One Day in the Denmark of California

Denmark

Last weekend I took a day trip up the coast to the little Danish mountain village of Solvang, California. About three hours north of LA, the village created in 1911 by Danish immigrants, is now home to many bakeries, biergartens, wineries, and shops boasting offerings of Denmark.

Drink in a traditional biergarten

Our first stop was at the Copenhagen Sausage Garden. I ordered a traditional Danish Sausage, the Rød Pølse, and covered it in relish and a load of other foreign sauces they had available. To have a true biergarten experience and take me back to my late nights last summer pouring down beers in Munich, I ordered a surprisingly strong weissbier.

Drink in a traditional biergarten

Our first stop was at the Copenhagen Sausage Garden. I ordered a traditional Danish Sausage, the Rød Pølse, and covered it in relish and a load of other foreign sauces they had available. To have a true biergarten experience and take me back to my late nights last summer pouring down beers in Munich, I ordered a surprisingly strong weissbier.

Explore the shops

After returning to the car for an outfit change, we popped into the many shops adorning the village streets. One of the most interesting shops was The Copenhagen House. Inside were only brands from Denmark, including a few that I was surprised to find out their origins such as Lego and Pantone. We also stopped into the cutest candy shop, the Swedish Candy Shop, which housed an in-store candy maker and sold an array of traditional European sweets. We stocked up on Kinder chocolate and tasted the delicious original candy cane, which the Swedish Candy Shop claims to be the only location in the U.S. to make.

Try Æbleskiver

The more I travel the more I become a foodie. Worth the three-hour drive from LA alone, our next stop was to indulge in traditional Æbleskiver from the restaurant. We ordered it à la carte, which added two scoops of ice cream on the side. Since we purchased it at a cute little window on the sidewalk rather than going in the restaurant we decided to find the perfect view while we ate, which of course was an adorable courtyard complete with a windmill.

Feast on pastries

Our last stop was at Birkholm’s Bakery & Cafe. Trying to stay as traditional as possible, I picked up a custard-filled Danish for the road (I almost cried when I dropped half of the custard while eating it back on my balcony in LA, three hours away). Basically about ready to drive back up there right now since I’m thinking about it again to get another, so yeah, it was definitely good.

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