A Day Trip to Solvang

aebelskiver anyone?

After just passing by the town hundreds of times for the past 9 years, I finally was in Solvang on one Saturday this month. Solvang, a little Danish replica village nestled in the Santa Ynez valley has everything "Danish"; windmills, horse drawn wagon, Hans Christian Andersen Park and of course Danish pastries! But when I look at the architecture of the houses, I felt like I was in a small traditional town in Germany.Maybe houses in tradionational towns in Europe are similar? I don't know. I have never been t to any tradional towns in Danemark. But a few houses off the main road in Solvang looked very similar to those of houses I saw in Koenigswinter in Germany. 

Obviously you cannot compare a small town with a big city, but other than a copy of the famous Little Mermaid statue, Solvang didn't remind me of Copenhagen I visited in 1989. It is also a little bit too touristy for us.  But, overall, Solvang is a charming little half-day escape destination.

We had lunch at Greenhouse Café at 487 Atterdag Rd for tasty, beautiful open-faced roast beef Danish sandwich for my hubby and hot grilled chicken sandwich with danish cheese and pesto for me. I wanted to try some danish entree such as danish meatballs & red cabbage, but they are made of pork which I don't eat. Oh well I guess sampling aebelskiver, a hearty dough balls with powdered sugar and raspberry jam just do the trick to consume some Danishes.

Beautiful Marigold flowers near Solvang