While the country (and Europe) were busy having a political fit and lurching to the polling station for a collective game of “who can elect the most racists to Europe?” we headed off to Copenhagen for a few days of rest and relaxation.
Now I realise that a bit of sunshine can hide a multitude of ills but Copenhagen is amazing. Just an utterly brilliant city. Beautiful buildings and parks full of friendly, welcoming residents who are more than happy to speak excellent English and not put up with visitor’s terrible Danish (didn’t help that despite being assured I could, I wasn’t able to roam onto 3 Denmark’s network so was without phone signal and unable to refer to the Danish phrases site I’d bookmarked on my phone). We spent a great 4 days walking through the city centre, enjoying wonderful food from Smørrebrød, a Danish open sandwich typically served with herring or other local fish, contemporary Italian food from the restaurant under our apartment, sushi, all the way to high-end Danish cuisine from Radio – a restaurant opened by some Noma alumni. Oh and a few Danish pastries as well!
While we didn’t hire bikes during our trip I was amazed by how many were on the streets. I’ve never seen a city so devoted to cycling and the whole infrastructure has been designed around it. Even Amsterdam pales in comparison. We could learn A LOT from the Danes on how to approach our transport problems. Helps that their city is so flat though, imagine it’s easier to persuade people to cycle everywhere when there’s no hills.
With the sunny weather it was perfect for enjoying a few beers as well. From finding a bar serving To Øl’s excellent Sofa King Pale that was also showing the Champions League Final to sitting in the sun outside Mikkeller’s bar in Vesterbro. I had a great time without a glass of Carslberg coming anywhere near me.
The city is also connected by a short bridge to Malmo in Sweden, so we couldn’t pass up the chance to visit a second country for the sake of a 30 minute train journey. So we had a pleasant afternoon sitting in a Swedish park enjoying the sun and had an awesome burger near the city centre.
I’ll do full posts on Radio and Mikkeller with a bit more detail on the food over there (didn’t eat a bad meal until a poor decision at the airport) but for now here’s a few pictures from the trip.
Mince and Skirlie 