The Magical World of Tivoli

Tivoli Gardens

 

 

 

Tivoli Gardens is a must-see in Copenhagen.  Open from March to September, it also opens for Halloween and Christmas.  We visited on the last weekend of the Halloween Season with a seven and two-year old.  The excitement was building even as we approached the entrance, beautifully decked out with pumpkins all along the main thoroughfare. 

 

 

 

 

Staff were warm and friendly and the girl at the entrance explained about the ticket options, which are quite complicated.  We could have paid entrance only and paid for the rides as we went around, or got a multi-ride ticket for each of us, which entitled us to ride on anything we wished.  We opted for the multi-ride tickets for everyone, including the 2 year-old.  There are height restrictions on some of the rides, but there were still plenty of activities for the two-year old, including carousels a play area and the most beautiful ride depicting the many works of the Danish legend Hans Christian Anderson.

 

 

  

 
 
 
 
Anderson, who was born in Odense in 1805, wrote wonderful tales that all children are familiar with, either through modern cartoons or books.  ‘The Ugly Duckling’, ‘The Princess and the Pea’, ‘The Little Matchstick Girl’…  His first published piece was a poem, ‘The Dying Child’, published in 1827 and he produced over 160 fairytales in his 70 years.  I still remember the being transported to another world through his exquisite writing – his descriptive pieces in ‘The Tinderbox’ and ‘The Little Matchstick Girl’ still connect with me today.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I downloaded ‘The Complete Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Anderson’ - translated into English by Marte Hvam Hult – on Amazon Kindle.  Hvam Hult writes that she tries to keep the translation as close to the original writings as possible.  My daughter loves the tales and is often not satisfied with only one bedtime story! 

"Most of the people who will walk after me will be children, so make the beat keep time with little steps."^[25]   - Anderson, planning music to accompany his funeral.

The minimum height for children on most rides is 100cm and if they are under 120cm they must be accompanied by a person over 14 years.  On some more adventurous rides, anyone under 120cm is prohibited from riding. 

My seven year-old is theme park crazy and she would have tried everything, had she been tall enough – including this ride!  There were some more adventurous rides that she could take, including a rollercoaster.  She delighted in taking me along on the rollercoaster, laughing uproariously as I screamed in terror!

 

 

 

 

 

The whole park was decorated in Halloween-themed autumnal colours, with fantastic displays of many varieties of pumpkins and chilli plants everywhere.  The whole park had a magical atmosphere – it was Halloween brought to life, without being tacky or over the top.  Families enjoyed the festivities whilst enjoying Hot Chocolate, Irish Coffees and Mulled Cider. 

 

 

 

 

There are also plenty of baked goods to sample.  The stands offered themed cakes to take in all the spookiness of the season!

 

 

 

 

 

The park looks spectacular by night and as it gets dark around 4pm, even the little ones get to appreciate it.

 

Tivoli has just opened for the Christmas season and looks spectacular from the street.  We have a visit planned in two weeks’ time and we can’t wait to see what’s in store for us!

 http://www.tivoligardens.com/

 

Glucose-Frutose Syrup

We’re all the time becoming more and more educated about what we put in our bodies.  Sugar is a big enemy at the moment and is high on government agendas. 

Glucose/Fructose or High Fructose Corn Syrup, in the US, is on the list of substances to avoid.  It’s a sugar first produced from corn as a result of an overproduction in the crop, and has been linked to diabetes and obesity.  Many food companies use it in their products.  It can be found in cheaper jams, marmalades and ice-cream, for example.

Why then, do so many of our trusted household brands use this product so much? 

It’s cheaper than traditional table sugar, however, the price gap is closing.  It does also provide many other benefits for the food manufacturers – better browning in baked goods, smoother texture for ice-cream and sweets and thickening for condiments.  However, some research shows that it’s more difficult for our bodies to metabolise and therefore presents a higher risk of obesity and diabetes than natural sugar.  There is ongoing research into the effects, however, with differing results.  See http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1025&context=extension_families_pubs for more information.

To avoid confusion, I generally go by the rule of thumb that if it isn’t something that you would have in your store cupboard at home to cook with, you are safest avoiding it.

Take a look at http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/06/17/everything-you-need-to-know-about-sugar/ for more information on sugar.

In the Saddle - Copenhagen

Katie Melua sang about bicycles in Beijing, but she should take a trip to Copenhagen!  There are bicycles everywhere.  Kids cycling with parents, professionals sauntering along toward the office, friends cycling together and serious cyclists peddling furiously.  Parents even bring their young babies to daycare in front-facing trailers attached to bikes instead of buggies. 

They’re an amazing invention and make much more sense to me then a trailer attached to the rear of the bike, where you have no idea what is going on with the kids.  The part that the baby sits into is a comfortable seat and the child is strapped in, with a waterproof structure zipped over them.  Most of the bikes I’ve seen seat two kids.

My daughter was in her element cycling on the cycle lanes that run alongside almost every road in Copenhagen.  They suit three bikes abreast, to allow for overtaking, and have their own sets of traffic signals.  As there are a lot of bridges in Copenhagen, there are a lot of steps and every set of steps comes with a special ramp for cyclists to bring their bikes up and down the steps.  Genius!

I would recommend hiring bikes from any bike shop, all over Copenhagen.  For example, Baisikeli advertise Standard or Cargo Bikes (which have a large carrier section on front, which can be used carry other people!) for rental of as little as 6 hours (80kr/300kr), right up to 4 weeks (810kr/4000kr) – www.baisikeli.dk. 

If you’re planning to do a lot of travelling around the city with kids, it’s a lovely way to see everything and the older kids will love the cycling.  Be aware of safety, however, and make sure that everyone uses helmets (not as popular in Copenhagen as in Ireland) and is aware of traffic around them.  If you’re cycling slowly, keep in to the curb to allow others to pass as Danes don’t like to be held up by inexperienced cyclists!

There are free bicycle courses offered in Inner Norrebro between 2^nd March and 29^th June and 3^rd August and 26^th October, every Saturday 10 – 12 and 11 -1pm.  More information is available through email: cykelkursus_nor@rodekors.dk.

 

I, for one, am delighted to move to a city that will encourage me to keep up my new found enthusiasm for keeping fit and I can’t wait to try out a bike that brings me somewhere, rather than the stationary one I’ve used in spinning class!

The Best Christmas Pudding Ever!

Well, it’s that time of year again. - time to steam the plum pudding and put it away until Christmas day! 

My very favourite recipe for pudding comes from Avoca.  It’s fool proof and delicious – everyone who tastes it agrees that it is the best Christmas pudding they’ve had. 

I shop around for my ingredients, using Aldi and Lidl to get as much as possible at the best value before going to Dunnes or Tesco for the rest.  I actually had to go to the Health Store for the currants, as they were in short supply in supermarkets!

The recipe below makes one 6 pint pudding or several smaller puddings.  If cooking one large pudding, steaming it overnight for about 8 hours is advised.  Smaller puddings take between 4 and 5 hours. 

To steam the pudding, make sure that the pudding bowl is sealed using greaseproof paper, doubled and folded over the top of the bowl, secured with twine and held in place with either a lid (which comes with a plastic pudding bowl) or foil paper if the bowl is ceramic.  Put a plate face down on the base of a pot large enough to accommodate the pudding bowl, and put the filled and sealed pudding bowl on top.  Fill the pot three-quarters of the way to the top of the pudding bowl with boiling water, put the lid on the pot and place on a very low heat or in a very low oven for the required amount of time (advised above), making sure to top up the water as necessary.  The steam will cook the pudding and the water should be bubbling slightly throughout the entire cooking process.

When the required time has elapsed, remove the pudding from the heat, allow to cool, pour the whiskey over the top and re-cover with fresh greaseproof paper secured with twine and sealed with lid/foil paper.  The pudding should be stored in a cool, dry atmosphere until Christmas day when it can be steamed once again for 1-2 hours to reheat.

 

Thanks Avoca for the wonderful recipe!

 

Christmas Pudding

450g Sultanas

450g Currants

450g Raisins

110g Glace Cherries (halved)

450g Brown Sugar

275g Breadcrumbs

2 Teaspoons Mixed Spice

1 Teaspoon Freshly Grated Nutmeg

225g Nibbed Almonds

110g Chopped Mixed Peel

350g Butter, Melted

6 Eggs

Grated Zest & Juice of 2 Oranges

1 Small Can Guinness

A Little Milk (optional)

After Cooking

2 Tablespoons Whiskey

 

Method

Wash the fruit

Mix the dry ingredients together with the fruit

Mix in the wet ingredients and the orange zest

Cover and leave to sit overnight in the fridge before steaming as per instructions above.

CPM Ireland Creativity

There must be something in the tap water supplying the CPM Ireland office…

‘Data Management Administrator’ and ‘Group Business Account Manager’ are hardly job titles that evoke images of writers, artists or musicians, however Carl Finnegan and Anthony White are working hard 9-5 to fund their real passions. 

Work just finished on the film ‘The Two Gallants’, which Carl produced, directed and co-wrote with his partner Darren McGrath.  The story takes inspiration from Joyce’s Dubliners and is based in modern-day post Celtic-Tiger Dublin, illustrating the hardships suffered by the two main characters through the economic crash.

Carl and Darren fundraised creatively to finance the project, hosting events such as table quizzes and using an online donation forum www.Fundrazr.com, which offered perks to donators like ‘getting a first peek’ at the movie and ‘being a producer’, for instance.  The film launches this week. 

More information can be found at their website http://twogallantsfilm.co.nf. 

Anthony, meanwhile, has been working hard with his band ‘The Rattling Kind’, an indie rock take on traditional Irish music.  The band was a natural step for Anthony, in which he plays percussion.  He has always been passionate about his Irish culture and coaches hurling and camogie teams at his local GAA club. 

The four-piece group featured on The Saturday Night Show on 26 Oct - http://youtu.be/9htZqVzbYsM and now have over 2000 followers on their FaceBook page.  Their debut EP ‘Rise Up’ has just overtaken One Direction in the download charts and is a fantastic accolade to over three years of hard graft.  For now, Anthony tells me that they are focused on becoming more well known for their original music, which shouldn’t be difficult given that two of their songs will be featured on the new series of Love Hate. 

Check out their page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/The Rattling-Kind.

Alan Peyton, MD, CPM Ireland, is very proud of everything that his employees have achieved saying ‘It's very easy in business to see your employees only in terms of the job they do for the company, but of course everyone has interests and passions outside of work and it is great to see what Carl and Anthony have achieved whilst still doing the day job to a high standard.  Although CPM is not strictly speaking a "creative" company, on a daily basis people in our business are being creative about how they solve problems and get their jobs done.  I'm really proud of what Carl and Anthony have achieved and wish them continued success.”

Every business needs an amount of creativity to help develop and grow, and companies constantly strive to engage and harness this creativity. 

Allowing people the freedom to express their ideas and be taken seriously, no matter their position in the company, is very important.  It is one of the key drivers in the ‘Best Places to Work’ criteria for developing a great company culture, which in turn helps companies thrive – http://www.thegreatworkplaceonline.com/Intro-to-The-Great-Workplace.pdf. 

It’s no wonder that CPM are so delighted to have such a creative bunch on board!