Copenhagen: Day 1

If you don't know why I'm excited to be here in Copenhagen, you haven't been paying much attention. Three words:

Bikes.
Food.
Beer.

The only things I intend to do while I'm here is roam around on a rented bycykel to see what there is to see, and then drink all the beer and eat all the food! So far, the trip has been great.

I got a slow start on Day 1, but it was a great way to get the feel of the city. I walked from our Airbnb in Østerbro to a nearby cafe to grab breakfast and a latte, and wound up chatting with the barista and clientele about Copenhagen. A couple people implied that the Danes were a stand-off-ish people, but so far that's just not our experience! Our easyBus from London to the airport never showed, so the family we were stranded with spotted us £20 in cash to grab a different bus. (We paid them back at the airport!) We got directions from a kindly gentleman at the metro station, and then when we were at our stop he came over and reassured us it was the right one. And then in the cafe I was chatting like old friends. Danish — and perhaps Copenhageners specifically — seem genuinely pleased that you're visiting and want you to have a good time while you're here.

I stopped off at a grocery store, which is always an experience when you don't speak the language. I picked up some breakfasty stuff: a few cups of what I'm pretty sure is yogurt, as well as orange juice (spelled "Appelsin" but with a picture of oranges) and cheese.

Then finally — on to the bike!! I'm a big advocate for bike sharing programs, and Copenhagen's is, surprisingly, very new. But it's also the bee's knees, you guys. The bee's-freakin'-knees!!

The bikes have electric assist motors and — are you ready? — ON-BOARD TABLETS. I have a seven-inch-wide GPS map on my bike!! It's like crack! I can set up a route under my account before I leave the house, and it pre-loads it when I sign in on the bike. I'm in a big, new city and I won't get lost!! This is big. Game-changing. I don't know how I'll ever be satisfied with another bike share system. Already I'm thinking of ways to improve on this one, and I won't even have access to it after Saturday.

Right. So. My new best bike friend and I set off to see The Little Mermaid statue which is ... fine? Unlike the Peter Pan Statue in Hyde Park, I was pretty underwhelmed by this one. Not to say it isn't a fine piece of sculpture, but the photos show you exactly what you're going to see. They just leave out the dozen or so other people that were trying to take the same photo, or worse, use a selfie stick to get the same photo. There were maybe 20 people there? And I'm here in the off-season. NEXT.

Next stop was a two-hour "Nordic Essentials" food tour with FoodTours.eu. It was a delicious introduction to all foods Scandinavian, from crackers and cheeses to organic sausages and award-winning apple wine. You can read all about it in an upcoming review!

After that, we headed to The Royal Library, which is a stunning piece of architecture. It spans a highway, and is located at the banks of one of Copenhagen's canals. The giant ripples of the front atrium remind me of the architecture from Kansas City's Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Not the same guy though.

Off to dinner where we felt like kings paying about 90 DKK (about £9) for giant-size portions of food at Paludan Bogcafe — a bar-slash-restaurant-slash-library! Surrounded by books in a cozy library setting it's easy to see why the front tables were full of students with their laptops glowing. I think I would be here every day. Plus the coffees were buy-nine-get-one-free. I considered attempting it while here but that didn't seem healthy.

Finally a stop at Ølsnedkeren bar, where we holed up in a little cubby with our overpriced-but-delicious beers. Britton tried one called Yankee Kaos, which made me giggle. I drank an Øko Saison because it was the only one with an Ø in the name. And it was le tasty.

The Nordic Essentials food tour with FoodTours.eu

Given that four out of the 12 things that I'm excited about in my life were centered around food, you can imagine I was pretty stinkin' excited to find a Copenhagen food tour which would introduce me to the "Nordic Essentials," while we were here. We tried more than a dozen flavors representing Denmark, and left with a great appreciation for the food, drink, culture and history of Copenhagen!

Britton and I met up with Maria, the lead organizer of the FoodTours.eu Copenhagen tour. We knew right away she was dedicated to her craft: our tour was on the same day the Michelin Star ratings were announced, and she was borderline giddy to tell us Denmark had received several new stars, including its first three-star restaurant — located in Copenhagen! (And it wasn't Noma.)

Most of the Nordic Essentials tour is in the Torvehallerne Market, two structures built in 2011 on the site of the original town square (established in the late 1880s). The food on the tour focuses on the New Nordic Food Manifesto, culinary guidelines established in 2004 to encourage the use of ingredients that are indigenous to the Nordic countries. It's been quite successful in fueling a renaissance of food with local flair and pride!

Our first two stops were in Torvehallerne's Hall 1, where we sampled a blue cheese that will haunt me forever (so creamy and without the strong bite that some blue cheese has), award-winning apple wine that tasted like it had just fallen from the apple tree, and traditional rye crackers with mustard, along with several other local, organic tastings. Plus, licorice. The one food I might never like. But I gave it a go, just to confirm that it still tastes like licorice, which it did, which is gross (to me). Everything else was delicious though!

We also tried Akvavit (Aquavit), an after-meal liquor used for warming you up after a long day, or perhaps waking you up after a long night. The "traditional" way to take a shot is to look your drinking partner dead in the eye and exclaim, "SKÅL!" The origins of the tradition could be from the Vikings, who would drink out of the skulls of their fallen enemies — skull and  skål sound almost identical — or it might just be an extrapolation of "I raise this drinking bowl to your health and/or success" since skål translates literally to "bowl." You can decide for yourself :)

Next in Torvehallerne we sampled Danish wheat beer with a very old recipe, and thinly sliced smoked beef. The beef looks like and tastes like prosciutto, but is made from a very specific breed of cow which can survive off the tundra-esque plants that grow during a Scandinavian winter. Talk about free-range!

We walked a few blocks to our sweetest stop, Sømods Bolcher, Copenhagen's oldest candy store! They are still making candy the way they made it when the store opened in 1891. It's the kind you're supposed to suck on for a long time, but I can't help chomping down within thirty seconds. Britton kept his until we were practically at the next stop!

To get to the next stop, we hiked all the way up to the highest point in Copenhagen; a whopping 19m above sea level. Whew! Copenhagen is gloriously flat — part of the reason cycling can be so popular — but that didn't stop the early Copenhageners from building a church on the highest point in the city, as happens in just about any other city (including Kansas City)!

The location turned out to be a local, organic sausage cart. Yep, as odd as it might sound, a sausage cart has been recognized by the New Nordic Food Manifesto. There's an interesting history surrounding the sausage carts — including how scandalous it was to bee seen eating street food. Once there were hundreds of stands and now there are only a few dozen thanks to the fast food movement. My sausage (pork with wild garlic) was served with some shredded kale, a traditional winter food for Denmark since it's one of the few things that will grow in winter!

To finish the trip, we headed back to Torvehallern, this time exploring Hall 2 where we stopped at a spice shop (where we drank lovely, warm, homemade chai tea), an herb stand (where we picked lemony-spicy sorrel straight off the plant and smelled the aroma of strawberry mint and chocolate mint plants) and a sweet shop (to devour a chocolate covered marzipan-and-white-fluff treat). Our very, very last sampling was of two different kinds of local honey — one made from the bees in the botanical garden and another from a hive about 5km away. It's interesting how different they tasted, since the bees would have harvested pollen from barely-distinct areas of town!

The tour not only provided a taste of Denmark's and Copenhagen's local cuisine — Maria knew Danish history and, as a life-long Copenhagener, also knew answers to my random questions about daily life and language. I absolutely recommend it if you're a foodie looking for an experience in Copenhagen!

Thanks very much to FoodTours.eu for providing a discount in exchange for a post about the tour. The company had an opportunity to review for accuracy (dates and locations and such) but had no influence over my opinions. 

12 Things That Are Happening Right Now

I have a quick break before I leave to catch a bus to Luton for our flight to Copenhagen (woooooot!!), so I thought I'd catch you all up on some really Good Things that are happening in my day-to-day life right now. They're all pretty exciting!

1. I put all of my clothes away and did all of the dishes, so when we get home from Copenhagen, my house will still be cleeeeaaaannnn
2. I've been volunteering/working (voluntwerking? ew, no) with What is the Point? Arts Collective, and we're officially moving forward with setting it up as an official entity. Not only that, we've got some pro-bono backing from an accounting/business firm to guide us along the way. It's a huge step and a very validating development for all the hard work that our three-person staff plus team of artists has put in to the organization!
3. Starting next week I also have my first official freelance gig with a really exciting new brand of women's cycling apparel. Queen of the Mountains wants to encourage more women to get on bikes (!!) and is developing cycling kits so that more of us feel represented in the retail racks. Can I say dream job?? This also means I'll be making some real dolla-dolla-bills! Er...dolla-dolla-pounds?
4. I had to — had to! — finish the double cream before our trip (it's like half-and-half, but a couple steps creamier and more bad for you), so I mixed it into my cafe-con-leche (read: instant coffee in milk) this morning and it was glorious. GLORIOUS!
5. I also have a delicious-looking avocado waiting for me for lunch.
6. I got to have breakfast on Saturday with my friend Kellee who flew all the way around the world as part of her trip to Taiwan and Hong Kong. 
7. I joined a book club full of women who I immediately got along with. Plus, it was equal parts book club and Let's-Drink-Wine-Club, which means we actually discussed the book while drinking wine! 
8. I bought new boots and they were on sale
9. I think it's currently hailing a little bit (like frozen raindrops, not golf-ball-sizes or anything) even though I can see the sun...?
10. The sun has been out consistently for, like, FIVE DAYS! 
11. I bought flowers at the farmer's market and they are oh-so-bright and cheery in my window
12. My sister sent me a Valentine and it had a llama wearing sunglasses and it made me laugh out loud

Fun in the sunshine! (Are you following me on Instagram?)

Breakfast with Kellee!

AAAHHH SO EXCITED!

LOL forever. This llama is everything.

My farmer's market splurge! They make me smile. :)

Okay leaving for Copenhagen see you later byeeee!

Gong Hey Fat Choy: Happy Chinese New Year from London!

One of the things I love most about living in this city full of 8 million of my soon-to-be friends, is that just about every culture has a community. Everyone is well-represented — it's just a matter of finding the events. Back in September, we found a riverfront festival for Colombian-Londoners and there were thousands of people attending!

I was excited to celebrate the Chinese New Year here in London, not least of all because it claims to be the largest CNY celebration outside of China. Judging by the crowds we braved, survey says "VERY TRUE." All the way from Tottenham Court to Trafalgar we were surrounded by red lanterns, dragon icons and people. So many people!

SEA OF PEOPLE in Trafalgar Square.

The parade didn't disappoint and we had a lot of fun walking around! The energy was jovial and hopeful, and the atmosphere was so celebratory. We didn't stay for the main stage show because people. But I did make a little one-minute video about our morning. Watch here or below!

This was another item off of the 101 Free Things to do in London list. I'm closing in on 1/4 of the way, and it's not even March. Woot!

Free London: The Hyde Park/Kensington Garden Edition

As I work my way through the 101 Free Things To Do in London list, I've been eager to write about one of my favorite places — Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park!

Is it a cliché favorite place? Perhaps. But I've only been here six months, so I get a freebie.

A tour through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens — the two are technically individual parks in their own right, though an untrained eye wouldn't know it — ticks four items off the list! KABOOOOM.

They are:

#23 — Take a jog around Hyde Park

Easy enough. Though I'm not much of a jogger, I actually did get out for a run a couple times last week. The sun was shining and I was stir crazy! And running through either park is a delight: a maze of paths criss-cross the parks, people are walking their dogs, and there are plenty of intimidating waterfowl to motivate you to run faster er, to admire while you gasp for air and realize how out of shape you are whoops I mean, "run".

I GOT THIS. (Original Instagram post here.)

This person is also running:

#24 — See the Peter Pan Statue in Kensington Gardens

I just wrote about this in my previous post, but it bears repeating: it's a surprisingly — and delightfully — interactive statue!

#33 — Diana Memorial Playground

There really is a pirate ship at the Diana Memorial Playground, and it looks super awesome. However, as I don't have small children to take with me as an excuse, and I don't intend to be put on a pedophile list anytime soon, I didn't take a photo.

#85 — Listen to whoever is at Speaker's Corner

I haven't seen a speaker at that exact spot any time I've been by, but there have been several rallies at nearby Marble Arch. Groups gather to show and demand support for Syrian refugees, to highlight low junior doctors' wages, and other issues. But the corner itself has a lengthy history, dating back to the late 1100s when people had the right to a last speech before they were hanged at the Tyburn Gallows. (There is now a Wetherspoon's pub named The Tyburn on that spot, which to me is super morbid. But they have a decent curry deal on Thursdays so...)

And, because I'm there a lot and I seem to think I need to take a photo every time I'm there (like it's going to be different this time?! It's like when you see seven photos of a stranger's baby and they insist each photo has a different expression. It's JUST a BABY...), here are more photos!

View of the Round Pond from Kensington Gardens.
The British are so creative with how they name things.

Physical Energy bronze statue, installed in 1907.
(NINETEEN OH SEVEN. THE U.S. WAS JUST A WEE BABE.)

I like to think there's a seagull hierarchy with who gets to sit on the posts each day.

That's a parakeet! 
(And it lives in Hyde Park with its buddies — for realz!)

Sunset over Kensington Gardens

Palace gate at Kensington Palace

Prince Albert Memorial at dusk

Sun setting in Hyde Park