Designmuseum Danmark in Copenhagen

A little while back I shared my visit to Kirkland Museum here in Denver, and it got me thinking about our visit to the Designmuseum Danmark in Copenhagen way back in 2017.  Despite being one of my favorite places we visited in Copenhagen, I’m still yet to share it here on the blog. In fact, there’s still a lot from our Copenhagen trip that I still need to share in general, so stay tuned for a little bit of playing catch up.

I’m a huge fan of mid century modern design, and no one does it better than the Danes, so visiting a museum full of famous Danish designs was such a treat. Designmuseum Danmark features examples of some of Denmark’s most famous industrial design, including furniture, lighting, household goods, toys, graphic design, and so much more. 

Let’s check it out…

Spring at Tivoli Gardens

Yesterday Tivoli, also known as Tivoli Gardens, in Copenhagen, Denmark officially opened for the season. When I saw the celebrations on Instagram it reminded me of our visit to Copenhagen over Spring Break in 2017 and the fact that I'm still yet to post anything about it here on the blog. 

We lucked out with the timing of our trip and while Tivoli Gardens was closed for much of our stay, it opened for the season on our last full day in Denmark. With such perfect timing we knew that we had to spend the day there. 

At first I'd been a little unsure about visiting Tivoli Gardens as theme parks generally aren't our thing when we travel, but after walking past the stunning entry gate several times a day I just knew that we needed to visit. I'm so glad we did! There's something much more whimsical about European theme parks that American theme parks are missing, and no where is this more true than Tivoli Gardens. The scale is much smaller but that adds to the charm. The smaller scale feels much more personable and less overwhelming. While a full day is definitely needed, there's less rush to try and squeeze in everything. The historic buildings add a feeling of stepping back in time, and beloved sideshow amusements remind us that sometimes simpler, old fashioned fun is better than high tech.

This sense of old world charm is not fabricated like what you'd find in many popular theme parks around the world. Tivoli Gardens opened in October 1843 and is the third oldest amusement park in the world. It has been delighting Danish families, and tourists like us, for almost one hundred and eighty years with stunning gardens, fun amusements, rollercoasters, classic fairground rides, playgrounds, restaurants, and performances including ballet, pantomimes and jazz concerts.

Easter is a particularly special time of year to visit Tivoli Gardens. With the arrival of Spring the park's many garden beds are filled with an abundance of blooming flowers. Tulips, daffodils and hyacinths add color and perfume to the gardens, while a sprinkling of the season's first leaves and blossoms grow on the mostly still bare trees above. Elaborate oversized Easter eggs can be found all throughout the park. When the sun goes down the park lights up with twinkling fairy lights and stunning lanterns.

Let's take a look at our visit...

A Look Back at 2017

Each year around late October or early November - or who am I kidding, sometimes December - I post a recap of our past year in America. Ava, Lola and I moved here from Australia on October 25th 2011 and I like to share what the past year has held for us in our adventure living half way across the world.

This past October marked our 6 year anniversary of living in America. I fully intended to share a recap post as I have done in the past, but time slipped away and here we are, the second week in January and I still haven't even started it. So instead, of sharing a post with the highlights of our 6th year in America, I thought I'd be a little more conventional and share our highlights from 2017. After all, one of my absolute favorite things from 2017 didn't even take place in the country!

Here's a look back month by month at some of my favorite moments from 2017. It's a long one so you might want to grab yourself a hot drink and a snack to enjoy while you're checking it out. And maybe a bathroom break. Ha! As always, to read more about a particular event or place we visited click the bold and underlined link for a more detailed post.