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Seeking Danish Delicacies in the Hinterland and Taste Sensations everywhere else

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Copenhagen 1

Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen

Salty old queen of the Sea.

My family is from the mainland of Denmark, so I don’t get over to ‘Devil’s Island’ much where Copenhagen is located.  This time, however, I made the effort.  My buddy, Agent J, now lives in Copenhagen and since I haven’t seen him in a long time, I thought a trip was in order.

The Agenda

I was dying to try smørrebrød at the iconic Ida Davidsens’ but, unbelievably, there was no room.  Clearly she didn’t get the memo that I was coming to town!  But Agent J had another, equally good place in mind.  We were going to stop at NOMA for a photo op, because that’s really as close as I’m going to get to eating there, then visit the royal palaces and off to Bakken.

I arrived in  the big smoke about noon.  The Danish Rail Service had decided that the 3 weeks that I was in DK, the rails between Odense and Roskilde needed serious repair, so a bus bridge was put into place.  It was a 2 hour bus ride but I had to switch 4 times from train to train to bus to train again.  Quite the adventure.

The Big City

Church near Amalienborg in Copenhagen

Church near Amalienborg in Copenhagen

Copenhagen is a big city, not unlike Paris or Rome, with lovely architecture.  The Danes are particularly good at melding the old ornate architecture with the modern style.

Royals

Agent J was waiting and we hopped the first bus to the Royal Palaces.  Again, Clearly Marg II did not received the memo that I was coming, since there was only a few guards on duty.  (I simply must get a new press agent!)  When the queen and family are in residence, they triple the guard.  BUT I noticed that the Royal Guard are issued machine guns albeit with a decorative bayonette.  Overall, the royal palaces are pretty low key, not overly ornate but impressive none-the-less.

After the palaces, which consist of 4 palaces formed around a parade ground in the centre, we walked toward the harbour.   Copenhagen is filled with beautiful public spaces which all the residents seem to appreciate and respect.  There was minimal garbage and no graffiti in the harbour area, despite it being packed with tourists.

The Harbour Promenade

As we walked along the harbour, I noticed a long row of rolls royces, just casually on display.  The Copenhagen Rolls Royce club was holding an open air exhibition.  Amazingly, no one touched them at all.

Noma

We carried on along the harbour towards a spot directly across from NOMA.  Unfortunately a new pedestrian bridge was being built which completely blocked the view of the restaurant.  Classic.

Nyhavn

We continued up the super trendy inner harbour front of Nyhavn.  It was once a rough, drunken sailor, prostituting kinda place.  Now it’s a tourist spot extraordinaire.  It helped that it was the first long weekend in Denmark and the weather was spectacular.  The cafes were packed.

Beer

After weaving our way through the tourist district, we hit a side street with a well worn bar and sat down for a beer.  I love the old school café/bars.  No pretense, just good beer and good people watching.   FYI – People watching in Copenhagen is like the West end times 50.  Picture people riding bikes with wings strapped to their backs – men, women and kids.  And how t those 2 guys dressed as nuns in short habits, casually standing by their bikes having a smoke.

 

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