Odense

Place of fairytales.

The cold is brittle here but I'm loving wearing coats, hats, gloves, layering. My cold has followed me on the bus to Odense, birthplace of Hans Christian Anderson. My hotel is lovely, a big airy room not far from the centre. I walk into the town and find the quirky, shabby chic style Cafe Fleuri and absorb the seasonal decorations. My hot chocolate comes with a little bowl of dried fruits, apple and a chocolate. Everything is so artfully arranged. It is Hygge, the Danish quality of cosiness that engenders a feeling of contentment and well being. (Dictionary meaning) And maybe it emerges in colder climes, where winters are long and days are short but I'm loving it and I stay awhile in this beautiful place.

Then I'm off on an exploration. This is Hans Christian Anderson territory so there's statues and plaques underfoot. It's also a Tudor style town, architectural-wise and full of colour, saffron, rust reds, soft pinks, delineated in black and chocolate brown.

At lunchtime, I find a homely cafe and feast on a salad of goat's cheese, honey vinaigrette and caramelised walnuts with a Glog wine, heavily laden with nuts and raisins. I'm warming to this spicy drink.

Then I make my way to the Hans Christian Anderson Christmas market. They really know how to do Christmas markets here. It's fairyland. Kids are running around, the stalls are beautiful. I wander down the narrow, car-less streets amongst the 1600's houses, decorated with beautiful Christmas wreaths. People and kids are dressed in old fashioned costumes, it feels so easy to believe you have stepped back in time. I find a stall selling beautiful chocolates and buy a white chocolate coated marzipan, studded with crystallised violet.

I have lunch at Den Gamle Kro, an Inn that has been operating since 1670. Honestly, the Danes are so friendly and I feel totally looked after as they suggest I have a traditional dish of Danish blue cheese which they bring to the table in a wooden barrel and pour cognac over it and leave it sit for a while before coming back to mix it in. Then they scoop spoonfuls out and it's eaten with caramelised nuts and rye bread fried in butter whilst sipping on a Xmas flavoured beer, fragrant with spices.

Denmark is supposed to be the happiest country in Europe and I can feel it in the air. Families are lunching pre-Xmas, everyone laughing, ruddy cheeks from the cold and the quantities of the Xmas beer being consumed.

When I leave the restaurant, it's raining slightly as I wander down to the river and see the sculpture in metal of the paper boat, one of H C Anderson's fairytales, The Steadfast Tin Soldier. There are many sculptures throughout the town relating to his fairytales, The Wild Swan, Thumbelina emerging from a flower. I find them as I search for a chemist for Vit C and nasal spray as my cold just keeps on keeping on. It's dark early and everything is lit up and magical. Tomorrow I'm on my way again but Odense has been captivating.

Breakfast is amazing, thick, creamy yoghurt and berries. Crispy thin bacon, blue vein camembert studded with hazelnuts and the rich, wholegrain breads with a myriad of jams made with whole fruits. Fortified, I'm off on the Hans C Anderson trail, sculptures from his fairytales appear around the city and there's a museum, the cottage where he might have been born, (they're not quite sure), to the river where his mother might have washed his clothes. It's a sad tale really, his mother became an alcoholic, he never married having fallen for the famous singer, Jenny Lind and another girl who was promised to someone else. But he was highly creative and his fairytales have lived on.