Odense: Fairy tale land

Traveling to Odense was my idea. Ever since I learnt that this third largest city in Demark – next to Copenhagen and Arhus – was the hometown of Hans Christian Andersen. A tiny local carrier called AirBorne brought me in, along with my best friend and alter ego, from the Italian city of Parma. Ever since the construction of the Great Belt Bridge airline carriers have practically stopped halting at Odense.

A friendly cab driver drove us to our one of the best luxury hotels, Radisson SAS Andersen which is part of the chain operated by SAS, the Scandinavian Airlines. Bang in the midst of the old town, it is very close to the town hall where we saw a statue of Hans Christian Andersen. Sue was mighty tickled as there is casino downstairs.

I was longing to visit the home of the Grimm’s fairy tales. The hotel concierge had mentioned that the Hans Christian Andersen Museum on Bangs Boder opens at 9 am sharp. It was all I expected it to be- and more. The museum is housed inside a modern building. Stepping inside the museum we were treated to the life of this remarkable writer for children. Lovely frescoes by the artist Niels Larsen Stevns, cutouts, letters and other artifacts narrate the life story of the writer. We also visited his little cottage at the back of the museum. “I expect the place transform any moment,” exclaimed Sue, “and see jellies hanging from the roof.” She was echoing my sentiments word for word.

On our way back we saw this rather gorgeous church dedicated – as we learnt from people there – to King Knud who met his end at the hands of rebels in the 11th century.
Although taxis abound in Odense we decided to walk back to the hotel. On the way we stopped at this café called Baresso Coffee on top of a bookstore. The place has a mind-boggling range of coffees, including hot, cold and iced. We settled for two cappuccinos and cheese sandwiches. Pretty good.