Wednesday, August 28, 2019 our final adventure starts after 2.5 weeks of travel in Europe. (read blogs: previously we were on a tattoo themed river cruise through Southern Germany, excursion time in Prague and Berlin) Myself, Reese, Jackie, Loz and Vanessa take a 3.5 hour direct flight direct to Copenhagen, Denmark from Berlin. I did a lot of research of fun ways to Copenhagen from Berlin, which included renting cars, crossing on ferries, explore towns on coast in Northern Germany, but since time our was limited, I figured it would be best to just fly up to Denmark.

As soon as we landed, we were greeted by very friendly Danish people who helped us find a taxi for all 5 of us plus all our luggage. It was a noticeable difference from Berlin!

Moxy Hotel Copenhagen

We packed ourselves into a taxi and made our way into central Copenhagen and to one of my now favorite hotels ever! Moxy hotel! Moxy Hotels is Marriott’s new millennial-focused brand that debuted in September 2014 with the opening of the Moxy Milan. (I was in some unique marketing talks with Moxy/Marriot in NYC pre-covid) A boutique-hotel concept for the next-Gen traveler. For example, the bar is open 24 hours, and we were told by the bartenders they are encouraged to be themselves and not follow any “script” on how to behave and communicate with the guests. It was incredibly refreshing!

Moxy Hotel Denmark

 

Kødbyen for dinner

We were hungry upon check-in and were educated by the incredible staff at Moxy  where to enjoy dinner. They suggested we visit the “Meat Packing District” for a unique bar and dining experience.  The Meatpacking District, or Kødbyen, is a revitalized industrial area which looked to me like converted ice houses previously used to store ice throughout the year, prior to the invention of the refrigerator. We were dropped off in the middle of a large parking lot and on the perimeter were restaurants at ground level. The warm weather had been following us since Germany and all the outdoor seating was full. (in Denmark hottest day of the year can be a brisk 71 degrees.. brrr.. for this Southern Florida girl)  We found our way to War Pigs, a brew pub and BBQ with 22 beers on tap. We quickly learned we order our food and beer inside to bring back to your picnic table.  Poor Vanessa, who is vegan, enjoyed some of my coleslaw.

After our meal, Reese and Jackie decided to make their way back to our hotel using the Danish form of transportation. Which is a bike but they ended up renting scooters which were perfect to use on the bike paths that run parallel to the public roads.

Thursday night before the convention we met with Carsten Augustenborg and his wife, the organizers of 50 Shades of Ink Copenhagen, in the Moxy hotel lobby bar. Also, in attendance were some other traveling tattoo artists from Russia and Sweden.

Copenhagen Denmark Kødbyen

50 Shades Copenhagen Convention time!

Friday starts the first day of 50 Shades Copenhagen Convention! It was an easy walk from our Moxy hotel to 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 – 𝐂𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧, 𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤 sports and concert arena.  We were the only group in attendance from the United States besides Richie the Barber who is from San Diego.

Walking into the tattoo convention we were greeted by an array of amazing artists painting large canvases. Plus, an interview area for Media Z Ink magazine media platform one of the major sponsors.

Next to to us were twin sisters who are both tattoo artists Marie Mary Andersen and Mona Cupcake Tattoo from Copenhagen. We were also close to a really unique artist, Jens from Sweden. I had a chance to hang out with a very unique abstract tattoo artist Jens Waldmann from Sweden. He’s known for doing tattoos titled “Penis-eating Buddha” and he won 1st place in Best New School Tattoo.

Cool stuff during 50 Shades Copenhagen

All weekend the force was also with us as the 501st Legion, a worldwide Star Wars costume club with storm troopers, Darth Vader and more invaded 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧. With 13,000 active members and 80 members within Denmark the 501st Legion holds two world records, according to the Guinness World of Records: The World’s Largest Science Fiction Club and The World’s Largest Star Wars Costume Club.

Also, at the entrance and at the end of our isle were the most incredible massage chairs from World of Comfort. Did you know the Danish excel in science and engineering? Not only was LEGO invented by the that Danes they can take credit for discovering insulin and the initial map of Google Maps and contributed to the invention of the loudspeaker and Bluetooth! So these 100% Danish owned massage chairs were no joke!

Tattoo Artist of Honor Award

After a busy convention, the final day Reese was honored with ‘Artist of Honor Award’. This is the first time I have ever heard of this award. I really like the concept ..  it means .. ‘Thank you Reese.. we really enjoyed having you at our convention’.  I think it was such a nice gesture because Reese does a great job promoting a convention she is attending through her social media. She may be exhausted but is always smiling, happy and a pleasure to be around while being pulled away from tattooing to meet people, participate in interviews, judging competitions, etc. She is all around positive energy that they enjoyed and actually awarded her for it!

Final Dinner in Copenhagen

Our final dinner after 3 straight weeks of traveling was a traditional Danish dinner located back in the Meat Packing District with Myself, Reese, Jackie, Loz and Vanessa at Restaurant Gorilla . We were all pretty exhausted and departing at different times the next day. It was a fantastic last night discussing how much we enjoyed Denmark and 50 Shades convention and looking forward to coming back to explore more… then poof .. we were all home with me planning our next adventure(s) which unfortunately has not happened since August 2019 because of FUCKING Covid.

50 shades ink Copenhagen

Travel Blogs

Because of Covid I actually have time to roll out all these travel blogs. I hope that people can find lodging, currency exchange, excursion tips, etc. from these blogs to experience the very best possible visit to a country for a tattoo convention. Feel free to reach out anytime with any questions you may have too about travel! jennifer@jennlee.com