Newsletter #04
December 2009


 
 





FEAST FOR THE EYES
Visit THORVALDSENS MUSEUM for a truly sensory experience. The characteristically colourful museum building is a fascinating combination of architecture, painting and sculpture. It houses nearly all the works of art created by Denmark's most famous artist, Bertel Thorvaldsen. Thorvaldsen lived from 1770 to 1844 and Thorvaldsens Museum is Denmark's oldest and also most extraordinary museum building. Thorvaldsens Museum appears largely as it did on the day it opened to the public in 1848. However, the museum is still a very dynamic place that continues to appeal to the public today. It is regularly the venue for special exhibitions that feature art from both Thorvaldsen's age and our own time. The museum is situated in the centre of Copenhagen. The opening hours are Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm. Mondays are closed, as well as December 24, 25, 31 and January 1.

                 




TURN PINK                                                     
PINK WHEELS is a car rental company that allows you to book a car online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They also offer to deliver the car straight to an agreed address in Copenhagen. Accessibility, ease and flexibility is their motto. And no, the cars are not pink! Show them your Cimber boarding pass and you will be offered free GPS navigation.

          





CHEF SCHOOL
                                               
If you have ever sat at a gourmet restaurant and ate food that made you wonder "How did they make this?" then perhaps we can give you the answer at our very own Chef School. KOKKERIET allows you to become a student chef for an evening where you and your "classmates" are invited into the kitchen to prepare the menu that is served daily in the restaurant. You will be shown how to boil, braise, flambé, poach and whip in order to make 3 dishes, which the in-house chefs complement with 2 additional ones so that you can enjoy a 5-course dinner with accompanying wines. The evening starts at 5pm and by 7pm you can sit down to be served dinner and enjoy the day's creations in a relaxed atmosphere. The evening is rounded off with coffee and petits fours. By 10:30pm, the official part of the Chef School is over, at which point you are more than welcome to stay and enjoy the rest of the evening. The private Chef School is well suited to anyone who would like to experience a Michelin starred restaurant in action.
www.kokkeriet.dk

          







ADVENT WREATH                                          
CHRISTMAS in Denmark begins with the Advent wreath. Adventus in Latin means "coming" and it is the countdown to the birth of Jesus, which in this way is celebrated in virtually all Danish homes. Originally it was also a time for fasting and doing penance as preparation for the Christmas feast. Traditionally, the Advent wreath is made out of fine spruce twigs and cuttings, often decorated with red berries and spruce cones, four white candles and ribbons for attaching the wreath to the ceiling. On the fourth Sunday before Christmas Eve - the first Sunday of Advent - the wreath is hung up and one candle is lit. The following Sunday the next candle is lit, lighting one more each Sunday. This means that all four
candles are burning all together on the fourth Advent Sunday, leading up to Christmas Eve. This year, Advent will begin on Sunday 29 November.


                                                       



COP15 CULTURAL PROGRAMME              
The official cultural programme linked to the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009, COP15, is hosted by WONDERFUL COPENHAGEN. The programme offers multiple climate related events for the public. COP15 takes place from 7 - 18 December 2009. These events are not part of the actual COP15 conference at Bella Center, but take place at different locations in Denmark and the Southern part of Sweden throughout 2009. They include exhibitions, debates, workshops, shows, conferences, art projects, lectures, concerts, book launches and much more.
www.visitcopenhagen.com
                         





REMEMBER THE TIME                                    
SMC:BILER is offering the P-Watch®, a considerate gift for someone slightly forgetful. The P-Watch ® is an electronic parking clock that automatically sets the parking time when you park your car. It is the modern "p-skive" that will save you money and worries. Never again will you forget to set your parking clock or set it incorrectly. The P-Watch ® has been approved by the Road Traffic Authority and it
is fully legal to use in cars registered in Denmark. This is the perfect Christmas gift and it is now offered at a discount:
P-Watch ® FS02 (Retail price: USD 899) - Christmas price: USD 699
P-Watch ® FS02 incl. mounting (Retail price: USD 1900) - Christmas price: USD 1499.

               





A PIECE OF ROYALTY                                    
The Museum of National History at FREDERIKSBORG CASTLE is one of Denmark's national treasures. The collection illustrates the past 500 years of Danish history through portraits, history paintings, furniture and decorative arts. It is housed at Frederiksborg Castle, a magnificent royal castle dating from the 16th and early 17th centuries. In December, the museum exhibits a rare selection of 17th century Danish silk embroidered linen tablecloths and opens its collection of cabinets and cupboards from the 17th and 18th centuries to reveal their rich and precious ornamentation. In the museum shop, visitors will find a wide selection of Christmas ornaments and ideas for Christmas gifts. The castle inn, Spisestedet Leonora, offers delicious lunches and after museum hours, they serve "gløgg and æbleskiver." The castle is open in the winter everyday from 11:00 to 15:00, including all holidays.

 
       












                
FIREWORKS FESTIVAL                                   
There is magic in the air when the sky explodes into a multitude of colour bouquets. It will happen when TIVOLI counts down to the New Year with this year's Fireworks Festival, which kicks off on 26 December and lasts for 4 days. This year's theme is film and pop hits from four decades. "We are heading towards the end of another decade and therefore it is natural to celebrate the last four decades," said Tivoli fireworks champion Gunnar B Knudsen. It is only the third time that Tivoli holds a fireworks festival. Among the songs that will accompany the fireworks there will be Céline Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" from the film Titanic. The final programme will be disclosed in December but we already know that the music from Star Wars, E.T., Blade Runner and Indiana Jones has been selected. There will be lots of gunpowder too, from 80 to 130 kilograms of pure powder in the form of Roman stars, comets, suns,
air bombs and a special Tivoli Farfalla, transforming the sky into an inferno of light and colour, which will be visible all over town. The fireworks will start at 18:00.