Copenhagen - wonderful but cold

City Hall - the setting for the Killing

City Hall  - Art Nouveau splendour

Christiansborg Palace, home of Danish Parliament and Birgitte

Children and Bikes, the currency of happiness?

Queen's Tapestries of  Danish History - Bikes defeat Hitler

New Opera House

Opera House interior

Industry in the city

Frederikskirken - the Marble Church 

Little Mermaid seeks Prince

Kronberg Castle and DanishTardis

Holger Danske in the Kronberg Castle vaults

Elsinore

I am  a swan and that ugly country over there is Sweden

Safe streets - the Danish Royal Guard marches down the Stroget

Nyhavn - heritage harbour and food paradise

Hans Christian Anderson outside the fairy tale that is the City Hall

Tivoli Gardens during winter closure

After a winter of watching Danish TV dramas, Copenhagen sounded a wonderful idea especially as flights in January were cheaper than a rail ticket to Aberdeen. The Scottish weather came with us and grey skies, sleet and sharp cold days were not the ideal vacation weather. Denmark has been recognised recently by an OECD Better Life Index as the country having the 'best satisfaction with life' and the 'best work-life balance' of 36 countries surveyed. The relaxed way of life is apparent all around from the easy-going travel, the dress down style, the sensible working hours and the recognition that it is children and relationships that matter not the accumulation of wealth.

It is a country steeped in democracy, with a real-life female Prime Minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, leading a centre-left coalition. The Royal family are almost cherished with an 80 - 90% approval rating, the third world and United Nations are strongly supported and green politics are firmly embedded in the psyche of the nation. Despite the harsh January cold, most people seem to travel through the city on bikes; 34% of all journey to work trips in Copenhagen are by bike. In the countryside, trails sweep through the low lying forests and even on a freezing day with a thin veneer of snow, there were dozens of families out on their bikes. Research has found that cycling makes people more relaxed and add years to the life as well as life to the years of active cyclists.

Children and families are given priority by local and national government policies. Nurseries and playparks abound. Higher education tuition is free, which is attracting a lot of students from other parts of Europe, particularly since English Universities have bumped up fees. Copenhagen feels a far more cosmopolitan place than most European cities with English understood everywhere and spoken as the first language in many settings, including on many university courses.

The Danish for food is 'mad' but this is a misnomer: fish, ham, beef, dairy produce, salads, fruit and some surprisingly good bread make for good eating. The public transport is well thought out, punctual and relaxed. After a night in the new Opera House, the vast majority of the audience went home by bus. The trip from the centre of the city to the airport takes only 12 minutes and there is no half mile hike from the station to the departure gates when you get there.

We quickly realised that there is no way you can take in all the sights in 4 days, so we went Danish - relaxed and just sauntered round the streets visiting design centres, museums, cafes and the large selection of independent shops. The quality of the museums was exceptional with the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek having a collection of French Impressionists and a cafe in the winter garden to make your day. The National Museum of Denmark had displays on early history and folk stories of Denmark that provided a compelling understanding of the country in a way that focusing on powerful personalities can never achieve.

I had wanted to travel across the Oresund bridge to Sweden but it seemed a waste of the day. We went by train to Helsingor for a visit to Kronsberg Castle. It was undergoing a great deal of restoration work but the guided tour was revealing and highlighted the long standing feuds with Sweden; Scania, on the other side of the sound had been part of Denmark. King James VI of Scotland had visited Kronberg Castle after his marriage to Anne of Denmark. At the time Kronberg was the gateway to the Baltic trade routes and a tax haven in the true sense of the term. Later we took in the Louisiana Modern Art Gallery in northern Zealand where the superb setting overlooking Oresund and  Henry Moore sculptures were the highlights.

But best of all were the settings for the Killing - the City Hall, and Borgen - Christiansborg. The city hall is a superb art nouveau building with an interior spilling over with features and finishes. Even the plumbing was a design detail. It had just hosted a Fashion week and was very much the epicentre of city endeavours.  Sadly there was no filming taking place either there or at Christiansborg so we could see Birgitte in her home environment, although we did manage to watch an episode of Borgen 3 whilst staying in Copenhagen.

Christiansborg was displaying the 17 commissioned tapestries, designed by Bjørn Nørgaard, covering Danish History which were presented to Queen Margrethe II on her 60th birthday in 2000. They hang in the Great Hall and capture the mood of the country in all its glorious informality. Even the Queen's sons are made to look like rock stars and Hitler is woven in below a Danish woman riding a bike - Danish humour is dark and has a woman's touch.

Time flew despite inclement weather and we encountered only civility and friendliness, any angst seemed reserved for the Swedes. Would I go back? Yes, and it would be a good place to live if it had some mountains as well. However it made even Scotland seem balmy in February.

Bikes rule