About us
What Setbacks?
“Man gaaer først saa gruelig meget ondt igjennem” or You go through so much pain at first, wrote Hans Christian Andersen in his autobiography from 1855, My Fairy Tale. We know what he meant.
Our company, Parnassos.dk, saw the light of day in February 2020, made an agreement with the Danish equivalent to The Guardian, Politiken Plus, to create four classical music concerts in the autumn of that year in the newspaper’s large hall, Trykkeriet, on Rådhuspladsen. A few weeks later, the Corona virus shut down the world.
January 2022, Covid has taken on a more withdrawn role and Parnassos.dk is on the verge of offering our first trip, centered around a big party on New Year’s Eve 2022/23, which was to take place in … Moscow! A few weeks later, Putin launched his war against Ukraine – and since then none of us have felt like visiting Russia.
Third time lucky. We have now held a number of, we think, quite successful trips, all of which point in the direction of our vision.
Our Vision
To create classical music concerts in musical historical settings. So far, we have held concerts in the Mozart Haus and Schubert’s home, both in Vienna, and Haydn’s workplace at the Esterhazy Palace in Eisenstadt.
Likewise, in Clara and Robert Schumann’s home in Leipzig, where we listened to Robert’s composition of one of Hans Christian Andersen’s poems, in the exact same room where our great poet was on Monday, July 22, 1844, and attended the premiere of the music piece.
Our goal is to alternate between the type of trips we offer now and – depending on what our customer base allows us – weekend trips abroad, where we arrange concerts with internationally recognized musicians.
All our trips are structured as cultural celebrations. Therefore, no concert without a dinner party.
We have music historical attestation for this. For example, when the aforementioned concert in Schumann’s home in 1844 was over, Hans Christian and Robert got wasted, while during the night they agreed to write an opera together. Unfortunately, nothing much came out of it, except a rude hangover for our two gentlemen.
The above is our vision. Minus the hangover.
Our trips 2026 and 2027
Our Main Guide for the Trip to Tokyo and Kyoto
September 2026
Asger Røjle Christensen
Asger Røjle Christensen is an experienced Danish journalist, author and lecturer. He has been close to the developments in Japan and East Asia for three decades.
He has lived in Tokyo for a total of 13 years of his life, where he worked as a reporter and analyst for a number of Danish and Scandinavian news media, and been a guide numerous times.
Asger Røjle Christensen is married to a Japanese woman and the author of several books – most recently “Geisha in Kimono” and has contributed to travel books about Japan.
We had the pleasure of Asger during our 2-week trip in September 2025. We will repeat this with variations in September 2026. You can read about the trip to Japan here.
Asger Røjle Christensen
Our Main Guide for the Trips to Vienna and Budapest
october 2026
Gerti Schmidt
Gerti Schmidt, along with Erik Bach Christophersen, is our main guide when we are on a trip in Vienna. Gerti is the chairman of the board of Vienna’s official tourist organization and director of 35 professional groups in the capital, dealing with everything within leisure activities and experiences – both for the Viennese themselves and culturally oriented tourists like us.
There is not a corner of Vienna (and Austria) that she does not know, and not a palace that does not roll out the red carpet for her. Parnassos.dk organizes an annual trip to Vienna, the first was held in October 2022, then in October 2023, then in October 2024 and the latest was held in October 2025. One can discern a pattern.
You can read about our 2026 trip to Vienna here, and will be held from October 9 – 13, 2026.
Immediately after this trip we have organized yet another, that will go from Vienna onwards to Bratislava in Slovakia and Budapest in Hungary. The link here, for the Austro-Hungarian trip.
With Gerti at the helm, we ensure that we always arrange a stay for our guests that is completely out of the ordinary.
Parnassos.dk is a member of The Vienna Experts Club and collaborates with the Austrian Tourist Board in Denmark.
Main Guides for our trips to Rome and the Vatican
November 2026
Poul Arnedal and Niels Christian Hvidt
Poul Arnedal is a journalist with a very long career behind him. He is an author and currently the portrait editor at POV.
Arne and Erik have known each other since the dawn of time. He is equally at home in the Roman squares and alleys (and taverns!) and London’s crescents and hills.
We have made three trips together, two to Rome, one to London. In 2026 we have one ready to Rome again on the days 26 – 30 November.
A few years ago, Poul had an interview with Niels Christian Hvidt and that led us to him in connection with our next trip to Rome, as Niels Christian has close connections to the Vatican.
Niels Christian is educated at The Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and currently works at the University of Southern Denmark. He will be our guide for our days in Rome – and the Vatican.
We are convinced that it will lead to a once in a lifetime experience during our stay in the eternal city. You can read about this trip to the Vatican via the link.
Niels Christian Hvidt
Main guide for the trip to Cairo and Alexandria
October/November 2026
Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen
We have been in exceptionally knowledgeable hands during our three stays in Cairo in the years 2023, 2024 and 2025.
All held in November. Islamic researcher and professor at the University of Copenhagen, Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen was on all three trips as the main guide.
So, we are on solid ground when it comes to one of the world’s largest cultures.
A new trip will be held at the end of October 2026, where the trip will go to Alexandria and Cairo. Jakob held a seminar and symposium in Alexandria last year. We will take up a few of the themes when in this unique Mediterranean city.
You can read about the trip to Alexandria and Cairo via this link.
Foto af Jakob Skovgaard Petersen
Main Guide for the Trip to Cairo, Luxor and Aswan
November 2026
Arto Belekdanien
Professor and Egyptologist, Arto Belekdanien, is our guide as we travel back to the Pharaonic days. Arto is of Egyptian-Armenian origin. He is a Dr. Phil in Oriental Studies in Egyptology and educated at Oxford University. Today he works for the Ministry of Antiquity in Cairo.
His expertise is frequently thought by the Danish Embassy in Egypt. Most recently, he was Her Majesty Queen Mary of Denmark and Minister of Foreign Affairs Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s personal guide to the Giza Pyramids, in connection with the inauguration of The Grand Egyptian Museum on November 1, 2025.
He will be our main guide when we explore Upper Egypt, i.e. the southern part of the country, towards Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel. As he works for the ministry of Antiquity we have been given exclusive access to one of the temples in Luxor. You can read about our trip to Upper Egypt via this link.
Our Solar Eclipses
Total Solar Eclipses 2026, 2027 and 2028
Our counterpart in nature, to once in a lifetime in culture, are the three solar eclipse trips in 2026, 2027 and 2028.
On August 12, 2026, we will experience a total solar eclipse in northern Spain.
We will begin in Bordeaux, la cité du vin, a few days before. The trip will take us to Biarritz and Pamplona. There is a strong emphasis on gourmet, champagne and oysters… that kind of thing. You can read via this link about the Solar Eclipse Trip to Spain 2026.
The following year, on August 2, 2027, the two celestial bodies will meet again over the Egyptian desert. We will head there, starting from Cairo. The city we know so well. You can read via this link about the Solar Ecliipse Trip to Egypt 2027.
The following year we will again experience a solar eclipse on July 22, 2028 directly over the Sydney Opera House. The trip will last two weeks, with the option to extend it with a week’s stay in New Zealand. Here is the link to the solar eclipse trip 2028 to Australia.