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In the mirror, I can see myself in enormous golden pantaloons, perceptible just for my eyes. Kids play in a stone basin acting as ocean creatures, meanwhile in the next room rests a speaking vegetable in a display case, next to a towering pile of bedding. It represents the universe of the beloved author (1805-1875), among the 1800s highly cherished authors. I'm visiting the city of Odense, located on the island of Fyn in the southern part of Denmark, to explore the writer's enduring legacy in his native city a century and a half after his demise, and to discover a few enchanted tales of my own.

The Museum: HC Andersens Hus

HC Andersens Hus is the local cultural center dedicated to the writer, featuring his first home. A curator notes that in previous versions of the museum there was little focus on the author's tales. The writer’s life was examined, but Thumbelina were nowhere to be found. For tourists who come to the city in search of storytelling magic, it was a little lacking.

The redesign of Odense city centre, redirecting a primary street, provided the opportunity to reconsider how the local celebrity could be celebrated. A major architecture competition awarded the architects from Japan the Kengo Kuma team the commission, with the museum's fresh perspective at the center of the structure. The remarkable wooden museum with interlinked spiralling spaces debuted to great fanfare in 2021. “We have attempted to build a place where we avoid discussing the author, but we talk like the storyteller: with comedy, satire and perspective,” notes the representative. The landscape design take this approach: “It’s a garden for strollers and for large beings, it's created to make you feel small,” he explains, a goal accomplished by clever planting, playing with verticality, size and numerous twisting trails in a unexpectedly limited space.

The Writer's Legacy

The author penned two and a half memoirs and often provided conflicting accounts. HC Andersens Hus adopts this philosophy to heart; often the views of his friends or excerpts of written messages are shown to subtly challenge the author’s own version of incidents. “The writer is the narrator, but he's untrustworthy,” notes the expert. The outcome is a compelling whirlwind tour of Andersen’s life and work, thinking patterns and best-loved narratives. It is stimulating and fun, for mature visitors and kids, with a bonus underground make-believe land, Ville Vau, for the smallest guests.

Discovering the City

Returning to the physical town, the compact town of Odense is picturesque, with cobbled streets and traditional Danish homes colored in bright colours. The writer's influence is ubiquitous: the road indicators show the writer with his iconic characteristic hat, brass footprints offer a no-cost guided stroll, and there’s a outdoor exhibition too. Each summer this focus culminates with the yearly HC Andersen festival, which honors the writer's impact through creativity, dance, stage shows and music.

During my visit, the multi-day festival had numerous performances, most of which were free. While visiting Odense, I meet colorful performers on stilts, fantastical beings and an Andersen lookalike sharing tales. I hear empowering poetry and see an amazing evening show including acrobatic dancers lowering from the municipal structure and dangling from a crane. Still to come this year are talks, hands-on activities and, broadening the oral history past the author, the city’s regular Magic Days festival.

All good magical places require a castle, and Fyn features over a hundred manors and estates around the area

Cycling and Exploration

Similar to most of Denmark, bicycles are the perfect means to get about in this town and a “bicycle route” winds through the city centre. From my accommodation, I cycle to the free waterside bathing area, then beyond the city for a loop around the nearby islet, a tiny landmass linked by a road to the primary land. Local inhabitants relax with food here in the evening, or appreciate a peaceful time fishing, aquatic activities or bathing.

In Odense, I visit a local eatery, where the food selection is derived from the writer's motifs and stories. The verse the national ode is highlighted when I visit, and manager the host shares excerpts, translated into English, as he introduces the meal. It’s an experience repeated often in my days in the city, the local residents appreciate narratives and it feels as though narrating is continuously on the menu here.

Manor House Visits

Every excellent enchanted locations need a fortress, and Fyn boasts over a hundred manors and manor houses throughout the region. Going on excursions from the city, I tour the historic fortress, Europe’s most intact Renaissance water castle. While much of it are accessible to the public, this historic site is also the personal dwelling of the noble family and his spouse, the royal resident. I wonder if she would notice a tiny vegetable through a stack of {mattresses