Køpenhavn a Good Time!

Køpenhavn a Good Time!

Stop 2: Copenhagen, Denmark

Imagine a land of medieval Vikings, well preserved bog people, the best breakfast pastries (Danishes), beautiful parks and people, $8 coffees, and lunches starting at $20.  Welcome to Denmark!

We noticed 3 things when we arrived at the airport in Denmark.  1) Danish design is great – we stuck around the airport for a half hour just admiring the architecture and wares in the gift shop.  2) Almost 100% of Danish people are attractive.  It’s as though the country is a factory producing 6’ blonde models and designer jackets.  3) Anyone who is anyone wears Converse.   Even if you aren’t anyone, you’re probably wearing Converse.  A sad realization for an American girl who ditched her Converse sneakers to avoid looking like a US tourist.  We did a count of about 40 pairs on the metro ride from the airport to our lovely AirBNB flat.

There are a lot of bikes in Copenhagen!

We discovered that the US dollar doesn’t go very far in Denmark, almost pricing us out of eating dinner our first night. We arrived from Madrid to a nearly 35º drop in temperature, dug out our winter clothes and set out into the rain in search of something to eat. We walked for nearly half an hour, passing by $25 pub hamburgers, $18 Caesar salads, $15 California rolls and $12 beers until we found a place just a block from our room with a steak special, half off from $36.  Thankfully, our friend, Turan, joined us the following day – equipped with 20 Clif bars after getting our SOS request.

For the next few days, the three of us explored the beautiful city on bikes, through storybook royal gardens, colorfully lined canals, and art districts in search of affordable drinks.  Copenhagen is great for cyclists. The whole city is flat, and cyclists have their own set of traffic lights that give them a head start ahead of cars, plus the separated bike lane has its own curb above the street but below the sidewalk in most places.

One great stop in the city was the Carlsberg brewery – though the cobblestone roads were a bit of bumpy bike ride.  Built in the late 16^th century, Carlsberg brewery is the size of a small city,…or berg, with ornate brick structures, towering stone turrets, stables for their Clydesdales and a beautiful tasting lounge.  Despite being so old, the tasting lounge is totally modern Danish inside from the wall clocks  (Arne Jacobsen) to how the beers were displayed, even the taps were a thing a beauty.

Beautiful modern design is everywhere in Denmark. Forget the museums. – a good free walking tour of design in Denmark we found is to drink a lot of water, and to use bathrooms in nice hotels, restaurants and public buildings. The compact and smartly designed restrooms are really a testament to the country’s commitment to good design.

But, we did take a “bathroom break” to explore a couple museums: the Danish National Museum is a gorgeously designed  (are you sensing a pattern here?) history of the Danish people from the Stone Age onwards.  It’s a beautiful, comprehensive, and FREE museum, which was a welcome pause in wallet drainage.  We could have spent hours there. The most impressive displays were the huge quantities of artifacts preserved by the bog where sacrifices were left.  Jewelry, clothing, hair, and complete bodies were extremely – and very creepily – well-preserved.

Our other museum stop was the Danish Design Museum. Although we were expecting mostly Danish modern design, the museum actually chronicles worldwide design beginning almost as early as the Danish National Museum.  It also had a fun (and funny) exhibit titled "Danish Design - I like it!", plus a very comprehensive study on Danish chairs.

Best Eats:

Smørrebrød – various meats on an open face rye bread sandwich

Weinerbrød - or as non-Danes call them, Danishes!

Late night pølser- street food, basically a hot dog with multiple mustards, pickles, and fried onions.

La Glace – the oldest confectioner in Copenhagen, dating back to 1870. Delicious cakes are their specialty.

Lagkagehuset – The epitome of what we dream of Denmark to be – delicious Danishes in a modern Danish design bakery, housed in a historic building in Copenhagen’s Old Town.

Madklubben in Tivoli Gardens – You can choose any two items for the two course meal, so David chose two entrees: corned veal and classic rotisserie chicken.

Best Times:

Tivoli Gardens' poorly translated Hans Christian Andersen ride that gave very rough summations of children’s stories where no lessons are learned

Walking around the moat of a real castle at the Rosenbørg Slott.

Best Tips:

AirBNB is a great alternative to staying in budget hotels or hostels. Also a nice way to feel like a local, meet people, and have the opportunity to cook or do laundry.

The silver lining of the food price dilemma is that there isn’t a huge range of pricing, so a gourmet dinner at a trendy restaurant in general was only $5 or $10 US more than going to the corner pub. So a splurge is worth it.

Despite how widely they’re touted in guidebooks, the free city bikes are not so widely available in the city center or during busy times of the day.  After several unsuccessful attempts at finding any available, we opted to rent bikes and saved ourselves a lot of time and complaining!

Best Laughs:

Outside a café, we saw a Great Dane, or as it’s known in Copenhagen, “a Great”.

We also asked a banker where we could get a Danish. She was very confused and appalled.

A random dunk girl to Turan  (without any prior conversation): “I’m so sorry that you’re here. Copenhagen is so boring.” Apparently, it’s common for Danish to disparage their city. It’s in the guide book! (and for drunk girls to talk to Turan)