Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope
and iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Guess what, Mango?
Speaker 1 (00:13):
What's that? Will?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
So? I think we've established by now that you and
I are fans of the Muppets. Actually, as i'm thinking
about it here, it's probably been a minute we haven't
talked about the Muppets in mint. So let's go and
established at Mango. What do you think about the Muppets.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
I'm into them, I'm a fan.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
You're in favor, you're in favor of the Muppet. I
love the Muppets as well. So we have now established it.
But here's one thing I actually never knew before this week.
It's that the Swedish chef wasn't born in Sweden. This
guy has been living a lie this whole time. We
actually should have talked about it in our big episode
on lies just last week.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
This feels like such a scandal. So what do you
mean he's not from Sweden?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Well, if you were to make the mistake of asking
a real Swedish person what they think about.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
The Swedish chef, they would tell you.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I'm sure, with a great deal of annoyance, that there
is nothing inherently Swedish about the character. So most Chef's
dialogue is just a bunch of made up nonsense words
that sound I guess vaguely Scandinavian. And according to Swedes,
the character sing Songish accent is actually much closer to
that of Norwegian or Danish. Actually, I'm curious whether that's
true or whether they're just like trying to pass it
(01:15):
off from somebody else. But you know, it's much more
like those two dialects than it would be, you know,
speaking with with Swedish inflections.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
So when he's saying like york and bjorky byork, that's
not a that is a Swedish secret or not.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
I mean, here's what's funny to me is that in
the Muppets books and screenplays that word b york is
is almost always spelled with a special Scandinavian vowel that
looks like an O with a slash through it. You
know what I'm describing there telling me that vowel doesn't
exist in the Swedish language, but it does in Norwegian
and Danish. And even though a lot of people think
that the chef sounds Norwegian, all the hard evidence points
(01:52):
to him hailing from Denmark.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
I love how serious we're taking this. So what is
the hard evidence you're talking about? You?
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Well, I got a little confused because I thought this
whole episode was on the Swedish Chef, so I had
done a whole lot of research. But anyway, for starters,
the co creator of the Swedish Chef Muppet Show head
writer Jerry Jewel, was of Danish heritage himself, and he
wrote all the Chef's dialogue.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Which I guess explains how that Danish letter wound up
in all those b Yorks.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
That's exactly right. It also explains why the German version
of the Buppet Show renamed the character the Danish Chef.
The voice actor in the dub thought Henson's accent sounded Danish,
so he wrote new dialogue incorporating Danish words and mimic
the accent of his Danish friends.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
So did Henson or Jewel ever acknowledge that their Swedish
Chef sounded, you know, more Danish.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Not directly, but someone on the team seems to have
realized the mix up, because in nineteen eighty five, this
was ten years after the character's debut, the studio finally
went on record about the Chef's origins. According to the
gatefold cover of The Muppet Review VHS. You probably still
have a copy of this, and I quote few people
know it, but the Swedish Chef was actually born in Denmark,
(03:04):
but his parents moved to Sweden when he was just
a baby.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
I am so glad we got to the bottom of
this mystery. But we chose Denmark to kick off our
new travelog series. I did not think that we'd start
by talking about the Swedish Chef.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
No, I didn't either, but here we are. I know
we'd be excited to go to both locations, but today
we are focused on Denmark, and I like to keep
you on your toes, so it was fun to kind
of bounce around there. But I do think the story
shows that despite the many points of overlap between Scandinavian
language and culture, these countries are much more distinct than
many of us realize, and lumping them all together just
(03:39):
makes us look a little bit silly. So in the
spirit of not mistaking all of Scandinavia for Sweden, let's
take a trip to Denmark, the land of little mermaids,
salty Licorice, and then not so Sweetish Chef let's dive in. Hey,
(04:12):
their podcast listeners, welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will
Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good friend
Manges Shot Ticketer. And on the other side of that
soundproof glass showing some Danish pride with his Danish flag
coffee mug. That's our friend and producer Dylan Fagan. He's
actually got the whole studio decked out in red and white.
They say it's crazy, it's impressive. It's impressive, a lot
(04:34):
of red and white. They're Danish flags hanging from the ceiling,
another one in front of his desk. He's even got
a little paper one flying from his Danish pastry. It's
feels a little bit overkilled to me. But like you know,
you said, Danish people would probably be on board for this,
right mango.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Yeah, so Dylan is obviously hitting the mark perfectly once again.
But the Danes are actually much bigger fans of their
national flag than most people of most countries. Like they
liat for all kinds of occasions, including things like birthday parties,
graduation ceremonies, funerals, and even at Christmas time. And it
might sound strange, but for many people in Denmark displaying
(05:10):
the flag as a way to express festivity rather than nationalism.
And that's because the design of the flag has been
ingrained into Danish culture for centuries, even before it was
officially adopted as a state symbol.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
I kind of love that for it to mean something
even bigger than you know, just borders. So how far
back does it go? Exactly?
Speaker 1 (05:29):
So, all the way back to June fifteenth, twelve nineteen CE,
at the Battle of lund Enisa, And that's when, according
to Danish legend, the country's red and white flag fell
from the sky as a sign of God's favor. Some
people think it's a miracle banner. It just arrived in
the nick of time, and it happened when the Danes
were currently locked in a losing battle against the Estonians. Now, luckily,
(05:52):
it wasn't just soldiers on the battlefield that day. There
was an archbishop Dunissan, who had accompanied King Valdemar the
Second on his crusade Estonia, and when he saw how
badly the Danes were faring, he raised his arms to
the sky and began to pray for some heavenly assistance.
Now suddenly this red lambskin banner bearing a white Nordic
(06:12):
cross began fluttering down from the sky, and King Valdemar
takes up this flag. He waves it about his head
and he urges his troops to fight on. And now
all of a sudden they believe that God's on their side.
The Danish forces rally at the side of the flag,
and they go on to win the day. The banner
that had changed their fortunes became known as the dannabr
the cloth or banner of the Danes, and soon after
(06:35):
it was adopted as a royal symbol, and then as
a trading banner, a military end sign, and finally, in
the early nineteenth century as an official flag of Denmark.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
That is a pretty cool history there, and it's no
wonder the Danish people love their flag so much if
there's a bunch of like cool lore surrounding it. But
I am guessing not not to put too much down
on it. But I'm guessing there's not much historical evidence
in support of this whole story though, right.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Yeah, So, Denmark's victory that day was likely due to
reinforcements sent in by allies and not the divine intervention
of this heavenly flag. But that's not to say there
wasn't a falling flag at all. Red white flags with
crosses were frequently used by European crusaders between the eleventh
and thirteenth centuries, and the motif was a symbol of
Christianity rather than the specific nation or the people. So
(07:19):
if you think about that, it's totally possible that a
flag was there during the battle and it maybe even
fell onto the battlefield from like a castle nearby and
it helped boost the troop spirits. But like I said,
for many Dans today, the flag represents more than just
the government or nation of Denmark. It's this symbol of
the Danish spirit in general, the people, the history they share.
(07:41):
It sort of like pulls all of that together. And
Gabe pointed me to this interview with a Danish professor.
His name's Torbin Kier's gar Nielsen, and he says the
different perceptions of the Danish flag are exactly what makes
it such an effective national symbol. As he puts it,
everyone uses and interprets the Danish flag in their own way,
and paradoxically, this is what makes it a uniting symbol.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Yeah, I mean, that does seem like a pretty unique relationship. Actually,
speaking of Danish symbols of solidarity, have you heard about
Denmark's protest pigs? Is this something on your radar?
Speaker 1 (08:14):
I feel like I've heard the friends, but I don't
know what it means.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
So, yeah, protest pig. So it's actually a special breed
of pig. I'm gonna show you a picture here that
was bred specifically to resemble the country's beloved flag. What
do you think?
Speaker 1 (08:27):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
That's pretty, it's pretty wild, and you would think that
it would have bright red or that maybe what's your
picturing and the white that's on it, but de fers
a little bit more of a copper color, and it
only has one vertical white stripe, so you know, the
Nordic cross is incomplete. But as far as breeding a
pig that looks like your flag, I'd give them an
a for effort on this one.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Uh huh.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Of course it does help that Denmark's flag is fairly basic.
Just imagine trying to breed a pig with fifty stars
on it. You know, I think somebody out there now
is going to try, but it's not amazing.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
So and of course like all the stripes too, But
you call this a protest pig. So what exactly is
it in protest of.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Well, this is something that goes way back, and this
goes back to the eighteen sixties when Denmark was wrestling
with Prussia for control of the southern Jutland peninsula. So
Denmark wound up losing the war, and when Prussian authorities
took control of the area, they instituted new laws banning
public expressions of Danish pride, including raising the country's flags.
Of course, we just talked about how important this flag
(09:29):
is to them. That did not sit well with the
Danish farmers who lived in that disputed southern region, so
in a clever act of defiance, they began cross breeding
their pigs to make them better resemble the flag of
their homeland. I love this so much, so the program
succeeded and producing a red pig with a vertical white
belt across its shoulder. Now only a few dozen of
(09:50):
those two tone pigs are still alive today, but pork
remains closely tied to Danish politics, and Denmark's national dish
is fried pork vllley, served with boiled potatoes and a
bechamel sauce, and it's traditional to eat the meat on
election night. According to Scandinavia's standard quote, the practice of
eating valflesk or election meat, is a tongue in cheek
(10:12):
reference to the over promises made by politicians on the
campaign trail.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
That's so funny and so snarky. I really love it saying.
But now that we've talked a little bit about Danish history,
we should probably get our bearings by covering a few
of the basics, so for starters. Denmark is a Nordic
country in northern Europe. It consists of the Jutland Peninsula,
which you obviously mentioned earlier, and a string of more
than four hundred islands in the North Sea. It shares
a southern border with Germany, which still controls the bottom
(10:40):
third of the peninsula, and to the north. Just across
the sea are Denmark Scandinavian siblings, so Norway and Sweden.
Denmark is the smallest of the Scandinavian countries, with an
area of just sixteen six hundred square miles, or a
little less than twice the size of Massachusetts, but it
actually has the second highest population of the three country trees,
(11:00):
with five point nine million people compared to Norway's five
point five and Sweden's ten point five. And Denmark also
has the most temperate climate of the trio thanks to
the warm waters of the Gulf Stream.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
You know, I actually always forget that Denmark is technically
an island nation. But it does explain why Danish vikings
got so good at sailing, you know, they had lots
of nearby places to practice.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Yeah, and really, the only part of Denmark that isn't
an island is the large, flat Jutland region, because it's
the part that juts out of Germany. It's home to
the city of Alborg in the far north, which is
often ranked as the happiest city in Europe, as well
as to Denmark's second largest city, Arhus, which is a
lively cultural center on Jutland's east coast. But even though
(11:44):
Jutland is the largest land mass in Denmark, no matter
which part of the country you visit, you're still never
more than thirty two miles from the sea. Isn't that
a movie?
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Oh that's wild? Yeah, yeah, it was interesting as Jutland sounds.
I do have a feeling that most people forego a
trip to Denmark's quote second city in favor of visiting
its first, which is of course Copenhagen, located on Zealand,
the largest island in Denmark. The capital city of Copenhagen
started out as a fishing village. Now this was during
the Middle Ages, and in those days most of the
(12:14):
residents made their living by fishing for herring. So for
the first one hundred years or so, the coastal fishing
town wasn't really of much strategic importance for the Danish
crown there. But when a wave of pirate attacks began
to pose a threat to Danish sovereignty, one of the
king's advisors took control of the town and started building
these fortifications in this kind of protecting the inner harbor there.
(12:36):
With his added security, this harbor town grew into a
flourishing trade center and eventually renamed Copenhagen, which means merchant's harbor.
So the city's transformation from a humble fishing village to
a bustling seaport culminated in thirteen forty three, and this
was when King Valdemar the fourth declared it the capital
of Denmark.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Which is quite the glow up and it sounds like
this is all kind of thanks to of band of pirates.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Right in a roundabout way. Yeah. Actually, that's great that
I said that, because speaking of roundabout, we'd be remiss
if we didn't mention that Copenhangen is, of course the
best city in the world for bicyclists, which is fascinating.
But more than half of the city's six hundred and
forty thousand residents commute to work or school by bike.
Think about that. That's more than three hundred thousand people
(13:22):
in the city that are traveling cumulatively eight hundred thousand
miles every single day. And they do all that pedaling
along Copenhagen's two hundred and fifty miles of dedicated bike lanes,
which pedestrian tourists are advised to keep well clear of.
Cyclists actually have the right of way on those lanes,
so if you try to walk through them, you're liable
to get clipped, verbally shamed, or maybe even both.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
It's amazing to see how dominant cycling is in Copenhagen.
And I even saw that they have angle trash cans
throughout the city now so that people can toss their
garbage while biking. It's amazing.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Yeah, I mean, the Nanes took to cycling culture from
the moment bikes arrived in the eighteen eighties. They were
viewed as an equalizing force in society, providing a fast,
low cost means of transportation to people of any social class,
and because of the country's terrain being mostly flat, bikes
were useful nationwide whether you're commuting to work in a
city or just tooling around in the countryside for fun.
(14:17):
So the past time has had its ups and downs
over the last century or so, but in recent decades
cycling has made a massive comeback, to the point that
nine out of ten Danes now own at least one bicycle.
In fact, reports say there are now more bikes than
people in Copenhagen and five times as many bicycles as cars.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
That really is incredible and probably big reason why Copenhagen
often tops the world's list of greenest cities.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Right. Yeah, you know, while I don't want to dissuade
any listeners from renting a bike during their visit, it
could be pretty intimidating to hop on a busy bike
lane when you really don't know your way around. So
with that in mind, what do you say we run
through a couple of our favorite places in Copenhagen that
are perfectly accessible without a bicycle.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
I love that, but first, let's take it quick.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
God break, you're listening to part time Genius and we're
sharing our muscy stops when touring Copenhagen. All right, mango. So,
(15:21):
Denmark's largest city has no shortage of iconic sites, from
the dizzy and corkscrew spire of the Church of Our
Savior to the famous Little Mermaid statue honoring Hans Christian Anderson.
But if you had just one day to visit Copenhagen,
where would you spend it?
Speaker 1 (15:35):
So this might sound strange, but my pick would be
the Tivoli Gardens amusement park. It is like this compact
little island of whimsy right in the heart of the
city and it's just a few steps from Copenhagen's central station.
And as that prime location might tell you, this is
no cut rate carnival. It was inspired by the parks
(15:55):
and gardens of other European cities, most notably the Tivoli
Gardens and the Vauxhall Garden in London. So there's a
big focus on manicured flower gardens and outdoor entertainment like
live music and pantomime plays.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
So this is more sort of like an old school
pleasure garden than a modern theme park.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
I guess, definitely. But Tivoli does have its fair share
of mechanical rides too. A lot of them are newer editions,
but some of them have been there since the early
days of the park. For instance, Tivoli's oldest and most
popular ride is a nineteen fourteen wooden roller coaster known
simply as Rutschenbannen or roller Coaster. It's one of just
a few left in the world that still features a
(16:36):
live breakman on board of every trade.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
That's a great word for roller coaster. I'm going to
try to commit that to memory. But I also love
that roller coaster breakeman is a viable occupation in Denmark.
It's like every middle schooler's dream job. But all right,
so the oldest ride is from nineteen fourteen. But how
old is the park?
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Well, the grand opening of the park goes way back
to eighteen forty three, which makes it the second oldest
operating amusement park in the world. The other one also
happens to be in Denmark.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Really Okay, yeah, well, they're in some old parks I'm
honestly impressed I've been able to hold on to such
prime real estate for that long. I mean, most European
capitals don't exactly carve out space for a sprawling amusement
park right in the middle of their downtown.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Yeah, I mean, to be fair, of the park wasn't
ever meant to have such a central location. Tili Gardens
was founded by this guy named George Carstensen, and he
fell in love with Pleasure Gardens while traveling abroad and
wanted to bring his own park on the edge of
the Danish capital. It was kind of a tough sell
at first, but he eventually won the Danish kingover by
(17:40):
telling him that you know, when people are amusing themselves,
they're not really thinking about politics. So Carsonsen's charter allowed
him to use roughly about fifteen acres of land just
outside the Copenhagen city limits. It's an area that i'd
once been the site of the city's old fortifications. But
the park didn't stay outside the city for long, and
that's partly because Copenhagen continued to expand throughout the nineteenth century,
(18:05):
eventually growing around the gardens and making it part of
the city.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Proper. I mean, it definitely sounds more fun to have
a roller coaster in the center of the city than
a bunch of rundown for it. So good.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Yeah, I think it's pretty smart. And when Tivoli Gardens
opened in eighteen forty three, the locals were amazed by
just how much the familiar grounds had changed. Like these
used to be barren fields, and they were turned into
these lush gardens that were filled with like exotic plants
and flowers. The crumbling ruins were replaced with pavilions modeled
after foreign architecture, and the park was almost something like
(18:35):
from a fairy tale. That was especially true at night,
when thousands of colored lamps would light up the gardens.
Speaking of fairytales, one of the park's earliest and most
famous proponents was none other than Hans Christian Anderson. Now.
He visited Tivoti Gardens during its very first season, and
his favorite part was the Chinese pavilion. Anderson was so
inspired by his visit that he wrote an original fairy
(18:57):
tale set in China called The Nightingale, and he used
the Tivoli Gardens pavilion as the model for the Emperor's
Palace and in later years, the park returned the favor
by incorporating Anderson's fairy Tales into its attractions, so guests
that Tivoli Gardens can now watch a stage show based
on the author's work, and even board a dark ride
called the Flying Trunk, which takes riders on a whirlwind
(19:19):
tour through thirty two of Anderson's fairy Tales.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
You know, it's interesting because one of the few things
that I'd heard about Tivoli Gardens before doing this episode
is that it helped inspire the Disney theme parks, which
of course have their own rides based on Anderson's stories.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Yeah. So Walt actually took a trip to Tivy in
nineteen fifty one, so just four years before he opened Disneyland,
and he went there with his good friend and TV
star Art link Letter, and the two of them spent
the day gathering ideas to use in Walt's future park.
According to link Letter, Disney took notes on every aspect
of Tivli Gardens, And we've heard this about Disney before
(19:57):
that he was just obsessive. So he wrote down notes
on everything for the rides, to the foods, to the
number of trash cans they had. So while Tivoli is
very much its own thing, you can find traces of
its influence all over the original Disneyland and in other
theme parks as well.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
All right, Well, as fun as this place sounds, amusement
parks aren't exactly for everybody. I don't quite get it,
because I love amusement parks, and the thing is, though,
you do have to pay to get in. So I
guess I'll go in a slightly different direction from my pick,
and I'm going to recommend heading to a different part
of the city that's just as colorful and unique as Tivili,
but with no admission fee. It's called Freetown Christiania, and
(20:34):
although it's just a short walk from the trendy waterfront
area of Kniehound, it feels worlds apart from any other
neighborhood in Denmark.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
I should think. I read about this place like it's
a hippie micronation right in the middle of the city, right.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yes, yes, So Christiania was founded in nineteen seventy one
when a few hundred young squatters took up residence in
this deserted military barracks area. And this is less than
a mile away from the seed of Danish Parliament. Now
you might call them hippies or nonconformists or idealists, but
whatever the case, they wanted to experiment with a different
way of life when it was more laid back than
(21:09):
the conventional city living. So it had this motto translated
into English that was live life. Artistically, only dead fish
swim in the current. So this was pretty good. So
with that in mind, they used the land and the
existing infrastructure to set up an autonomous commune, or freetown
as they described it, which they claimed was politically distinct
(21:30):
from the surrounding city and from Denmark itself. So in fact,
when you enter the area today, there's actually a sign
announcing that you're leaving the European Union, even though the
Danish government has never recognized Christiania's independence.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
So I'm so curious because like, how does a place
like this exist, Like you think the city would have
shut it down if it's really kind of a rogue
state or whatever.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Yeah, I mean, it's definitely been threatened before, especially in
the late nineteen seventies when the place became a hub
for drug dealers as well, but so far the city
has mostly looked the other way and left Christiania to
its own devices. So, for example, the commune has its
own flag, its own common law, and even its own
system of government, with all the decisions being made jointly
at these monthly meetings that they have. So the residents
(22:15):
don't pay rent for their homes the storefronts either. Instead,
they pay a monthly user fee which kind of helps
pay for the communal infrastructure and building projects and stuff
like that.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
I love the idea of a user fee for your talent. Yeah, yeah,
that sounds so wild. So how many people actually live there?
Speaker 2 (22:33):
So there's just under one thousand people. There's about two
hundred and twenty kids, seven hundred and seventy adults or so,
including one hundred or so who are still there from
the original takeover. Actually wow.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
And so what can you do there if you decide
to visit, Well, the.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Best way to make sense of what you're seeing is
to take a guided tour from a local so they
are offered daily during the summer. Otherwise, visitors are free
to wander the seventeen acre grounds that are there, and
there are tons of public art displays to check out,
a bunch of eclectic shops selling handmade crafts, and there's
always some kind of concert or live performance going on.
(23:06):
You can also just take a walk along the winding
forest pathways or stroll along the lake that borders the community.
It's definitely not your usual tourist fair, but if you're
interested in alternative lifestyle, a trip to Freetown deserves a
spot on your itinerary.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
That sounds fascinating, But I'm curious about the drug trade
that you mentioned. Is that still a problem there, because
you know, I'm just kind of wondering, is this the
type of place you take kids or don't take kids?
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Well, that's the thing. So for decades now, the most
notorious part of Christiania was this touristy main drag called
Pusher Street, and it was lined with all kinds of
stalls selling souvenirs and junk food. But in one particular stretch,
known as the green Light District, vendors would openly sell
marijuana and hash and those are illegal in Denmark actually,
and in truth, the activity divided the community. Some residents
(23:52):
even took it upon themselves to dismantle the stalls to
avoid a government crackdown. But you know, no matter how
much backlash they faced, and no matter how many police raids,
their community was subjected to the stalls and the dealers
just kept coming back.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
I mean, that's got to be so frustrating for the
families that are just trying to live around there and
raise the kids in that area.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Yeah, and it also created a really paranoid atmosphere, I guess,
so the visitors were discouraged from taking photos, were told
not to run out doors because, as one sign put it,
it makes people nervous. And sadly, there have been some
violent incidents in the past few years. But the good
news is that these tragedies spurred the community to take
real decisive action, and in twenty twenty four, residents voted
(24:33):
not only to shut down Pusher Street, but to actually
rip it up piece by piece. So on April sixth
of last year, residents held a community wide celebration as
they dug up the cobblestones of the one hundred meter
long alley. They tore down the Pusher stalls once and
for all, and the plan is to use the space
to build a new communal housing development, which Copenhagen government
(24:53):
has agreed to fund. Now that the drug trade has
been squashed, but despite any controversy over the years, Free
Time is actually one of the most popular tourist destinations
in the entire city, and with these recent shakeups and decisions,
now that's probably the best time in decades actually to
go check it out. I mean, it sounds fascinating.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
Okay, So now that we've seen a few of the
sites of the Danish capital, let's talk a little more
broadly about what to do while in Denmark. But before
we get into that, let's take another quick break.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Welcome back to part time Genius. All right, Mango, So
you're traveling abroad in Denmark, you're hitting all the tourist hotspots,
but what's something you can do to really feel like
a local, Like, what would you say is your must
try Danish pastime?
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Well, aside from election meet which we definitely have to try, right,
we haven't really talked about Danish cuisine yet, so I'd
say that if you really want a taste of true
Danish culture, you have to try in one of the
country's signature dishes, and open faced sandwich called smur brought
And the name itself comes from the Danish words for butter,
(26:09):
s'more and bread broad and at its heart, that's.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
What the dishes.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
It's like a buttered slice of dense Danish rye bread
which you then pile high with a variety of toppings.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
You know, I do love that your travel advice is
to eat a sandwich, because I think that's a pretty
pretty safe one for most people when they travel. So
tell me a little bit more.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Yeah, I mean, if you want to know about a
place eat, it's sandwich, right right. That's an old slogan
of mine. But of course, like this actually isn't any
old sandwich. This is a lunchtime institution in Denmark, and
there are these really strict customs around which toppings go
together and the order in which you should eat them.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Okay, okay, so we're describing a tightly regimented sandwich. I
do feel like that changes things here.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
I know it sounds odd, but trust me, it's way
stranger to go to Denmark and not eat one of
these smur brots. But it's a meal that served just
about everywhere, from street market stalls to Michelin starred restaurants,
and with so many topping options and price points, you
really have no excuse not to try it.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
I'm curious tho, how did they get so ubiquitous, because
an open face sandwich doesn't exactly scream like fine dining
to me.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Yeah, it's funny because when it first rose to prominence,
it was very much a food of the people. This
is late in the nineteenth century when factory workers began
to break from tradition by eating their midday meals away
from home. So of course they needed something cheap and
filling that didn't require much prep time, so they started
piling leftovers onto bread and whil this whole culinary tradition
(27:39):
was born. But presentation is a big deal. With smar brought.
All of the ingredients are supposed to be arranged in
a way that highlights their different colors and textures. So
the thin toppings that go on first, then the bulky ones,
and finally the garnishes. And it sounds kind of pedantic,
but remember this is an open faced sandwich, so you
can't just hide everything under a second slice of bread.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
All right, So what kind of toppings are we looking at?
So that I know we're talking about Denmark here, so
I imagine pickled herring has to be in the mix somewhere.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Right, Yeah, the go to classic is marinated harring, onions
and capers, but foreign pallets might want to offer for
something a little more familiar, like roast beef with pickles,
onions and horse radish. If you're vegetarian, one of the
few meat free combinations is of boiled potatoes, fried onions,
and crem fresh and these sandwiches are especially popular in
(28:29):
the summer when Danish field grown potatoes are in season.
Another thing to keep in mind, though, is that people
often eat multiple of these sandwiches in a single meal,
and if you do that, there's a proper sequence to
follow in terms of ingredients. So traditionally your first course
is the herring, followed by any other fishy sandwiches like
shrimp or mackerel. Then you move on to a meat
based sandwich, your roast beef, liver, pete, and chicken salads,
(28:51):
and then to round things out, you finished with a
cheesy sandwich for dessert. And probably the most important thing
to remember is that even though these are sandwiches, they're
absolutely meant to be eaten with a fork and a knife.
You were going to get shocked looks from Danes if
you just use your hands and pick one up. So
be sure to do that at your own peril.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
All right. Actually, have you ever had pickled hairing before, Mengo?
I have not, have you. You know, when Georgia and
I travel, we try to do a good job of
eating some of the local favorites. And we were actually
in Sweden when we did this, and we tried really hard,
and there were some of it that tasted okay. But
it's one of the first times I've ever seen her
(29:32):
with like true eyes watering, like really just trying to
make it work. But you know, when you're there, you
got to try it. I feel like that's just part
of it. But as for this, I can't decide if
I love or hate how complicated they made eating a sandwich,
but I do want to try one, all right. So
after you've gorged yourself on pickled herring and rye bread,
you'll probably be in the mood for a little fresh
(29:53):
air and maybe even some exercise. And one of the
best ways to get exercise in Denmark is to have
yourself a treasure hunt. I don't know if you saw
that one coming, but I don't mean shopping for souvenirs. Instead,
you're going to want to rent a metal detector and
make your way to the nearest open field that you
can find there. The more rural, the better.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
I really thought you were gonna say, like, get a
snow globe, get a baseball, get.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
No, nope, that is not what I was going for.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
I'm amazed by this. So tourists can actually just like
dig holes in search of buried treasure around the city.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
I mean, as long as it's on public land, they're
allowed to do this. This is thanks to a century's
old Danish law, where citizens and visitors alike are free
to dig wherever they want, so long as they hand
over any objects of value that they come across.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
And who do you hand them over to?
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Yeah, it is not obvious so anyway, that the so
called treasure trove of law was passed in twelve forty
one CE by King Valdemar the Second, So back then
you were supposed to give it all to him. But
these days an ancient treasure you find in Denmark is
required be taken to a local museum, which will then
hand off the goods to the National Museum in Copenhagen.
(31:05):
I think this is just so silly and delightful.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Yeah, that's pretty amazing. And I guess everything's just on
the honor system, or is there like a reward for
doing this work?
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Spoken like a true American, the big reward. But there
is a reward system, and it's actually been in place
since seventeen fifty two, and anyone who's find is determined
to be of historical interest receives a small sum of money,
actually typically around six hundred kroner or just over eighty
dollars US. Now, it might take a couple of years
for the museum to pay up, as they tend to
(31:34):
receive about eighteen thousand objects every single year. Can't I
matge how many holes are sitting there throughout the city.
But the weight is well worth it, because, in addition
to the bounty, the museum also sends the finder a
letter detailing everything they've learned about the object, including when
it was made, who it may have belonged to, and
what it might have been used for. One of the
(31:54):
most frequent finds are these mysterious gold foils called guid goober.
I believe that's how pronounced that. I actually I don't think
that's at all how it announced, but that's what I'm reading,
which is a Swedish term that means a little man
of gold. They're these small thin pieces of hammered gold
that kind of look like postage stamps and they're embossed
with these images of people. And a few thousand gold
(32:15):
gubber have been found all across Norway, Sweden and Denmark,
and while archaeologists believe that they were made during the
Iron Age, no one is exactly sure what they were
used for.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
That's interesting because I know a lot of countries have
cracked down on metal detecting for fear that people might
start looting all the historic sites. But it sounds like
Denmark found a way to use that hobby to everyone's advantage,
Like people are finding things of real historic value and
the city's kind of outsourcing the work.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Absolutely. I mean, there's lots that's unknown about Danish history
prior to the vikings and artifacts found by metal detectorists.
You know, they're helping to fill in some of those gaps. So,
for example, one of the most illuminating finds came in
twenty twenty one when I first time detectorists discovered a
stash of fifteen hundred year old gold old jewelry. This
was in central Jutland. Archaeologists think it may have been
(33:04):
buried to keep it out of the hands of invaders,
or possibly as a last resort offering to the Norse gods.
But what's really interesting is that some of the pieces
appear to be based on similar Roman jewelry, and a
few of them are actually gold coins from the Roman
Empire that were converted into these wearable medallions.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
That is insane, and it feels like like for a
rookie detectriss to come out there and just like on
their first like then you go around come up with
all these coins.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
It's some believe pretty awesome.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
So does that mean someone in the pre Viking society
had contact with the Romans? Like, is that how this
stuff got there? You know?
Speaker 2 (33:40):
Probably not, since the Vikings themselves never made it to
Roman territories. But the presence of the coins does suggest
that people who lived there before the Vikings had a
much more extensive trade network than the researchers had previously guessed.
And again, this is something we now know because a
random guy decided to buy a metal detector and got
super lucky on his first.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
That is wild. So I love that ordinary citizens are
out there doing some of the like work for archaeologists,
it really does feel like a win win.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
It really is, and especially when you consider that many
of these artifacts would have wound up being destroyed by
farming or development if someone hadn't come along and dug
them up first. It's very much a race against time
to find whatever else might be out there, and that's
why museum curators are quick to thank the public for
their help. So, as the National Museum Curator put it,
these citizens spend a lot of time doing this and
(34:29):
that's time we as professionals would never have in the field.
We're writing our history together in a way where everybody
can participate.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Yeah, that's pretty wonderful. It reminds me of what we
were saying earlier about Danes taking so much pride in
their flag, Like there really does seem to be a
sense of unity in their society, not long any like
hard political lines, but just in the sense of a
shared history and culture.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
Yeah, it certainly feels that way. And actually, speaking of refreshing,
if you want to know what else is refreshing, an
ice cold can of facts. Condi, beloved Danish soft drink
and official sponsor for Today's Fact off.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
I've been waiting for an official beverage sponsor. Are they
really a bever sponsor?
Speaker 2 (35:08):
No, not really, but the name does sound a little
like facts, and it does taste pretty good. It's kind
of like seven up, but marketed as a sports drink.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Well, as long as it doesn't come and pickled Harrying flavor,
I'm totally on board.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
All right. Well, here's one more stop for your Copenhagen itinerary,
the world's largest collection of unopened beer bottles. The collection
began as a hobby for Danish engineer Laif Son. This
was back in nineteen sixty eight, and he started with
European beers because they were easy to find, and then
he widened his net to include beers from around the globe.
By nineteen ninety three, Son had amassed more bottles than
(35:49):
his house could comfortably hold, and so he arranged for
the whole collection to be moved to the Carlsburg Brewery
in Copenhagen. Back then, there were about ten thousand unique
bottles in the collection, but under Sun guidance, the catalog
has continued to grow. As of twenty twenty five, it
now includes twenty two thousand, six hundred and ninety two
different bottles and counting pretty incredible.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
So like twenty two thousand bottles of Viera on the
wall and none of them are ever going to get
taken down or passed around.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Thank goodness, because that would be a very long song.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
Well, speaking of Danish behavior, that doesn't quite make sense.
If you ever find yourself in Denmark on New Year's Eve,
be prepared for everyone to climb on top of their
chairs just before midnight and then leap off at the
stroke of twelve. According to an old tradition, it's good
luck to jump into the new year, and bad luck
if you forget to. So when the countdown begins, head
(36:43):
for the highest armchair you can find and try not
to hit anyone else on your way down. Doesn't that
so fun?
Speaker 2 (36:49):
Does sound pretty fun actually? And loud for that matter.
All Right, Well, here's another Danish tradition that might raise
a few eyebrows. So every February, Denmark celebrates the holiday
of fasta Layman or Carnival. Now it's kind of a
mash up between Halloween and Marty grass I guess, and
one of the staples of the celebration is this game
called knocking the cat out of the.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Barrel, which sounds rough for the cat.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Well, you know, the modern version is really kid friendly
and parents fill this wooden barrel with candy and they
decorate it with a picture of a black cat and
let their kids take turns hitting it with a bad
kind of like a pinata. And traditionally though, the custom
had religious connotations and was done in preparation for Lent
and Easter, so the idea was to beat out the evil,
(37:35):
and the evil in this case was an actual cat.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
I love it. I love that, Like you're supposed to
beat out an atal cat, but they replaced it with candy.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
Candy makes sense.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
Yeah, so obviously hats have this sort of evil connotation.
But you should also keep an eye out for stray
piles of cinnamon in the streets. And this may appear
to be a random amount of spice, but it's actually
evidence of another long story in Danish custom. This one
says that when someone turns twenty five and they're still unmarried,
(38:05):
all of their friends and family get to drag them
into the street and dowse them head to toe in cinnamon.
And sometimes they'll also splash you with water or even
raw eggs. So that the cinnamon will stick better.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
So I'm curious that is the idea to sweeten you
up to find a partner or something.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
Maybe, but I think it's more that cinnamon is just
relatively cheap and plentiful and also kind of hard to
clean off. So the prevailing theory is that the custom
dates back hundreds of years to a time when traveling
spicemen were notorious lifelong bachelors and people start referring them
as peppers VENs or pepper dudes, and eventually the term
was also extended to single women, who were known as
(38:43):
pepper maidens. Now the cinnamon dowsing prank grew out of
this association, and if you're wondering why they don't use
pepper instead, it's because that's the spice that's reserved for
a single person's thirtieth birthday.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
Okay, good, it's good to differentiate there. So do most
Danish people get married right out of high school to
avoid being shamed with cinnemon or what?
Speaker 1 (39:03):
So? That's actually the most unusual part of this is
that the average age that men get married in Denmark
is thirty four and for women it's thirty two. So
a decent chunk of the population goes through the spicy
custom before they find their way to betrothal.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
That's very interesting, all right, Well, the moment is here, Mango.
We've actually been very disciplined today and not derailing the
show to talk about Lego, which is of course a
Danish invention. We've held back. I don't know how we've
held back with Gay being involved in the research. This
as much of a huge toy fan as he is.
But here we are. But a few years ago we
actually devoted an entire episode to the history of the
(39:41):
little plastic bricks. So we decided not to say too
much today. But since it's illegal to talk about Denmark
without at least mentioning the brand, I do have a
fact here about the world's first Lego Land theme park.
So it opened on June seventh, nineteen sixty eight, in
the company's hometown of Billund, and the park's main attraction
those days was an area called Miniland, which features highly
(40:02):
detailed cities and other real world locations modeled in Lego bricks.
Guests were encouraged to tour the manicured grounds while admiring
examples of the architecture from places they might never get
to visit in person, so kind of the same ideas
like Tivoli Gardens, I guess. And amazingly though, Manyland's elaborate
city scapes were designed almost entirely by one single employee.
(40:25):
Her name was Dagny Holme and she was the niece
of Lego founder Old Kirk Christiansen. Now, in the end,
she and her team used more than twenty million Lego
bricks to construct these detailed, scaled down versions of famous
landmarks throughout Denmark and the rest of the world for
that matter. Now, this wasn't entirely static in its display.
Lego cars and trains powered by electricity were there to
(40:48):
move their way through these intricate scenes, and Lego boats
and the mini harbor appeared to move on their own,
and this was all thanks to a clever underwater police
system that they had set up there. Now you fast
forward almost sixty years and there are ten Lego Land
parks spread all across the world. And while each park
is a little bit different, the biggest similarity they share
is that every one of these has its own sprawling miniland.
(41:11):
This shared feature is one of the main things that
sets Lego Land apart from other modern theme parks, and
it never would have existed without the imagination and talent
of Dagny Home.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
I mean, first you kick this off with a Muffets
fact and then you end it with a Lego fact.
It feels like you're just gunning for the wind this week,
so I think you have to take over the trophy.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
This was all really really planned out, so I appreciate it,
and that's going to do it for today's Part Time Genius.
If you enjoyed this episode or just want to share
what we missed about visiting the great country of Denmark,
hit us up on Instagram. Our handle is of course
at part Time Genius, but from Gabe, Mary, Dylan, Mango
and me thank you so much for listening.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
Part Time Genius is a production of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio.
This show is hosted by Will Pearson and Me Mongash Heatikler,
and research by our goodpal Mary Philip Sandy. Today's episode
was engineered and produced by the wonderful Dylan Fagan with
support from Tyler Klang. The show is executive produced for
iHeart by Katrina Norvell and Ali Perry, with social media
(42:27):
support from Sasha Gay Trustee Dara Potts and Vinny Shorey.
For more podcasts from Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.