...and, back in Copenhagen!

After several days of day tips, I settled back into Copenhagen for my final 3 days of vacation.

Friday was (comparatively) nice and warm, and I wandered through the Vesterbro neighborhood on my way to meet my exchange-sister Helle, who lives in Copenhagen (and has an adorable 4 month old!) at Meyer's Deli. A large part of the appeal of Copenhagen for me was the opportunity to visit with Helle, so I took advantage of that with walks through town, lunch, and dinner at her place the night before I came home. It definitely made the trip all that more special!

There were a bunch of fun shops and art galleries in the area (I bought a lot of gifts), so I was almost late to lunch! Meyer's Deli is a mix of a cafe, grocery store, and a take-out deli/bakery. It's owned by the superstar Danish chef, Claus Meyer, who is probably best known at the moment for  being co-founder of Noma (voted best restaurant in the world in 2010 & 2011).

We got a table and I sampled the meatballs with lingonberries (yum) and a plate of sliced red deer meat with berries and their fantastic rye bread. Beautifully presented and tasted great, too. Also had a fantastic cafe latte, which made me happy.

lunch!

After eating, I browsed the store and bakery, which were loaded with top-knotch products that would temp any foodie. I couldn't resist the cherry dessert wine (Frederiksdal Kirsebærvin ’Sur Lie’) and raw licorice powder - I'm not planning on using them at the same time, but you never know).

the inside of Meyer's Deli store

After eating, we took a long walk back through town, with a shopping stop at Illum Bolighus, which is loaded with danish designed home wares. Evil, evil store, it could have eaten most of my bank account if I hadn't had to worry about, you know, emptying my bank account of breakable stuff I'd have to carry on a plane. Still, it was very fun to drool over the beautiful things!

As darkness started to fall, we took our leave and I headed back to the hotel to put on a few more layers before venturing out for a big night on the town. 

I randomly ended up booking my trip so that I was there for Kulturnatten, the one night each year where pretty much everything in Copenhagen, from public buildings to museums, is open until midnight. Some, like the Danish Parliament, only open to the public that night. It was really, really packed and a lot of fun. It was also the only time I felt a little lonely, because it really wasn't as fun alone as it would have been with a friend. but such is life of an intrepid world traveler - I managed to recoverwith a bacon-wrapped hot dog (with fried onions and pickles - bliss), beer, and a flødebolle (soft whipped egg whites covered in chocolate) each from a different food stand.

flødebolle, a very traditional Danish treat

My adventures that night included watching a girl stacking milk crates 20+ high under herself while standing in a long line to see the inside of Parliament, the Paul Gauguin exhibit at the Glyptotek, and, best of all, randomly wandering into some sort of Danish Ren-Faire village  (blacksmiths! leather trousers! candy apples! get your name written in Elvish!) that was somehow combined with a troop of Confederate soldiers, who later took part in a full-blown American Civil War reenactment, including a cannon (I can't make this shit up, people). I wandered into a lot of buildings, saw some cool art, and generally enjoyed being out and about. If you ever have a hankering to go to Denmark in the fall, I'd highly recommend timing your visit for Kulturnatten.

In the morning, I got up and decided to head to the Cisternen glass museum in Søndermarken park. It is, literally, an old underground cistern (water storage) that has been converted into a museum exhibiting Danish glass artists. The glass was just ok, but the museum was really cool - very dark, with water all over the floors and dripping down from the ceiling.

Entrance to Cisternen museum

Afterwards, I wandered round the park for a while, and then slowly headed back towards them ore central part of the city. I found a really cool store, designer zoo, where I confirmed my love for Danish design. I managed to restrain myself, more or less, and continued on my journey.   I ended up in Nyhavn, where I had a quick lunch. 

Nyhavn

After Nyhavn, I wandered around a bit and then made my way to Conditori La Glace, which was founded in October 1870 and claims to be the oldest confectionery in Denmark. The place was a mob scene, but I managed to find a table and place my order (in the wrong sequence, apparently). I was having a hard time deciding among their gorgeous offerings, until I saw the Det Gyldne Tårn (named after the iconic tower in Tivoli) - rhubarb compote, white chocolate lemon cream, lemon meringue on almond layer cake. It was a no brainer- I love rhubarb & had to try this cake. Let me tell you, it was oh-my-god-amazing. I ate teeny tiny little bites to try to make it last longer. Too soon, it was gone into my belly.

Rhubarb and lemon cake from La Glace. I thought I had died and gone to cake heaven.

So, I'm (not) ashamed to admit I ORDERED ANOTHER PIECE OF CAKE AND ATE IT, TOO. I was on vacation & yup, I'm a glutton! It had been so long since I'd have a truly fantastic European cake I just couldn't help myself. This place definitely brought back memories of my first trip to Europe, driving around in Germany with my parents & stopping for cake a couple times a day.

The second cake I tried was the Sportskage, which is the specialty of the bakery & is made of crushed nougat, whipped cream, macaroon and choux pastry balls (like a creampuff). I have to admin I wasn't enamored with it. too sweet for me, plus it was a lot of cream. Good, not great.

Sportskage

In a bit of a sugar shock at that point, I went back to Illum Bolighus & the shopping district and managed to complete the bulk of my Christmas shopping. Yey, me!

At this point, it was getting on towards 7pm and I was feeling a little footsore and tired, so I went back to the hotel to deposit my purchases and take a break. My plan was to head back out to dinner, but I was so stuffed from my cake orgy that I decided to skip dinner and just hang out at the hotel.

My tiny, but very comfortable & functional room @ Wakeup Copenhagen

Sunday morning, I got up and pcked up my luggage - I had an early flight on Monday morning so had decided to spend the night at a hotel close to the airport with a free shuttle service. I checkedo ut and placed my luggage in a locker provided by the hotel, and then headed off to freetown Christiania to explore the unique neighborhood. It was pretty closed down and deserted on a Sunday morning, but it allowed me to wander around and take in the unique architecture.

Christiania gate

I also visited the Church of Our Saviour (Vor Frelser Kirke), also in the Christianshavn city district,

the tower of Vor Frelser Kirke offers great views of the city

Then, it was back into the center of town for the last of my sightseeing.I visited the Danish Museum of Art and Design and walked to the Amalienborg Palace. i made a few stops on the way - including another stop at La Glace for rhubarb cake and tea. It was practically empty, since all of the shops are closed on Sundays, so that definitely is the time to visit. Still just as good the second time.

the Royal Library

Old Stock Exchange, with a dragon tail twisting around the spir

e

Frederiks Kirke, popularly known as Marmorkirken (marble church)

It was getting on towards late afternoon, so I headed back to the WakeUp Copenhagen, picked up my bag, and took a cab to the new hotel. After checking in, I went to Østerport station to meet Helle. We had a nice dinner & visit at her house. I was really happy to get to spend time with her and little Leah. 

Copenhagen is beautiful and a great place to visit. I particularly loved  my day trips, both Helsingør and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art were standouts. The food was amazing overall, and Geranium was worth every penny. Denmark is very, very expensive, though - I'm still having sticker shock even thinking about the prices ($5US for a bus ride. $5 for a hot dog. $12 for a beer. Yow).  i'd also highly recommend Wakeup Copenhagen, the room was small but well appointed and I loved the ambiance, wifi, and warm bread at breakfast (although the coffee was horrible).

Helsingør & the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

Another day trip, this time to Helsingør (known as Elsinore in English, courtesy of William Shakespeare) & then to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk. I decided to visit Helsingør first, because the museum is on the way back to Copenhagen and is open until 10pm.

Outside of Denmark, Helsingør is mostly known as where Hamlet was set. However, the town is a lot more than just a fictional characters castle!
 
Due to the fact that it sits on one of Europe's most strategically important straits, Øresund, Elsinore was once one of Denmark's most important cities. During the 15th century, King Eric of Pomarania build two fortifications; Krogen in Elsinore, which would later become Kronborg castle, and Kernen (Kärnan) across the strait in Helsingborg, Sweden (which was part of Denmark at the time). He also imposed the Øresund tolls on passing ships, which they had to pay at the docks of Elsinore, and this led to most of them using the city for provisioning.

I took the regional train for Copenhagen, which is about a 35 minute journey. I bought the wrong kind of ticket and had to get off the train at the first station to buy the correct one (or get a huge fine, oops). so much for relying on the advice of the online guide. 

Helsingør train station

The train station was built in 1891, and is in the same style as the Rosenborg Palace.From the front of the train station you can see the castle clearly.

Kronborg Castle

Kronborg Castle was built in the 1420s, and suffered a fire that destroyed everything but the current chapel. In 1585, Kronborg was rebuilt by Frederick II into a magnificent star-shaped Renaissance castle. The castle was added to UNESCO's World Heritage Sites list  in 2000.

Maritime Museum, designed by Bjarke Ingel

The city is in the process of renovating the old shipyard directly adjacent to the castle. The plan is to add public spaces, museums and cultural venues designed by some of the country's top architects, including the Maritime Museum by Bjarke Ingel.

outer moat of Kronborg Castle

I proceeded to walk about 1k to the castle entrance. The castle is guarded by a good-sized moat and fortifications, some of which have been altered over the years (part of the renovations are to restore the castle walls closer to the original state).

Looking back into town from the bridge over the first moat

Once inside, there is a cafe and quite a few artist workshops and galleries, outside of the second moat guarding the castle proper.

the inner part of the castle

I enjoyed browsing around the artists workshops & stores before heading into the castle proper.

There are artist workshops and galleries on the castle grounds

The interior moat. They were serious about defending this place!

View over the sound to Sweden

Helsingor is only 2.5 miles from Sweden. In this photo, you can see the Swedish coast across the sound.  

Bridge over the inner moat

The castle surprised me by being fairly sparse - plain wooden floors, not a lot of decorations. The docent of the tour I caught up with explained that the castle never recovered fully from the fire, and that it would have had painted floors and the walls would have been covered with tapestries and art. However, a lot of the art from the castle was captured by Sweden during one of the many wars fought between the two countries. 

Interior of the castle. The floors would originally have been painted.

One of the large halls

After the tour, I walked across the large, open courtyard in the center of the palace (which seems to be common in Danish palaces- I wonder if it is because of the lack of light in the winter), and went to the chapel, which is the only part of the original castle that survived the fire. It is much more ornate, full of fantastical carvings and painted wood. 

Interior courtyard of the castle

carvings in the chapel, the only part of the original castle still intact

I also went into the extensive underground casements (used for storage and as living quarters for servants and guards). It was very dark (I did not get one of the flashlights they were selling) and a little creepy, especially since I was the only person wandering around down there! I'm glad I skipped the flashlight, as it was fun to be down there with the dim lights, as it must have been back in the day (albeit a lot less smokey and smelly).

The casements

There is also a famous statue representing Ogier, a legendary Danish king who was supposedly taken to Avalon by Morgan le Fay. He rescued France, then traveled to Kronborg castle, where he sleeps in the casements until he is needed to save his homeland.

statue of Ogier

After thoroughly exploring the castle, I went back into town for lunch.

reused shipping containers seem to make up a lot of construction offices

I ate lunch at Madam Sprunck, a hotel/restaurant/cafe in the center of town. I decided to get smørrebrød at the cafe - they had a special of three small pieces which included smoked salmon, shrimp and hard boiled egg, and pickled herring, all on traditional rye bread. Much to my surprise, the herring was absolutely delicious. It was not overly fishy, and was a little sweet, with the strong flavor of spices. this is one of the things I love about traveling - discovering something that you are initially leery of actually tastes great. I'm not sure of this was just an excellent version of pickled herring, but I am willing to try it again to find out.

After lunch I wandered around town - which has great, bright colored buildings and a lot of charm.

However, I had another destination planned for the rest of the day, so I headed back to the train station for the short trip to Humlebæk and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. The name of the museum came from the first owner of the property, Alexander Brun, who named the villa after his three wives, all named Louise (how weird is that?).

Despite the odd name, the Louisiana is the most visited art museum in Denmark, with an extensive collection of modern and contemporary art from World War II to the present. They also have an amazing program of special exhibits, as I was fortunate enough to discover. The museum is considered a milestone in modern Danish architecture, for the synthesis it creates of art, architecture and landscape. The location and grounds are gorgeous; the museum is right on the coast, so many of the gardens and sprawling buildings have views of the water. 

Miro

"My Home, My House, My Stilthouse" by conceptual artist Arne Quinze

The two main exhibitions were Paul Klee and the Cobra group, and LIVING Frontiers of Architecture III-IV.

Before I went through the museum, I was most excited about the Klee exhibit - he is one of my favorite artists, and I was really looking forward to the show, which showed the influence Klee had on the Cobra artists, who were from formed by artists from Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands. It was a really good show, focusing on the influences of children and childhood had on Klee and the other artists.

However, that exhibit, and even the museum grounds, were totally overshadowed by LIVING Frontiers of Architecture III-IV. It featured a mix of architectural projects, photography, art installations and case stories from various places in the world and was divided in three overarching themes: The Dream, Cell/Network and Homeland. It was amazing. So amazing, in fact, that I went all the way through and then went back through the whole show a second time. Interactive, thought provoking, and inspiring, it really was one of the best museum shows I've ever experienced. I was really sad that the English version of the exhibition catalog was sold out; I'm still regretting not just buying the Danish version. There is a good video on YouTube by the museum that shows a little of the exhibit, which sprawled through more than half of the very spacious museum.

Close to 9 pm, I jumped on the train and headed back to Copenhagen. A fantastic day!

Geranium; Copenhagen, Denmark

While in Copenhagen, I figured I should take advantage of the fact I was in the hottest food destination on the planet. Yes, Copenhagen is the hottest food destination on the planet. Even better - it deserves its reputation. It not only has the "Worlds Best Restaurant," Noma, but also boasts 37-year-old chef Rasmus Kofoed, of Geranium, who won the prestigious Bocuse d'Or culinary competition in 2011.

While I couldn't get a reservation at Noma, I was able to get into Geranium.

Geranium serves New Nordic Cuisine, which started as a literal culinary revolution in 2004 by 14 top Scandinavian chefs who signed a document known as the Nordic Cuisine Manifesto. It basically offers rules for using fresh, local ingredients in translations of traditional Nordic food. The results have been stunning. I had some memorable and amazing meals in Denmark, and the pinnacle was my experience at Geranium.

The restaurant is located on the 8th floor of the soccer stadium (yes, really), in a beautiful, modern, and spare dining room. Very Danish. Stone, dark wood, lots of white and clean, clean edges.

Upon arrival, I was seated in the lounge and given a menu and wine list. I elected to get the Universal menu, which included a few extra dishes - I figured I might as well just go for it.I picked out a nice white wine, and then the "snacks" started to arrive, one by one.

The first snack was a crispy potato cracker with seaweed (yum ), followed by a sphere of carrot and sea buckthorn (an ingredient I had never encountered before this trip).  The texture was a little chewy but the flavor was great. At this point, realizing this meal was going to be epic, I put away my normal distaste of food photography, pulled out my camera and snapped away. I'll apologize in advance for the quality - I just took a quick snapshot of each dish, because I damn well wasn't going to allow it to get cold while I fussed around trying to be Ansel Adams.
 

 

Snack #3: Crispy Pig ear with sorrel. Tasty.

Snack #4: Seasalt Cheese and Ramsons (wild garlic). Excellent. Beautiful presentation. 

Snack #5: Razor clam. This dish was awesome all around. Gorgeous presentation, especially the fake,edible clam shell. The taste and texture were outstanding. This was one of my favorite dishes of the night. 

At this point, I was invited into the main dining room, which offers a view of the open kitchen & the chefs hard at work.

On to the main portion of the meal!

Dish #6: Walnut and Jerusalem artichoke. You can see the beautiful presentation in the back - the whitish twig is the "cracker" you used to scoop up a lovely Jerusalem artichoke dip.

A close up of the garnish for this dish

Dish #7: King crab with smoked cream cheese. This was really nice, the smokiness of the cheese and the sweetness of the crab went surprisingly well together.

Dish #8: Cold tomato juice, wild flowers and gelled ham. This seems to be one of the signature dishes at Geranium, and was really lovely and different. I would actually describe it as a ham meringue. The flowers and herbs (I identified thyme, verbena, calendula, arugula) gave it a really nice flavor and texture. Very fun.

Dish #9: Marinated cucumber, frozen oyster, dill. This was the only dish I did not like. Using liquid nitrogen is great for texture and presentation (you can see little wisps of fog drifting off the dish if you enlarge the photo), but it was so cold it froze everything to the plate and burned my tongue on the first bite.The cucumber was delightful (once it thawed), but the oyster was a little overpowering.

Dish #10: Lightly smoked cod and scallops with ymer and horseradish - exquisite. Lovely flavor and texture.

Dish #11: Bread with emmer and spelt. Holy mother of dog, this bread and accompaning butter mixed with buttermilk & watercress was amazing. I loved everything about this dish. I would have thought that nothing could ever top the butter at the French Laundry, but this comes close. Really, really close.

One of the the waiters brought me a (complimentary) glass of organic Danish cider (made from apple trees originally from Normandy but grown in Denmark) to pair with the next course.

Dish #12: Onions & melted hay cheese. Different kinds of onion (red, baby leek, etc) with fried bread crumbs, hay cheese sauce, and a pea shoot. Exquisite. Really, this was amazing. And yes, the cider put it over the top, a perfect counterpoint to the heat/bitter/bite of the onions.

Ha! The waiter tried to take the bread away while there was still some left. I made him put it back.

Dish #13: Cabbage sprouts & flowers, bleak roe, crispy potato, potato foam. Note to self - cabbage sprouts and blossoms are yum. I am going to plant plenty of cabbage in my garden this winter to be able to experiment with using the flowers. This dish is beautiful. Really lovely all around, the roe wasn't too fishy, everything went really well together. I also started a new glass of wine (a 2009 Bouzeron from La Maison Romane), lots of oak with hints of mango and pineapple - it really shone with this dish.

Brilliant meal so far.

Dish #14:  Langoustein, beets, cherry, vinegar and hazelnut. At first I didn't like this - the hazelnut oil overpowered everything and the beet is really strong compared to the delicate flavor of the langoustein. It did grow on me, but I still don't think it was the best pairing of flavors. The fresh hazelnut has the most amazing texture and was, sad to say, the highlight.

Dish #15: Herbgarden. This dish is probably the signature dish of the restaurant. First, they brought out a glass teapot which was filled with herbs, and added a broth made with a smoky lamb bacon. The smell was amazing.

After the broth and herbs steeped for a few minutes, they brought out a dish with lightly cooked carrots and flowers, to which the broth was added.

This was very good. The sweet carrots provide a nice counterpoint to the salty broth. Alone, the broth is quite salty, but somehow, paired with the herbs and vegetables it is just right, even though I felt like I needed a full glass of water as a chaser from all the salt.

Dish #16: Pork, Jerusalem artichoke, parsley. This could have been served hotter, but it was very good all the same. The pork neck meat was very tender, and the Jerusalem artichoke "chips" had a strong but very sweet flavor. Nice. 

At this point, I had to say no to the add-on cheese course. Just too much. The food was surprisingly light  but there are a lot of courses.

Now on to the sweet dishes!

Dish #17: Apple gelee, verbena, apple foam.
Mouth orgasm. Mouth fucking orgasm. Wow. That dish was amazing. Tart foam, very much fresh apple, julienned fresh verbena.

One thing I love about this meal is that the flavor of verbena has been in so many dishes. I love verbena and grow it at home - I am pretty sure I will recall this meal whenever I smell or taste verbena. I definitely will be thinking of how I can add verbena to more dishes I make; it is a lovely flavor counterpoint.

Dish #18: "Green stuff." Celery, green tomato, chervil, cucumber, white chocolate mousse. Very interesting, but I can't say I loved this. I could have bought into it more without the spheres  of cucumber and small slices of green tomato. Was very unique, and certainly not bad tasting, by any means.

At this point, I was well over my alcohol consumption limits, so I ordered a pot of herbal tea. It happily turned out to be verbena. Joy!

Dish #19: Pear poached in elderberry juice, raw pear, nougatine, "snow" of sheep milk yoghurt with a pear mousse underneath. The sheep milk yogurt was very strong flavored, but it went very well when combined with the other flavors. In this case, I liked how they used liquid nitrogen to freeze the yogurt - I think it helped that it was allowed to thaw a bit before arriving at the table. Very nice.

Dish #20: Milk Mysterious Ways. This dish included several different "milk" flavors and textures. Caramel, ice cream, mousse, cake, and a topping of crunchy dried milk "chips." I loved the texture of this. Crunchy, smooth, cold, spongy. There was just enough sour flavor to keep it balanced. Really really excellent. I could have  eaten more of this. The apple dish still won overall, though. 

Dish #21: Caramel with chocolate and pine. Ok, this was another wow. The pine was amazing.  I wanted a box of those to take home.


Time at dinner: 5 hours. Price: gulp. Experience: totally worth it, totally wonderful.