Another beautiful day in Copenhagen with a high of 23 degrees Celsius during the sunny/cloudy afternoon. I had this day totally open with no soccer/football responsibilities. This almost always turns my mind to food and specifically Danish food. Beginning tomorrow for four consecutive days it will be commitment to the soccer tournament/practising.
Not much sleep last night, but I woke up pretty hungry. I ate my bowl of blueberries, green grapes and red grapes on the balcony in the light morning sun and quiet. I will let my picture do the talking in regards to a healthy start to my morning. It goes downhill from here! ;-)
Healthy bowl of fruit before a big day of eating!
Lana's nephew Thomas, living in Copenhagen, provided some ideas on places to eat before I left for Denmark. One of his recommended bakeries was Hart Bageri and it was open today as there are other bakeries and restaurants not open on Mondays I discovered by googling them. Hart Bageri has high ratings and it did not take much to convince myself that was my first destination of the day = pastries.
I decided to make the morning and early afternoon about my quest for Danish food and to maximize my walking. Took my iPhone as it has lots of travel data and I wanted to use Google Maps to get to my locations. A major issue once I was on the M3 subway was the station it indicated to unload did not exist on the M3 map. Fortunately, the M3 was being checked for tickets (so far it has been an honour system) so I had to produce proof of my pass. The nice trainman indicated in about 4 stops I should get off at "Frederiksberg". Once I got up top and checked Google Maps it showed a lot of walking to get to the bakery. Gave me a chance to check out the neighbourhood known as Frederiksberg. This bakery had reached critical acclaim very quickly when it began almost four full years ago.
Once I finally reached Hart Bageri mostly by walking on the main street of Kongevej there was a lineup out the door which I expected. No seating inside and very few seats on the sidewalk outside the small shop. Like everywhere in this city you will find they speak English and quite clearly. Lots of bread and buns and some of the shelving behind the glass counter had beautiful pastries and english writing to describe each of them. I ordered a Spandauer, a Cardamom Croissant (famous for this) and another pastry that I cannot remember its name, but it was like a croissant. Whatever its title, that was one super delicious pastry. Melt in your mouth goodness! I felt zero guilt if you are wondering. The biggest challenge was trying to find a bench on the street where I could finally stop and take out one of these pastry gems to demolish with my vacuum suction sugar mouth.
I demolished the pastry on the left and kept the Cardamom Croissant (middle) and Spandauer for another day. I got so excited I had the white pastry sugar all over my shorts. Smile on my face too so the passerbys on this main street must have been wondering if I was a little crazy. No, I don't care that I took them out of their bag and placed them on a bench where strangers' bums have been (in case you were wondering!) ha ha
OK, my next destination was to eat one of the finest Danish hot dogs in the city. I had done my research and found the highest rated Danish hot dog at a small food truck located quite a walk away. I needed to burn off the calories from the pastry anyway. ;-)
The above screenshot from Google Maps doesn't do that walk justice. As usual, walking in a major city always has advantages over taking rapid transit. Danish hot dogs are apparently world famous. I know our Danish friend Lars is always talking about when he returns to Denmark his first stop is for a hot dog and maybe some salted licorice.
I found the food cart without too much trouble as it was relatively easy by following one main street and then a left hand turn at the end. Busy pedestrian street full of fellow tourists and some seating in a small park nearby. On another note, when I checked my iPhone it was now down to about 19% battery strength meaning the Google Maps app must really suck my battery life.
Menu board on the side of the hot dog stand on wheels.
Like Monty Python used to say "now for something completely different", time to talk about the M3 subway system. It is beautiful, clean, modern, zero graffiti, spotless seats and pretty quiet. Each of the stations are perfect engineering. I am really impressed. Plus, as you can see from the picture below these lines are to help keep waiting riders from blocking the exit of the train passengers. Some people pay attention to the lines and stand behind and others don't care....
Originally I had not planned on returning to the apartment, but I needed to get my battery strength up by powering it up at the apartment. By the time I was back at the Airbnb my phone was almost dead. No problem as I had enough time to plug it in and eventually it would have about 55% power before my next adventure.
Being in one of the most famous bicycle city friendly cities in the entire world I had reserved the Copenhagen 1.5 hour City Highlights Bike Tour. Cost for me was around $42CDN. For anyone who knows me I am almost early for an appointment/date/meeting. While in this case I was the last customer to arrive although I was early by a few minutes. I had written down the Google Map directions before taking off for the M3 subway and then walk to the site along the Holmens Kanal. I missed a left hand turn and went too far and had to double-back. There are not many traditional street signs as they mostly put the name of each street on the building themselves. Easy to miss? Anyway, I did make it and was almost picked by the leader Bilal (originally from Pakistan) to be the very last cyclist as I was wearing an all-white top so easy to spot from a distance.
Fortunately at the last second an American fellow volunteered. Why is that a big deal? Following people driving a car while I am behind them is bad enough. Riding my bike with cyclists in front of me who are clueless and brake for any perceived danger is way worse! The bike I got was terrible as the front wheel was wonky, but I made the best of it.
Eventually, after the second stop I decided to be the #2 rider so right behind our group leader. He knows what he is doing and I could go as fast as he wanted to go. I used my Garmin watch to record our route and statistics. Basically almost 5 kms in total and not that much time actually spent (24 minutes) out of a 90 minute ride. The fellow riders were pretty good though about maintaining a single line and being careful with cars and pedestrians. Much of our time was spent listening to Bilal at the many spots. We did visit some places that I had seen yesterday on the Guru walk. I learned more about Copenhagen for sure though. One thing is it is very flat and full of history.
Before I forget, there are 100s of kms of bike lanes in this city. There are bikes everywhere. Very safe separate biking lanes which help car traffic and pedestrians. All sorts of different shapes of bikes and styles. It seems like almost everyone has a bike. Plus, there are riders from slow to super fast. I have to give this city a lot of credit for making this happen. Very admiral.
OK, it wasn't much pedalling and the only 'hill' or incline was a short bridge. There are no hills in this city that I have seen yet. I decided to find a chair along the canal and just sit under a shady tree to relax and figure out my plans. Aaaahhhh... Lots of families around and of course most families riding bikes. In the canal are many smaller boats for families and then huge water craft that have a couple of decks and a party atmosphere. Who doesn't like to get out on the water on a beautiful summer day? Yup, it is now much hotter and I need to walk a distance to get to the nearest M3 station and then on my way back to the apartment.
Checking some emails and again need to power up my iPhone. Figuring out my dinner destination for tonight as it will be my first night eating out --- only my second night here. My priority today is eating Danish food so I choose Restaurant Søpromenaden located a long walk down the huge boulevard main drag called Osterbrogade which is the major arterial route for the Osterbro neighbourhood that I am staying in. By the time this day is over I have basically walked 20,000 steps. This restaurant is known for its Danish cuisine and has very good ratings.
Yup, it is a very long walk, but I eventually arrive and it is on a beautiful spot at the end of a canal and right near the water. Slight breeze during my walk which was much appreciated. Large trees along the canal are shading the restaurant so I pick a table outside. The path between the trees and the restaurants along the canal is not narrow, but it is extremely busy with cyclists, walkers, runners, skateboarders etc. Lots of chatter from everyone so it is a busy busy area. There are many running groups using the canal path to get some fresh air. Busy area with so many people. Swans in the canal!
I check the menu and decide to order the Stegt Flaesk. This is a famous Danish dish comprised of thinly cut fried pork belly strips (yup, how can you go wrong with pork belly!), potatoes, parsley sauce and chopped beetroot. Cost here is 175 Kroner ($30CDN) so it isn't cheap, but not expensive. The meal comes at a decent pace and was very tasty. The challenge though was it was really dried out and difficult to cut as it was so crispy sometimes a piece would go flying. Very crunchy to eat, but I figured the taste is why it is well known.
The dinner menu showing they provide both Danish and English language. I am believing almost everyone working in the tourist business here speaks English.
I guess we are wondering do you TIP in Denmark? I know from my server tonight she passed me the bill and there was no tip on the bill itself nor as an option with the credit card reader. In her case I wouldn't have tipped her anyway given the service was brutal, although she was super busy. The etiquette apparently in Denmark is the service from your waiter is included in your bill. On the other hand it is customary to leave a tip up to 10% for excellent service according to online sources. It will be interesting to ask a native...
Walked back home of course and it was a beautiful night to be outside. The apartment was not too bad with the heat as I kept the windows, sliding doors open for the breeze. Despite the fact I am dead tired from little sleep (only sleep courtesy of a 10 year old sleeping pill) and being tired from the day I have to get the blog for today finished. Staying awake as long as possible is another way of combating the jet lag. It has been a busy, but good day. Very dark here already at 21:30. I have my iTunes library music playing so that is a good way of helping me stay up.
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