If you want to see Denmark while you are in the US, go to
Solvang in Santa Barbara, California. Solvang is Danish for ‘sunny fields’. Since
Solvang was established by Danes in 1911, it is no surprise that the city looks
like a typical village in Denmark (below). I visited Solvang because my Aunt
Heidi worked there. It was also an opportunity to experience an authentic
Danish culture in California, specially, its architecture and food.
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| Photo of Ate Heidi and Lori in Solvang. |
Architecture. The
windmill is, originally, a Denmark brand. You will not miss seeing one in
Solvang. Actually, there are four windmills in Solvang. One is on the photo above. The façades of the buildings also have the ‘provincial Denmark’ look, the
half-timber style that is popular in Danish rural houses. Even streets are
named after popular places in Denmark. Picture below shows me at the corner of
Copenhagen Drive and Alisal Road (below).
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| Photo shows adventurous-Pinay at the corner of Copenhagen Drive and Alisal Road. |
Chocolate.
Denmark is also popular for its chocolates. Luckily, my Aunt Heidi worked as store
manager at Ingeborg, a chocolate shop in Solvang (Below: Background, Ingeborg; L-R: adventurous-Pinay and Aunt Heidi). According to her, the ingredients of the chocolates are top
secret. Only the one who mixes the chocolates and the owner (originally from
Denmark), who has a Filipina adopted daughter, know the recipes of the chocolates. Notice that my aunt wears a
typical Danish costume to complete the genuine look, making her a
US-Filipino-Dane, rolled into one.
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| Photo of Ingeborg's Danish Chocolates Shop (background) and adventurous-Pinay (L) and Aunt Heidi (R). |
Ingeborg is world famous for its hand-made chocolates, with
ingredients coming from Denmark. My Aunt Heidi has since returned to the
Philippines but it was always a delight to receive the boxes of chocolates that
she sent whenever a friend or family went home to the Philippines. In its
webpage, Ingeborg had this to say, “A perfect accent for fine wines, champagnes
and coffees, our chocolates are made with absolutely the finest fresh
ingredients and no preservatives or additives. Our dessert boxes feature an
assortment of soft centered truffles and Ingeborg's famous assorted marzipan
chocolates(http://ingeborgs.com/collections/boxed-chocolates/products/sweet-indecision-assortment-with-marzipan .”
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| Photos of Ingeborg Chocolates. |
Ingeborg is also diabetic-friendly. It produces sugar-free
chocolates that my aunt used to send my Mom and Dad who are both diabetic.
Happy are they who indulge in these sugar-free treats.
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| Photo of Sugar-free Ingeborg Chocolates. |
Pastries. When in
Solvang it is a must to taste their authentic Danish pastries. My cousin
Lori treated us to one of their bake shops
specializing in Danish cakes, cookies and an assortment of pastries (Danish Mill Bakery & Coffee photo below). We ordered
‘aebleskiver’, Danish for apple slices (lower picture), only that they didn’t
have apples. They are like round pancakes topped with powdered sugar and
raspberry jam. “At 'Danish Days' in
Solvang, which is often referred to as 'Aebleskiver Days', it has been a
tradition for local people to set up their giant size pans in the streets and
serve them to people from all over, who come and help celebrate these days (http://www.solvangrestaurant.com/about-aebleskiver/
).”
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| Photo of the Danish Mill Bakery & Coffee (background) me (L) and Aunt Heidi (R). |
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| 'Aebleskiver’ Danish for apple slices. https://ph.images.search.yahoo.com/images/view |
Park. While Lori and I were waiting for my Aunt Heidi, we went to
Solvang Park, just a few blocks away from Ingeborg. According to the city of Solvang webpage their
mission is geared toward “a park and recreation system which provides
important environmental, social, personal and economic benefits central to the
City's residents (http://www.cityofsolvang.com/index.php/departments/parks-a-recreation/).”
The park was, actually, well-maintained with a Fil-Am caretaker when we went
there.
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| Photo of Solvang Park. https://ph.images.search.yahoo.com/images/view |
It was fun visiting Solvang. I may not have the chance to
visit Denmark, but I was really glad that I had the chance to see Solvang, that
quaint Danish village with its authentic provincial Denmark look. I was also
thankful for tasting aebleskiver, another Denmark original. Of course, the
Ingeborg chocolates are also a-must-taste. If you are in the vicinity, find
time to swing to this beautifully-maintained-city in Santa Barbara.
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