TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Every Easter I am somewhere out there travelling, usually on my own. I love solo travelling and these days I typically restrict my solo travels to long weekend trips within Europe or a combination with a public holiday, mainly because I do not have a lot of holidays from work and I prefer to reserve the days for my longer holidays (with the Dutchman) every quarter. Having said that, I do feel lucky that I can holiday often, but on the other hand, I also work hard for it. Luckily though, because of the recent acquisition my company have made, HR adjusted our number of holidays based on the holiday agreement of the company we acquired which is a minimum of 30 days. For a full-time worker, by law in the Netherlands, you get a 25-day holiday in a year. Previously, I had a 25-day holiday + 2 days. We get 1 extra day for every 5 years after the age of 35, and because I am 42, I get 2 extra days. That totals to 27 days. But—now I have 30 days (6 weeks)! I am already starting to plan my 20...

Trivia: Did you know that the Danes are the happiest people in the world? Use google please for more info =) It was a sunny day in Copenhagen with sporadic passing clouds. I wanted to enjoy my afternoon in the city with a glass of wine while people watching, something that is always in my agenda when I am travelling. Luckily, I found an available table at the outdoor terrace of the strategically located ‘Café du Norden’ on Stroget and Kongens Nytorv (the Kings New Square). Here, I met Bj. That is Bj at my back before we actually met and had a chat. Bj is in his 50’s, lives in Copenhagen and works in the finance industry. He is married and has a daughter. He’s basically spending his afternoon chilling out with a beer in the city while his wife and daughter went to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, a unique open-air museum located by Oresund, about 42 kilometres north from the capital city. It is the same museum that I wanted to visit that same day, however, I wasn’t feelin...

Confession time. I do not really like heights. I mean, I appreciate panoramic views but an open-air setting, in a balcony or a tower on top of a very high building? Oooooh, that makes my knees wobble. Nevertheless, I still push myself every time because I have the gorgeous views at the end of the climb in mind. The beautiful and elegant tower of Vor Frelsers Kirke (Church of Our Savior). You can see the architectural wonder, the Oresund Bridge that connects Denmark (Copenhagen) and Sweden (Malmo) from the top of the Church of Our Saviour in Christianshavn. The tower and spire stretches to 90 metres. So when I stopped over at Christianshavn my goal was to really just explore the area quickly and then go to Christiana, the infamous autonomous enclave in Denmark. However, while walking around I saw the beautiful tower of the 17th century ‘Vor Frelsers Kirke’ (Church of Our Saviour). The spire on top of the tower I believe was finished half a century later. I love the b...

Because they say that Copenhagen is like Amsterdam, what with all the bikes and the canals. However, I must disagree though. Firstly, there are more bikes in Amsterdam and that goes with crazy bike traffic and suicide maneuvering bikers. Secondly, there of course more canals in Amsterdam. So anyway, I took the boat trip. I was curious and I get it anyway for free with the cOPENhagen card. Well, nothing is really free in life, I paid for the cOPENhagen card. Might as well make the most of what it offers. In the end I’m quite glad that I have taken part of this boat tour because I was able to see other parts of Copenhagen that I will not be able to quickly see on foot. Below are some of the pictures I took during the boat ride. Come and sail with me through my photos below! Decided to sit outside to get some vitamin B. Børsen - the imposing former stock exchange building The best restaurant in the world 2012, NOMA, is located at the back of this bui...