Trip Report: Denmark, Day 8

Our last day! We were done with walking a hundred miles everywhere and by now were taking the bus as much as possible. This is the bus stop at the corner by our apartment. So helpful, telling you how many minutes until the next bus!

First we went down to Christiansborg Palace again so we could get some prints of the tapestries to frame. This is the canal around Slotsholmen, the little island where the palace and some other government buildings are located. There was tons of construction in central Copenhagen because they are expanding the metro to be more useful - right now it's just one line.

We stopped in at the Radhus, Copenhagen City Hall, because it was one of the few frequently mentioned tourist places we hadn't been yet.

It was pretty but I don't know what you are supposed to do there.

There's an old fancy clock to look at.

Then we went to the train station to set out for Malmo, Sweden, across the water. It didn't really seem like there was much to do in Malmo, but when you have the opportunity to take a 30 minute train ride to another country, you should do it! 

Malmo looked newer than Copenhagen, but didn't seem much different overall.

TGI Friday's, weirdly, is one of the only American companies we saw with a significant presence in Denmark, and we were dismayed to discover when having dinner with Morten's parents that Danes are unaware TGI Friday's is terrible. I guess they think this is what all restaurants are like in the United States. Ugh.

We found a restaurant in this square for lunch.

Swedes also give you blankets for outdoor eating.

We got cheeseburgers.

Fortunately the patio was very efficiently covered with interlocking tents, because it poured the entire time we were eating. Despite this being the forecast at the time:

Honestly! How hard is it? IT'S CURRENTLY RAINING. Update the forecast.

Anyway, it cleared off by the time we were done.

We walked through the pedestrian shopping area of Malmo, which was charming. Swedish people are definitely not as accommodating as Danes, though; we have never been to a less annoying city for being a pedestrian than Copenhagen, but this courtesy did not seem to extend across the water.

We ate some of these same berries in Newfoundland! But they are called partridgeberries there.

Malmo is similar to Copenhagen re: canals.

We took the train home mid-afternoon to pack up all our things. Last night in Denmark!

We had about a 40 minute bus ride to dinner. When I booked the restaurant I sort of didn't understand how far away it was, but fortunately the bus from our apartment went straight there. It was an interesting trip right through the center of town and then took us to some other areas we hadn't seen before.

Our last dinner was at Amass, one of the most highly rated restaurants in town - I wanted to have at least one other fancy dinner besides Noma. The chef here is American and has worked at Noma (and many other of the best restaurants in the world). 

They seated us right next to a half-wall looking into the kitchen, which was exciting! 

We got a set 5 course menu. First up was corn pudding with rye crackers.

There was also this delicious potato bread with broccoli chutney from the restaurant garden. Like Noma, they are really focused on local food here.

Danish tomatoes with white currants, really delicious.

This was squid and black garlic and nasturtium and flowers from their garden. Most of the squid I've had has been vaguely rubbery, but this was not at all.

Beets with Danish yogurt and herbs. The beets were a little dehydrated and chewy, very good.

And pork with thinly sliced apples, fermented grains, and wormwood.

By this time it was getting dark so the picture of dessert didn't turn out - it was caramelized whey ice cream with sweet potatoes and honey, and was absolutely fantastic. Then they brought us rosemary cake with rhubarb preserves and some chocolate crackers.

The next morning we were up at 4:00 and off to the airport on a metro train full of drunk people who hadn't been home yet, so that was fun. But we made it home without incident, and Papaya was happy to see us for five minutes before she went back to her normal life of sitting around doing nothing. 

Trip Report: Denmark, Day 7

The morning after Noma, Ben had come down with the cold, so we were forced to get breakfast that had a lot of fruit in it for vitamin C purposes. We got these delicious tarts at Torvehallerne, a newish food market near the Norreport train station with all sorts of different types of foods.

Mmm, bread. We decided we'd grab dinner here too, on the way home.

We set out via train for Helsingor, home of Kronborg Castle. Kronborg is famous as the setting for Hamlet, but of course Hamlet wasn't real and Shakespeare never visited this area. In reality, Kronborg was set up as a tax collection fortress. It's right on the water, on a narrow strait across from Sweden.

I liked how Kronborg was no-nonsense compared with the ornate palaces we'd visited earlier in the trip. 

There is Sweden across the water.

You can also wander around in the casements beneath the castle. There is a big statue here that is supposed to come to life and defend Denmark if the country is ever attacked, but since nothing happened when the Nazis invaded it's safe to assume the statue is in fact useless.

For lunch we walked back into the little town and got some smorrebrod. Ben ordered two (one smoked fish, one fried fish).

And I got a sampler plate, which turned out to be a terrific deal. I couldn't finish all this stuff.

In addition to butter we got this delicious spread, which we later learned translates as "lard with onions."

After lunch we got back on the train and went south a bit to visit the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. 

A big Yayoi Kusama exhibit had just opened the day before. 

I liked it but Benjamin thought she was obnoxious.

The best thing about the Louisiana is the building and setting. It's beautiful, right on the water. We wandered around for a long time and then just sat on the steps by the ocean for a while.

Back in Copenhagen, we stopped in at Torvehallerne to examine our options for dinner,

We ended up getting takeout Thai. I had big plans for saving money by cooking dinners on this trip, since we had a whole apartment, but we didn't ever cook anything except coffee.

Since Ben was feeling a little under the weather, this was another Stay at Home and Watch Arrested Development evening, which was fine by me. We walked at least 10 miles every single day and I was always ready to sit quietly by early evening!