Although the last week has been pretty wintery I was lucky enough to catch Tivoli in the sunshine. We missed the Easter opening but the park is still looking very fine. If the colder weather continues it is a great time to visit without the crowds (a silver lining!)
The cherry blossom avenue in Bispebjerg Cemetery used to be a secret place for only those in the know. Over the last few years it has become a huge tourist attraction. Last year they put signs up to help people find it and this year I hear there will be 150 people drafted in for directions and I guess maybe crowd control!
I’m not sure I’ll make it up there this year, so these photos are from 2015. It looks the same every year, which is the beauty of it. Get there early or late to miss the crowds.
March in Denmark always feels like the month of hope. After the long, dark winter months suddenly the days are getting longer. No longer are we travelling to school in the mornings in the pitch dark or coming home again as it is getting dark. It creeps up on you. We were walking to school last week and my son suddenly said, “have you noticed something? Its light!” and he said the same in the afternoon as we came home. It does take you by surprise as your mind thinks it is still much earlier than it is and we’ve had a few meals later than usual due to my blasé attitude of using daylight as my guide (somewhat like a farmer).
As I was travelling across the country to Århus last week, I noticed there was a warm glow from the sunlight bouncing off houses and trees and it made me feel hopeful and looking forward to the spring and summer, despite the fact it is still cold and wet. The erantis and snowdrops are out and crocus are not far behind.
It’s funny that March in my mind is always intertwined with the memory of moving to Copenhagen that first time almost 9 years ago. That year Spring came early and by the start of April it was here. That time for me was a hopeful and exciting one and it is apt that it was also the change of season. This March we are moving to our new home, just minutes from the beach and I am looking forward to Spring and Summer afternoons spent there and the chance to see the sunrise over Amager Strand or Kalvebod without having to get up an hour before to get ready and across town. The thought of sneaking out at 3am to see the sun rise over the sea towards Sweden fills me with such joy.
For those readers who have moved here over the winter months, now is the time to witness Copenhagen waking up and coming into bloom. And I can’t wait!
Tivoli has been open for about a week now and I do think that Spring there is one of my favourite times. The spring flowers are beautiful and this year they have my favourite type of daffodil in abundance around the park. The main entrance is a little marred by the building site for the new food and shop complex aimed for completion in a few years but they have added a slightly bizarre giraffe and mirror installation to distract visitors.
Although the smell of hyacinths makes me slightly nauseous, this display is fabulous. At the moment it is fairly quiet in the park on weekdays with few crowds and short queues for the rides. Definitely worth visit at the moment.
I was delighted and perhaps a little surprised by the honesty of one unknown visitor there this Monday. Whilst we were fiddling about with our ride wrist bands I lost my CPR card and a 100dkk note, which I only noticed the next morning. I popped into the information office the next day to find that both had been handed in – I had expected the CPR card to be but not the money so that was a nice surprise and saved me 290dkk and put a smile on my face!
I took my mum up to Bispebjerg Cemetery yesterday before she headed home to see the start of the cherry blossoms in the avenue there. I had seen on Instagram that the pink was just starting to show up. There were already plenty of people there admiring the flowers and helpfully this year there are signs to help you find the avenue. They are in Danish which confused some French tourists but if it is your first time look out for red arrow signs mentioning kirsebær allee. 
The blossoms are probably about a week off being big and fluffy (see last year’s flowers here) so I shall head back for the full experience next week – with the rest of the city! But if you want a sneak preview pop up this week. 
It has been a little quiet here this week as my operation at the start of the month has taken a lot longer to get over than I thought so my brain has been a little stuffed up with pain relief and its tough to type with one hand. None the less things are getting better all the time and this is the end of it all, I hope. 
I have plenty of things to share here once I am back up and running but in the meantime a couple of weeks out has meant that spring has arrived with much lighter mornings and longer days and nature is starting to put on a show that means the winter is finally behind us at last. I shall be here next week with a few Easter posts and then after the holiday normal service will once again resume. In the meantime, enjoy these tiny glimpses of spring!
After the massive pilgrimage to Bispebjerg for the cherry blossoms last month, there are some new pink blossoms in bloom right now that get a lot less footfall in Frederiksberg on Allegade. These blossoms are also shortlived but still really beautiful. We used to live right next to them and last year our neighbour’s daughter had her confirmation party under the trees with the blossoms gently falling down – what a perfect way the celebrate a rite of passage.
Although the blue skies didn’t play ball, the pink of the flowers was still wonderful. Two Kommune park workers were taking a break whilst I shot the photos and we got chatting over the shared love of nature. I find you often have the most surprising conversations when you least expect it. These guys love their jobs working outside (despite the aches the winter brings) but what surprised me was their genuine love of nature. The more chatty one told me that every spring he visits (at least one) a beech forest outside the city when the leaves are pale green and new before they deepen into summer dark green. He said that he needs to do this as it ‘fills his soul with joy’. This big burly man openly spoke about this with emotion in his voice. It made me think about how much closer to nature and the seasons I feel here in the city. I used to feel like this as a child growing up on the North Downs in Kent where our year would be marked out by the coming of bluebells in the woods around our house, the purple rhododendrons along the roads, the blackberries to collect and stain our fingers with, cobnuts along the lanes and then the large juicy chestnuts to roast. Whilst the nature is different here in Denmark, I feel this same momentum of the year here and it brings me joy.
Last year the weather was warmer and I used this location to share my love of koldskål – you can read that post here.
I planned to go and see the cherry blossom avenue in Bispebjerg cemetery on Friday, when it would have been a little quieter but life got in the way and I ended up there on Saturday morning with every man, woman and their dog.
With a little patience I was able to get ‘the’ perfect shot. But the more I stood admiring the ceiling of pink I realised the photo story I wanted to share was the one about the people there capturing this natural wonder. I was asked by a runner to snap her on her iPhone jumping under the blossom – I was able to get the perfect shot for her.
There were models from Buch having photos taken, couples and families with babies posing by the flowers, old people gazing up at the trees and a mix of people photographing the flowers with a variety of cameras and phones. And you can see why!
Part of me wonders if the popularity, created in part by Instagram, of this place has taken some of the wonder away. The runner told me in 38 years she had never been here to see the blossom until this year.
But looking at the peace and joy on people’s faces with or without photography equipment, perhaps sharing this place and helping others discover it is a kindness to everyone. If you want to see this display of pink beauty, be quick as the blooms fade fast.
I think that Tivoli in the spring is my favourite time there. Easter weekend is usually very quiet and the perfect time to enjoy the park. This year Tivoli have really done something inspired and special. Plænen was transformed into a huge 400sqm tulip bulb field with 96,000 bulbs in full bloom. It was amazing! Not only that but there was a smaller hyacinth field of 16,000 flowers just inside the main entrance and you could smell them as soon as you entered – the scent of spring. All the flowers have been grown in Tivoli’s own flower farm. Last Thursday was their last day – but beautiful whilst it lasted!
It wasn’t until I moved to Denmark and then Germany that Easter really meant more than chocolate and being made to eat fish on Good Friday. In Denmark we get an extra day free from work on Thursday before Good Friday and the Danes take the extra long weekend as a chance to enjoy family and friends, often at summer houses if the weather is good (and even if it isn’t). Easter comes at the end of a long winter and is very welcome as the days get longer and brighter.
It has become tradition for us to decorate for Easter with an ever-growing collection of decorations. I usually make an Easter wreath for the front door and a few other little bits and bobs.
This year I decoupaged feathers and pressed flowers to some blown eggs from Pandura Hobby. The feathers were a success but the dried flowers less.
We also have a number of special decorations particularly ones handmade by my son, beautiful ones from Royal Copenhagen and Georg Jensen, gifts from friends and ones from individual artists but the whole effect is one of joy of Spring and rebirth. To me that is why I celebrate Easter (oh and of course there is chocolate and cakes!)
