Tivoli

Visit Copenhagen in December and you will be mostly in the dark. To keep everyone warm, candles are arranged in all public spaces, and to keep you awake there are Christmas lights strung out all over the city. You can ride the Ferris Wheel.

Tivoli, the permanent carnival downtown, is a bit like the Mall of America would be if it were outdoors, and if during the holidays it were devoted entirely to the celebration of Christmas. Walk in, and if it's too cold you can buy gløgg, mulled red wine with cognac, nuts and raisins. Tivoli's half-formed conceptual arrangement seems to be derived from Epcot, with each loosely-demarcated "land" built according to a different part of the world; in any event, there is a Buddhist-themed pavilion and then there is this palace in the key of Islam. 

 

Below is the grand entrance. It was here that I had my one truly exceptional meal. Upon entering the restaurant, called Grøften, I was seated and attended to immediately (most establishments give you a European level of service, not at all rude but less attentive than is standard at home); keeping with the amusement park standards of the premises, they seem intent on making sure you have a good time. The building was wide, with checkered tablecloths and the acoustics of a Munich beer hall, and the patrons acted like they were on holiday. Danes tend to sing very loudly when they drink, as do Germans, and the party just across from me was singing at a hysterical volume in Danish (or perhaps Swedish) before switching over to what sounded like German. I was served a cold platter with small slices of a rich dark bread, the staple used for their smørrebrød sandwiches, and was given four sauces, some of them bitter and some with lemon, and four meats: herring, smoked salmon, some kind of whitefish that was cooked, and then I think ham. (At the same table a woman was describing a party she had attended;  "I held up a sausage in front of me like I was peeing. I can't believe my father grounded me on my nineteenth birthday" -- and then she switched back to Danish.) Each of the meats was placed on the bread with its own sauce and supplemented with northern cheese. I could have been at a picnic, and I did not miss sushi. 

In Copenhagen, there are unique Nordic elves that you see performing Chaplinesque antics at shopping malls; on the other hand, there is the regular Santa.  

 Naturally, you can go to Canada.

 

Can you go on the rides? Yes, you can! Hop aboard the Christmas train (the cheapest attraction I could find) and tunnel into the land of coastal arctic fair folk.

The sleigh is just for pictures. It doesn't go anywhere.