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Looking at my reflection, I appear to be wearing enormous golden pantaloons, seen just for my eyes. Youngsters sit in a stone basin imitating sea nymphs, meanwhile adjacent rests a chatting legume in a exhibition box, beside a towering stack of mattresses. This is the universe of the beloved author (1805-1875), a leading nineteenth-century's most beloved authors. I’m in the city of Odense, on the island of Fyn in the south of the Danish kingdom, to discover the writer's enduring legacy in his home town a century and a half after his passing, and to find a couple of enchanted tales of my own.

The Cultural Center: HC Andersens Hus

HC Andersens Hus is the local exhibition space honoring the storyteller, incorporating his childhood house. An expert explains that in earlier iterations of the museum there was scant attention on the author's tales. Andersen's biography was studied, but The Ugly Duckling were absent. For guests who come to the city looking for fairytale wonder, it was somewhat disappointing.

The redevelopment of Odense city centre, redirecting a primary street, provided the opportunity to reimagine how the city’s most famous son could be commemorated. An international design contest awarded Japanese firm the Kengo Kuma team the contract, with the curators’ new approach at the core of the layout. The distinctive timber-clad museum with interwoven spiral spaces debuted to great fanfare in 2021. “Our goal was to build a place where we move beyond simply describing the author, but we communicate similarly to him: with humour, irony and perspective,” explains the expert. The outdoor spaces take this approach: “It’s a garden for strollers and for giants, it’s designed to create a feeling of diminutiveness,” he says, a challenge achieved by strategic landscaping, playing with verticality, scale and numerous twisting trails in a surprisingly compact space.

Andersen's Impact

The author penned multiple memoirs and often changed his story. HC Andersens Hus adopts this philosophy seriously; frequently the opinions of his friends or snippets of letters are shown to politely doubt the his narrative of incidents. “The writer is the storyteller, but his account isn't always accurate,” says the representative. The outcome is a compelling swift exploration of his personal story and work, mental approaches and most popular tales. It is provocative and playful, for adults and children, with a additional lower-level make-believe land, the fictional village, for the youngest visitors.

Exploring Odense

Back in the actual city, the small city of Odense is charming, with cobbled streets and historic timber buildings finished in cheerful shades. The writer's influence is all around: the traffic lights display the writer with his signature characteristic hat, brass footprints offer a free Andersen walking tour, and there’s a outdoor exhibition too. Every August this commitment reaches its height with the regular storytelling event, which marks the author’s legacy through creativity, dance, drama and musical performances.

During my visit, the week-long festival had hundreds of events, many were without charge. During my time in this place, I encounter colorful performers on stilts, ghoulish monsters and an author double telling stories. I listen to empowering poetry and witness an remarkable evening show with acrobatic dancers lowering from the town hall and suspended from a crane. Still to come during the season are presentations, hands-on activities and, broadening the storytelling legacy past the author, the city’s annual enchantment celebration.

Each wonderful fairytale destinations require a fortress, and Fyn contains numerous historic homes and manor houses throughout the region

Biking Adventures

Like other Danish regions, bicycles are the best way to get about in Odense and a “bike path” curves through the downtown area. From Hotel Odeon, I cycle to the public harbour-side swimming pool, then out of town for a circuit around Stige Ø, a compact territory joined by a bridge to the larger island. City residents relax with food here in the evening, or appreciate a peaceful time fishing, water sports or swimming.

In town, I visit Restaurant Under Lindetræet, where the food selection is derived from the writer's motifs and stories. The poem the national ode is highlighted during my meal, and proprietor Nils Palmqvist recites passages, translated into English, as he presents each course. Such encounters frequent in my days in the city, the fynbo appreciate narratives and it seems that sharing tales is continuously on the menu here.

Castle Explorations

Every excellent fairytale destinations require a castle, and the island boasts over a hundred manors and stately homes across the island. Taking day trips from the city, I tour Egeskov Castle, the region's finely maintained historic fortress. Although large sections are accessible to the public, Egeskov is also the private residence of the noble family and his partner, Princess Alexandra zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. I wonder if she would notice a small legume through a pile of {mattresses