutout is CopenHill!
Jackie: So, CopenHill is the coolest place ever. It is an artificial ski slope that is built on top of a waste to power plant right in Copenhagen! It looks like something out of a futuristic movie!
Jon: They also have hiking trails up the sides of the building and the world's highest artificial climbing wall for certified climbers!
Jackie: The plant provides heating to 72,000 homes and is thought to be the cleanest incineration plant in the world. If you look at a photo- which I’d highly recommend- you will see what looks like smoke coming out of the chimney, but it is primarily water vapor and other things that are already found in the air!
Jon: And the complex also has two restaurants.
Jackie: There is some reasonable criticism of the plant because there are better ways to deal with waste than incineration, but I would also argue there are worse ways to deal with waste like landfills and incineration plants that cause pollution to local communities. I personally think that this is such an interesting and inspiring step for clean energy.
Jon: Agreed. Plus you can ski on the materials the hill in made on in the summer.
Jackie: I should note that you have to pay for the skiing but from what I saw on the website things like doing the hiking trails are free so that’s neat! We will put a link to the CopenHill website in the show notes so you can check it out yourself.
Jon: There’s also a BBC article that’s very informative and we will include that too.
Jackie: Well, that’s the show. Thank you so much to our producer Charles.
Jon: Thank you Charles. And thank you so much to our listener Liana for suggesting we explore Copenhagen!
Jackie: Thanks for the great suggestion, Liana!
Jon: If you’ve been enjoying this podcast it would mean the world to us if you took the time to rate us and write a review.
Jackie: And follow us on instagram @cozynookexplorers! Or send us an email at cozynookexplorers@gmail.com! Or- both! We’d love to hear from you!
Jon: We will be back Wednesday with our next exploration.
Jackie: Yes, on Wednesdays we explore!
Jon: Stay cozy, and we’ll see you soon.