Having hit the big birthday (and having had the forethought to have two thoughtful children enough years ago) I find myself the lucky recipient of …. a trip to Denmark! Signalled as it was by these:

– very convincing 70s style flight tickets complete with bar codes etc – I’ve long been looking forward to the week.

The rest of the family shared my excitement:

…..for the most part……

Say no more.

But also notice how snazzy easyJet has gone with its film flam mezze with hummus and olives. Whatever next? Well our great surprise that the UK seems to be the ONLY European country without a sensible siesta period. Copenhagen was as quiet as anything when we arrived. Few cars on streets. Shops closed for the lunch period. How civilised. Almost like a bank holiday. Why can’t we Brits do anything like this?

And in the evening – a long procession of runners,

At times they were 15-20 deep so it was with much amusement we watched kbp sidestepping gaily to reach the other side. We laughed again as others did the same:

No mean feat. Well done!

The run was 10 k repeated in five cities around Denmark in honour of the Crown Prince’s birthday. Bands were out in support:

This one looked like something from Disney or Legoland. Boy were they good!

And so wandering round as you do, admiring the tradition demonstrated by the ads,

Impressed by the ingenuity that allows an ‘air hockey pitch’ like this:

we came across the free town of Christiana….. where, walking along the aptly named Pusherstreet, we saw massive blocks of cannabis on sale. Like huge!!! And ready rolled reefers.

We even found the pushers of the day:

Essentially this is a self supporting bohemian commune with its own rules existing in converted barracks in the centre of Copenhagen. Responses to this are, as you can imagine, varied with some locals outraged and others generally supportive.

We did find a lot of people ‘walking very slowly with vacant eyes’ as kbp put it, in the environs. All tables come with a lighter and large ashtray….

As we left, someone bumped into kbp spilling his drink over him: hey man, no worries, it’s cool responded kbp. Passive smoking at its best!

And so to our lovely apartment (air bnb)…. central, clean,……

and well stocked ….

Well my good friend, excellent running partner and cosmopolitan lady, Jan, warned me of alcohol prices in Copenhagen. £10 for a small beer, her husband, used to London prices, advised. Not far off Brian : £12.35 for this:

by the way: it wasn’t the Latin /Nordic fusion which caused the siesta. It was a bank holiday on the PROPER Whit Sunday, 7 weeks after Easter. Stupid us.