Balance October 2017 - 71

T R AV E L

in tow and friends cycle alongside one another
chatting, some even cradling a beer.
With just 2% of employees working more than
48 hours a week compared with the UK figure of
13% (EU average is 15%), the Danes spend twothirds of their day (16 hours) eating, sleeping
and at leisure. Unlike us Brits, they haven't been
living for Friday night all week.

L E S S O NS FO R
LO ND O NE R S

FAMILY VALUES
One evening, my husband and I get chatting to
a Danish mum of three. She's flabbergasted at
his working hours, around the British average,
pointing wide-eyed to our daughter: 'So her
father sees her only for a few minutes each day?'
By contrast, Danish parents get 52 weeks paid
leave to share between them, which makes for
a more balanced family life, and fathers are
encouraged to take as much parental leave as
possible. Not only that, but kids are guaranteed
tax-subsidised daycare from six months,
allowing 78% of mothers to return to work.
Helen Russell wrote The Year of Living
Danishly: Uncovering The Secrets of the World's
Happiest Country (£8.99, Icon Books) after
moving to Denmark in 2013. 'In a nutshell,
Danes prioritise family,' she says. 'People
work to do a good job then leave, there's no
presenteeism.' Less work leaves more time for
eating, sleeping, leisure - and hygge, which is

Live like a true Dane. Rent
a bike and explore the
city on two wheels in a
sustainable way.

Indulge yourself with a
trip to the cinema or
a massage. Don't deny
yourself time out to do
things you enjoy.

Enjoy a little of what
you fancy more often.
It doesn't have to be
'feast or famine'.

Take time out to spend
special days with friends
and family, enjoying
activities that are
enjoyable for everyone.

Taking a break isn't
time wasted - better to
relax and refresh than
become stressed out.

74

BA LA N CE October 2017

essentially spending more time doing
the things you really like.
Swimming in the open is a popular pastime
- head to Islands Brygge Harbour Bath for a dip
with the city's skyline as your backdrop.
Tivoli Gardens is like Kew Gardens, Thorpe
Park and the O2 rolled into one. Grandparents,
teenagers, parents and grandchildren all while
away their time here. Imagine seeing where
your teenager spends their Saturday night - and
even spending some of it with them!
Fælledparken is better still. While Mia loves
'doing the bouncy' on the mini trampolines,
teenagers play volleyball and my other half
is gripped by a dad's basketball game. I have
a go on some adult swings. There are five-aside
football pitches, outdoor chess tables, food
vans and plenty of toilets.
This felt like a pimped-up version of our
local park. Copenhagen has 125 playgrounds,
many with qualified staff offering homework
help, workshops and activities.

INDULGE YOURSELF
GRO Spiseri is a rooftop farm at the top of an old
car auction house in the heart of Copenhagen's
Climate Quarter. With a seasonally-changing
five-course menu, dishes are made up of locally,
organically-grown produce including chickens,
eggs and rabbits. Veg, like radishes, asparagus,
herbs and lemons, are grown in the grounds,
and honey is harvested from the bees. Dinner
is served on sharing plates on a long candlelit
table in a greenhouse among the foliage.
We are lucky enough to spend our last night
here and it feels like we're at a friend's house
- one who knows how to throw the best dinner
party ever. It's heavenly, even though we spend
half of it chasing a chicken-obsessed toddler
who'd rather peer in the coop behind the
kitchen than sit at the table with us. But, I think
we may have experienced hygge at last. B

MAIN PICTURE PREVIOUS PAGE: MARTIN HEIBERG; THIS PAGE: TIVOLI GARDENS - ANDERS BØGILD;
HOUSEBOAT - MORTEN JERICHAU; GRO SPISERI - ANDREA FJORDSIDE PONTOPPIDAN. ALSO: GETTY IMAGES

Right: Tivoli
Gardens
Far Right:
Houseboat in
Copenhagen
Harbour
Inset: Farm
restaurant
GRO spiseri



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Balance October 2017

Balance October 2017 - 1
Balance October 2017 - 2
Balance October 2017 - 3
Balance October 2017 - 4
Balance October 2017 - 5
Balance October 2017 - 6
Balance October 2017 - 7
Balance October 2017 - 8
Balance October 2017 - 9
Balance October 2017 - 10
Balance October 2017 - 11
Balance October 2017 - 12
Balance October 2017 - 13
Balance October 2017 - 14
Balance October 2017 - 15
Balance October 2017 - 16
Balance October 2017 - 17
Balance October 2017 - 18
Balance October 2017 - 19
Balance October 2017 - 20
Balance October 2017 - 21
Balance October 2017 - 22
Balance October 2017 - 23
Balance October 2017 - 24
Balance October 2017 - 25
Balance October 2017 - 26
Balance October 2017 - 27
Balance October 2017 - 28
Balance October 2017 - 29
Balance October 2017 - 29
Balance October 2017 - 30
Balance October 2017 - 31
Balance October 2017 - 32
Balance October 2017 - 33
Balance October 2017 - 35
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