Copenhagen’s CopenHot Spa & Social Dining at Kanalhuset

Bound for Copenhagen.

Flying time and weather conditions in general.

Are quite nice today with nice flying.

Conditions all the way to Copenhagen.

Nine degrees with a few clouds in Denmark.

Before taking off here from London, I.

Would ask for your full attention for the safety demonstration.

Well, welcome back to Copenhagen, Denmark, for this bonus episode of the Travel in 10 podcast.

If you had a chance to join us earlier in the week, Tim and I really did a bit of a deep dive into a first trip to Copenhagen.

All that you need to know, where to stay, where to go, where to eat.

A lot of our favorites from a trip I was on just late last year, and Tim has been to the city many times.

So sharing really our perspective on what you need to know to really, really begin planning your trip to Copenhagen.

But I did promise in our last episode that we were going to come back for two of my favorite parts of the city and some live recordings.

We're going to be going to a spa today that has got to be one of the most unusual spas anywhere in the world.

Then after that, we're going to go and talk to some of the locals about really an emerging trend in Copenhagen and throughout Denmark around social dining and what some of the roots of that are.

We talked a little bit about it in our last episode.

Places like Absalom, places like Hotel Canalhooset.

Well, that's where we're going today, straight to Canalhuset to hear from some locals in Copenhagen who are going to tell us a little bit about what they think is really influencing the social dining movement that's catching so much steam there.

But first of all, come along with us live as we head to Copenhagen.

Can you paint the picture?

Where are we?

Tell me where we are right now.

Well, we are at the.

The old dockyard in Copenhagen that closed down, I think it was 20 years ago, something.

So.

So it's a.

It's an industrial area that goes way back, has a lot of history out here, so.

But now it has become more popular.

One of these places where there's happening a lot with small franchises and so on, there's businesses.

And this is a very unusual setting for a.

For a Nordic spa.

It is.

It is, yeah.

But it's.

It's the contrast between this industrial, old.

You can see the big industrial buildings we have here and the dockyard.

And then we tried to create this cozy atmosphere with a little garden out here with the hot tubs and saunas.

In the middle of this industrial area.

Yeah.

So for people listening, can you maybe just talk a little bit about what are We.

What are we looking at right now here in the distance?

This.

Is it a factory or is it.

A.

Yeah, we have two factories.

Where one is the famous Copen Hill that has won a lot of architectural prizes because it's a waste facility plant.

But on the site there is a ski slope going down with artificial turf so you can ski all year round there.

And also there's a climbing wall on.

On one of the side sites.

So it's something where you have tried to not just build a factory, but try to make it both look good, but also to do something where you can use it for some recreational purposes.

And the other big building we have next to it is.

It's also a waste facility plant, but that's more normal with it.

So.

So that's what's happening out there.

So basically two incinerators that you're overlooking as you're in the spa.

Yeah, so.

So.

And of course then if you are on one of the plateaus out here on a.

On a clear day, you can see across the straight here to Sweden as well.

You see the turning torso over in Malmo.

So it's.

And then we are also on the other side of the buildings we have.

We are building this new.

A whole new island that is for flooding and so on.

So it's going to cross over from the entrance to the canals of Copenhagen.

And I thought your company used to do, or do you still do some sort of sauna boats as well?

It's not a sauna boat, it's a hot tub boat.

Yeah.

Tucks are they called.

We are probably gonna get them in the water, as far as I know, within a month.

Okay.

At the moment we are looking for a location where we can sail from.

Okay.

So.

But we are crossing our fingers that we will get them up and running.

But I will say keep an eye out on the webpage for that one.

And how many people can you accommodate here at the spa?

Around 70.

About 70 at a time.

Yeah, 70 without being cramped.

And each group gets their own hot tub and their own.

That depends a little bit on what you're booking.

Okay.

You can either book a private hot tub where you get a shared sound included.

Yeah, you can book the hot tubs privately where you get your private hot tub that can accommodate up to six people.

And then we have a shared sauna included.

There's always a shared sauna included with the hot tubs.

You can also, if you're just coming one or two or three people, book in for what we call hot days, where you Share the tubs with other people.

Okay.

So that's great if you're just coming one person or if you're two or three and because it's a lower price and then you just have to share it and then you get the hot tub and the sauna as well included.

Yeah.

And I could see on the session we just had here, a lot of people were just.

You start to mingle and talk because.

And end up in each other's hot tubs anyway.

They're chatting.

Yes.

So, yeah, so it's.

It's always great when you can see that you start talking and have a lot of fun together.

So.

And is it all.

Is all the facility heated by.

A lot of.

It's heated by wood.

Is it all wood heated?

It is.

We are about to build a new sauna that.

That's the only one that will be electrically heated out here.

Okay.

Because we need it for.

For doing infusion.

Okay.

So.

So that.

That's why we need that one to be electrical heated.

So.

But otherwise, apart from that one, everything out here is wood heated.

All the hot tubs, all the saunas.

All the hot tubs and all this.

And it looks like I haven't been down to it yet, but is there a food market in this area as well?

Yes, there is one, but it's only open during the summer.

Okay.

So it's most out here on this island.

Peninsula.

Yeah, it's not an island, but it's a peninsula.

You can say it's artificial out here, by the way.

Yeah, it's closest down for.

For the winter.

Okay.

A lot of it is outdoor, so there are some small shops, bakeries, and of course there are some Michelin restaurants out here as well.

Those open all year round.

Okay.

But the food market is outdoor, so it's too cold for them now.

And what's that.

What's that food market called?

Refen.

Yeah, it's.

The whole island here is called Reifsilun.

And in general, it's just that part.

The other part of where we are is called Reven.

This whole type of experience, the sauna, cold plunge experience, seems to be a big part of Danish culture.

Yes, it is.

Yeah.

It's becoming very popular, especially with the winter bathing in Denmark and saunas within the last five, 10 years.

So the problem is a lot of places in Denmark, and especially in Copenhagen, if you want to go to a sauna, you need a membership.

Okay.

So in.

And those.

There's a long waiting list for those.

So.

So that's where we come in we can provide it more easily where you don't have to do memberships and so on.

And also if you don't want to do the goose session where you have a goose master doing the infusion point.

What, three.

You have a goose master?

A goose master?

Yeah.

What is a goose master?

It's a goose.

It's when you put the water on the stones and he will like guide you through the whole experience with it.

Interesting.

Yeah.

Then there are different types of it.

Of.

It's.

It's really like a whole science of now of.

Of that goose here in Denmark.

So.

So if you don't want to do that, we're also going to have it out here within a couple of weeks.

I think we're starting it up.

Okay.

But if you want your private.

Where you just.

You.

Then you can also just book the sauna privately.

So tell me more about that because I've never heard of that before.

That's interesting.

So it's.

It's basically like a guided spa experience.

Is that the idea?

Yeah, sort of.

It's where you meet up, you go into the sauna and then you do three or four sessions.

That is about 10, 15 minutes each.

Okay.

And there will be a person that's like running it where try to get the group connected together on this.

It's a.

It's very popular in Finland.

That's mainly where it comes from, I think.

So.

And once you threw it and then pour the water on the stone, making sure you have the heat, and then takes you out in usually in the cold plunges as well, and then runs the session.

Depending on what it is that you're going for on the particular session.

It can be like a silent session.

It can be a relaxing session.

Can also be talking to one who was in a Nordic heavy metal session, I think it was.

Wow.

Yeah.

So.

So there's like all these kind of themes on them.

Very interesting.

And you're introducing that here over the next few weeks as well.

Yeah, we should be.

We should be.

So I will say within a couple of weeks.

Weeks, we should start running it.

Yeah, very interesting.

I really, really enjoyed it.

I'm always looking for kind of unusual places to tell people about and interesting things in different cities around the world.

And this is.

This is a great one.

So as you could hear there, the spa experience at Copenhagen is very much a social experience.

Even though if you're going with a group, you can book your own private hot tub.

The.

The saunas are shared and you do find that you start meeting with groups, everybody's kind of jumping over into this hot tub, chatting each other up.

It's a great place to meet with some of the locals.

And also just this super unusual experience being in the middle of this industrial area.

Massive smokestacks in the distance, incinerators.

But somehow they've created this great sanctuary in the middle of it, this very peaceful spa experience.

But as you're getting a sense that there are a lot of social aspects to Danish culture and social dining is another one that we've talked a little bit about.

We're going now to Canal Husit.

This is one of the restaurants that we've mentioned in last week's podcast that is really driving this social dining movement.

And had a chance to talk to some of the locals there, a couple of women who were spending some time knitting while they were there and thought I would get their perspective on the social dining movement and what some of the roots of it are.

We've just been sitting here from a quarter to one, just drinking tea, soda, and now we're beers, knitting and talking.

And we do that every other month.

Every other month, yeah, we meet.

That's how we meet up.

We're old friends.

That's how we meet up.

Okay.

To come do knitting together.

Yeah.

That's fantastic.

And this place is not as crowded as many of the cafes.

Like if you come here in the afternoon or during the day, it's pretty quite calm.

Yes.

Like, you know, there's always.

And you, you're not, there's space, you're not that close to other people.

So it's very, it's very, it's cozy to come here.

These, this idea of social dinners.

Is this fairly new in Denmark or is this something that's a long part of your, your culture and traditions here?

Was it during Corona?

Just before Corona, Just before Corona.

But I think it was like at the same, same time as it was happening in.

I saw it in New York in 13, I think already.

So it's not, it's so relatively, it's.

Not a, not a long standing tradition.

This is a relatively new thing that's.

Well, actually you can say like, I, I don't know, but like in the old, like in the old, old days, you know, the people that was work, that were working for like a farmer or some, you know, you ate with your employees.

Employer.

Okay.

Around the kitchen table.

Around the kitchen table, yeah, yeah.

Or with your family.

But yeah.

So this is sort of an extension of that.

Yeah.

I also think that it resembles the.

Dinners you have on A folk high school in Denmark.

If you know that.

I don't.

Can you tell me?

Like a boarding school for adults.

Okay.

Like you go for boarding school for adults.

Tell me more about that.

How long have you been in Denmark?

Less than 24 hours.

Okay.

You have no.

You have no idea.

I have no idea.

No.

Okay.

So when was this?

1800s or something?

Yeah.

There's a very influential Danish.

What was he?

Author, teacher, many things called Grundville.

Okay.

Yeah.

And his belief was that, you know, young people have to get together, and it's the whole national idea of being Danish and everything.

So, like, after the young people had worked for a couple of years in the farms or in the stalls or something, then they went away on this school where they were taught, like, Danish national history, identity, crafts.

And how long would you go to this school?

Half a year.

Yeah.

Okay.

It's no formal education and it still exists.

So, like people in their 20s or, you know, doing sabbatical years, they will go.

And I would say even people like our.

Our age, like in the summer you'll go with your family on a high school.

And then the whole idea is that you go there, you learn something, you do some activities.

It can be like, you know, crafts.

It can be like political history or arts or whatever.

And then you eat together.

Together in the evening around, like the long table.

Very interesting.

So this is like the luxury variant of that.

Variant of that.

And what's that called?

High school.

That's it.

That's a school.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay.

Meaning high school.

But it doesn't like it just to.

To.

It's.

To separate it from the.

The ground.

Formal education.

Not formal education.

It was like to.

It's a very Danish, like, philosophy of like, you know, you get educated for life with.

Through the national.

That's how you get the national identity.

So I.

I suppose.

Yes, from this.

Yeah.

And I think that is still.

And what is going on now is actually like after the ninth grade, you go.

The young children before the young teenagers, before they start high school, they go away on what we call efteskoolen, which is kind of a boarding school.

So they take their 9th or their 10th year in boarding school away.

Away.

Okay.

And they're like.

My daughter went for.

Like it was.

What did she choose in the end?

Like TV production, kind of, you know, so she went to a creative one.

But there is also many sports, like all the handbooks.

And is this Is this like a private school or is it covered by.

The government or is it very much subsidized?

Very much subsidized because of the whole grand vie idea that, you know, it's good for children to meet each other away from there.

And like, for my daughter, it was like being on camp for a whole year.

Yeah.

So that's what they.

Yeah.

Very interesting.

Yep.

Fascinating.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But now, okay, now you've got another piece of the Danish history.

That's very helpful.

That's very helpful.

Thank you.

Well, with that, that brings our visit to Copenhagen to a close.

And I hope with these last two episodes of the podcast, you've got a bit of a flavor for the city.

It was somewhere that I wasn't planning on going and just happened to be over at a conference in Europe, rerouted my flight home and managed to get 72 hours in Copenhagen and had such an incredible time there.

It's somewhere I really look forward to going back and experiencing more of and getting to explore more of the countries and region around there as well.

But not only does that bring our look at Copenhagen to a close, but that brings this season of the Travel Intent podcast to a close.

We're going to kick off with an episode of me and Tim giving an overview of our 10 favorite hotels that we've stayed at in the last year, 10 great places that you can go stay around the world this year.

Then Tim and I actually have some of our travels crossing over where we're going to be together in the conference in New York in just a couple of weeks time.

And then after that we also have our travels crossover where we're both going to be down in the Caribbean at the same time as well and taping some episodes there and continuing on a weekly basis to give you great travel advice on places to go and see and things to do around the world.

Really try to help you, inspire you to travel more, hopefully inspiring you to travel better, giving you some great tips to make your trips that much easier.

And we hope you've enjoyed this past season.

We've really enjoyed being able to share our travels with you.

We would love to hear from you as well.

So please, if you can go onto the Spotify podcast Store, the Apple Podcast store, read or review our podcasts.

We would also love to get emails back hearing more of where you would like to hear about from around the world and any feedback on any of our past episodes as well.

Also, you may have noticed a great piece of music that we've been using to close out the Travel in 10 podcast on our last few episodes.

This is from an emerging, very talented artist from here in Canada, Grace Forrester, who's been kind enough to let us use her acoustic version of Leaving on a Jet Plane.

Can't think of a much better song to close out the Travel Intent Podcast on a weekly basis than Grace's song, so we're really fortunate that she's let us use that in closing out our show and a great way to close out the season as well.

All my bags are packed ready to go Standing here outside your door I don't head to wake you up to say goodbye but the dawn is breaking, it's early morning taxi's waiting he's blowing his horn Betty I'm sorry so long to my good so kiss me, smile for me tell me that you wait for me hold me like you'll never let me home Cuz I'm leaving Heart attack play don't know when I'll be back again Ob there's so many times when should I show Many times played around I tell you now.