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Benedicte Spies

We have asked our teachers to recommend a place, some Danish music or some other Danish culture. This is what Benedicte recommends.

What is your favorite place in Copenhagen?
”One of my absolute favorite places in Copenhagen is Amager Strandpark. I love the spiritual and physical nourishment that a walk by the sea gives me – looking out over the Øresund, listening to the gentle gurgling of the waves and jumping into the water all year round. I’ve become quite fond of the ‘cold shock’ that a dip in the sea provides. I also experience it when I go ice bathing at Plug In, followed by a sauna typically accompanied by meditative electronic music, which reboots me in the best way.”

What kind of cultural events do you like?
”Sustainability is something that occupies me more and more. How do we create a meaningful life in balance, with respect for each other and for nature, and how can we use hope as a tool to build a better future – socially, economically, climate-wise, physically and mentally? I try to learn more about this through reading, lectures, podcasts and by attending educational festivals.

Take Bloom, for example, which takes place in Søndermarken, close to Vesterbro, every year in May. Here you can lie on a blanket in the shade of the trees and listen to the latest research in natural sciences, presentations on philosophy etc., and thereby gain greater insight into the world around us and into ourselves.

A little later in the year – at the beginning of September – the Himmelblå festival is held at Vartov by the City Hall Square. Inspired by the Danish thinker N.F.S. Grundtvig, it opens its doors to days filled with debates, concerts, communal dinners, dancing, group singing and other good things. And I’d especially like to give praise to group singing; it creates a wonderful feeling of togetherness when you sing songs about history, the passing seasons or dreams for the future together with several hundred other people – and it also provides hope that we are stronger when we stand together. At the same time, singing is a wonderful and different way to learn about language and culture.”