Odense Favorites

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Favorite thing: Hans Christian Andersen or simply HC Andersen, (April 2, 1805 – August 4, 1875) was a Danish author and poet most famous for his fairy tales. A house in the old part of Odense has been turned into a museum with a large collection of his works and belongings. Also his childhood home is a museum.In the narrow street of Munkemøllestræde close to the cathedral lies The Hans Christian Andersen Childhood Home – a lovely little yellow thatch-roofed house. Here Hans Christian lived from the age of two until he was fourteen. The evocative childhood home has been fitted and furnished exactly according to the description given by Andersen in his autobiographies. A glovemaker and his large family used to live in the living room next to the childhood home when Andersen was a boy. Today, the living room contains a small exhibition of Odense childhood memories, told by the writer himself.

Opening hours:
16 June – 15 August, Mon–Sun, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
16 August – 15 June: Tues – Sun, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
(open on Easter Monday and Whit Monday. Closed on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January).

Fondest memory: The Hans Christian Andersen Childhood Home
Munkemøllestræde 3-5
DK-5000 Odense C
Tel.: +45 65 51 46 01
Web: www.museum.odense.dk

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Favorite thing: Svendborg is a city in central Denmark, located in Svendborg municipality on the island of Funen. Svendborg is the second-largest city on Funen and has a population of 27,512 (2003).

Svendborg celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2003.

In 2000 Svendborg was declared "Town of the year" in Denmark.

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Favorite thing: Faaborg is a city in central Denmark, located in Faaborg municipality on the island of Funen.

Faaborg is first mentioned in a document, located in the national archive in Paris, dated June 25, 1229. It is a gift document that gives Faaborg to Valdemar II of Denmark's daughter in law, as a morning present. It is mentioned as a castle, so it must have existed before this date. However the date has been used as the birth date of Faaborg and thus the city celebrated its 775 birthday in 2004. Nearby are located Egeskov Castle, Hvedholm Manor and Horne Church.

Favorite thing: I have put this as a general tip as the centre by the railway station contains much that can make your stay in Odense easier. Firstly, it is the place of arrival if you come by train. Then you can also find the official Danhostel here, as well as several shops and cafés for train travellers. There is also a public library. A great place for a budget base and it doesn't seem that seedy at night even if a station is always a station.

Fondest memory: This year's Flower Festival in Odense was devoted to Hans Christian Andersen and his fairy tales. My favourite was the flower illustration to "The Princess and the Pea". In case you don't remember the story ( but who doesn't?) it's a tale of a prince who wanted to marry a real princess but none of the girls he met came up to his expectations. One rainy night a girl knocked on the town gate - soaked through, she looked awful but she said she was a princess. So, to check if this was true, the queen, the prince's mother, put a pea under the twenty mattresses and the twenty eiderdowns on the girl's bed. Asked in the morning if she had slept well, the girl complained that she hadn't slept a wink - there was something hard in her bed which had left bruises all over her body.
That proved it: she was the real princess the prince had been looking for. They married of course and lived happily ever after.
Now look at the flower arrangement - isn't it the perfect illustration of the tale?

Favorite thing: The old beautifully restored half-timbered houses are real gems of Odense and in fact of the part of Denmark we saw on our way. Roses or other plants climbing up their walls add a lot of charm to them too. The cobbled streets and sloping red roofs give the town even more character. You really think you have been transported back in time. And the traditional red postbox with the Danish crown on top completes the lovely picture.

Favorite thing: Visit this page: http://www.visitodense.com/index_uk.htm

This is the official tourist information site for Odense and here you'll find a lot of information about hotels, restaurants and much more, as well as a map of the city.

And it's in english too!

Favorite thing: Well, this is not really a travel tip, but here you'll have a chance to have a view of the center of Odense, with a webcam placed on the city hall building...

http://www.odense.dk/odense/pegasus.nsf/all/517C6353A29708FAC1256DE90043B0A7?OpenDocument