I remember seeing the term Hygge for the first time while looking for Airbnb experiences in Copenhagen. A quick google search showed that Hygge meant “a cozy quality that makes a person feel content and comfortable”. It gave me the image of resting by the fireplace on a cold winter’s night, which didn’t feel too relevant for my upcoming summer trip, so I kind of forgot about it.
When I was in Copenhagen, I remember feeling occasional waves of inner joy, in a “just glad to be here” kind of way. It was otherwise sublime and hard to describe, and even harder to attribute the cause. I didn’t try to analyze it too much — after all, I was on vacation and taking in the idyllic vibes of a Danish summer.
On the metro to the airport, we zoomed past a father and his child running through some grassy expanses with the backdrop of the sea. I remember feeling a sense of delight and ease, and recalled the term Hygge; that’s when I realized I had profoundly learned what it meant during my trip.
I won’t try to describe what Hygge is; I reckon you have to experience this for yourself to understand. But I’ll tell you some things when I was in Copenhagen that brought me Hygge, and also some that did not.
Things that brought Hygge
- Biking around Copenhagen. Copenhagen is the world’s most bicycle-friendly city, and biking was the easiest way to get around. The infrastructure is very welcoming for cyclists — bike lanes are smooth, wide, and separated by curbs to both the road and the sidewalk. The weather also happened to be gorgeous every day I was there.
- Looking at water. The Øresund strait bordering Copenhagen is exceptionally peaceful; there are no waves and it glistens during the day.
- A stunning pink sunset at 10PM.
- Biting into a freshly baked cardamom bun. Soft, sticky, moist, and with an intense flavor of cardamom.
- Watching coffee being made. I went to too many coffee shops in Copenhagen, a city with a pioneering third-wave coffee scene. It was mesmerizing to just watch the baristas at work, applying pour-overs or making latte art.
- Louis Poulsen’s PH lamps. Poul Henningsen’s lamps are a delight to look at. He was intent on designing lamps that prevented the blinding glare from lightbulbs.
- Helle Merdahl’s glass bonbon objects.
- The crudite at noma. The crudite course, despite its simplicity, was one of my favorites during our meal. It was an arrangement of freshly picked ingredients from the garden right before service, including fennel, radish, zucchini, strawberries, carrots, and herbs. They’re served with a satisfying tomato and fennel smoked butter as well as a touch of chili oil.
Things that did not bring Hygge
- Eating a ‘meal’ at Alchemist. You don’t go to Alchemist for a meal, not even a fine dining experience; you go to have your conceptions of food challenged, to be amazed by the technological forefront of molecular gastronomy, and even to be made aware of different social causes.
- Getting fined for accidentally evading the metro fare. Oops, I blame the lack of fare gates.
- Biting into a slightly stale cardamom bun.
- Aftershock, the James Turrell exhibit at Copenhagen Contemporary: this was one of the most mind-blowing art exhibits I’ve experienced. My perception of depth was completely removed through the use of lighting.
- The Louis Poulsen Artichoke lamp: my controversial opinion is that it looks really ugly.
- Seeing the price tag of the Louis Poulsen Artichoke lamp.
- Leaving Copenhagen. :(
