Copenhagen

I found our trip to Copenhagen to be really inspiring, both on a personal level and on a parenting one. It took me about 5 minutes to fall in love with Copenhagen; there is something about Danish design and the general aesthetic of the place that really speaks to me – simple lines, a restful colour palette of blues, greys and mustard yellow accents and a far more relaxed parenting style than Britain.

I first read about babies being left to sleep outside on Joanna’s blog, A Cup of Jo, back in 2011, and it was wonderful to see that it really does happen. The photo above is of Pip happily asleep in her buggy whilst we sat inside a bar having a beer on New Years Eve. She was parked next to our friend’s Silver Cross carriage, which may be part of the reason no-one wants to take their prams inside, for they are all enormous! Several times I heard people comment on the bus that our buggy was so compact!

On the 3rd January, which was just a normal working day, we pottered around the area where we staying, picking up a cup of coffee and bread rolls with butter and jam for sustenance, popping in and out of shops (I bought Pip a couple of lovely pairs of shoes, and a dress) and almost every cafe had a plethora of prams outside, as did all the baby shops. There were also kids on bikes everywhere, far more so than here and we saw a whole chain of littles dressed in snowsuits, hats and snow boots heading to the park. It seemed wrong to take a photo, but it was one of the sweetest things I have ever seen.

Somewhere in the clean cold air, I found myself a little more at peace. Pip also grew up hugely on this trip; she has started speaking properly now and even trying out a few words of Danish (“tak” and “hei hei”).