Danes take their holidays (what they call vacations here) very seriously. Entire businesses close down for the summer. The month of July (and some of August) is devoted to getting out of town. Many will go abroad. It’s cheap to fly within Europe. Someone recommended a website (www.momondo.dk) that lists all kinds of amazing holiday deals. If you don’t know where you want to go, the website has a great filter that allows you to say: I want to go somewhere to enjoy Nature, and I want you to sort it by “cheapest” or “warmest” or even “fancy”. So, I just did that and found that I could fly to the Ordesa Y Monte Perdido National Park in Spain for 380 krone. (That’s $60 US)
So, people travel a lot and no one complains about the weather, because for sixty bucks they can go to Spain.
By law, Danes have a minimum of five weeks vacation per year.
But we just got here! We still don’t have beds or a couch. We can’t go to Spain, but our kids are bored!
So, I’ve looked up community centers to see if there are places where they can go and hang out (that aren’t the mall).
Our Lyngby community center is pretty great. It’s huge, with an indoor swimming pool, several gymnasiums, tennis courts, soccer fields, basketball courts, lots of open areas with couches and tables and chairs.
However… When we went there, although unlocked, the place was eerily deserted. After poking around, we realized that it was closed and under renovation, with a sign announcing re-opening in mid August. We then went to a community center in Virum (the next large neighborhood north of us) and… same thing! Apparently, all community centers are getting spiffied up over the summer, since, you know, no one’s in town…
At least the outdoor basketball courts are open.
Post-Amerikan 