Copenhagen is Also Delicious

Now, I like to eat as much as the next person. But I'm no foodie; my palate is not too sophisticated for boxed mac and cheese. (And boy, do I miss that stuff.)

I had no idea that Noma, the best restaurant in the world, is located in Copenhagen--in fact, many of the best restaurants in the world are there. But Evan knew, because he is a self-proclaimed foodie. And when he asked, "Want to go to dinner with me at the best restaurant in the world?" the only possible answer was, "Um, duh."

Which is how we ended up in Copenhagen on the first weekend of November.

My bus arrived in Copenhagen an hour earlier than its scheduled 8:30pm--I'm still not sure how that happened--so I had to scramble, stiff from the 12.5 hours spent on the bus, to gather my things and get oriented. Once off the bus, I navigated through to the other side of the train station, where I caught a city bus to Evan's and my Airbnb. I had no clue how to pronounce the name of the stop I needed to get off at--the Danish language seems to primarily be comprised of ø's and å's and ů's and j's at the ends of words--so I pulled up the name of the stop on my phone and showed it to the friendly, English-speaking driver to make sure I was on the right bus. (Thankfully, I received an answer in the affirmative). I paid for my one-way ticket and received a handful of coins with holes in their middles as change.

Twenty minutes later, my navigation app informed me that I had arrived at my destination, and I climbed four flights of stairs to find that my foodie had made pita pizzas for dinner. Copenhagen was off to a yummy start.

The next morning, we did as native Copenhageners do and got on our bikes, off to Lagkagehuset for breakfast. Lagkagehuset is apparently THE Danish bakery, known throughout the land for its...well, Danishes.

Hopped up on sugar and caffeine, we continued on our way into the center of the city, with the intent of joining one of those free walking tours that Evan and I are such big fans of. We were distracted, however, by the swirly black-and-gold spire of Copenhagen's Church of Our Saviour. When we spotted people scaling the staircase up and around the tower, we knew we had to get up there. 

Ooooh...shiny!

So we parked our bikes, flashed our student IDs to the teenager at the entrance, and climbed the 400 steps to the top of the tower. 

Even though it was a misty day, we were had a pretty dang spectacular view of Copenhagen.

We then realized that we weren't going to make the 10:00am walking tour, so we revised our plan and decided to aim for the 1:30pm tour instead. In the meantime, we went to scope out Noma.

Despite Evan's efforts way back in July--which had involved waking up at some ungodly hour to get online the instant that November reservations for Noma opened--we hadn't been able to secure one of the coveted tables. So the closest we got was snooping around the outside. 

However, we (and by "we" I mean "Evan") had somehow managed to book a table for dinner on Sunday at 108, Noma's sister restaurant, which had opened only six months ago. So we also creeped on the people having lunch there. 

We ourselves found lunch at Copenhagen Street Food, an old warehouse around the corner from 108, where dozens of street vendors offer everything from duck-fat fries to sushi to Smørrebrød (Denmark's famous open-faced sandwiches). 

Holy Smørrebrød, Batman!

By the time we finished at Copenhagen Street Food, it was pouring rain. Not just drizzling; we're talking cats and dogs here. Nonetheless, Evan and I sloshed back to our bikes and gamely headed toward the center of town.

If you've never had the experience of city biking in the rain, don't. It is nothing but misery. In spite of our raincoats, we were drenched when we finally arrived in the center of the city, which dampened our enthusiasm (heehee) for the walking tour. So instead we whiled away the afternoon by ducking into various shops, including the Lego flagship store. Bet you didn't know Legos were Danish! (Don't feel bad...neither did I.) 

Lego biking is more fun than regular biking.

LEGO SAAAAANTA! OH MY GOSH! I KNOW HIM!

We took a long afternoon coffee (and cake) break to dry off and warm up, and by the time we got out of the coffee shop at 4:00pm, it was nighttime. Literally nighttime. That northern latitude really makes a difference in how much daylight a place gets. It really messed with my internal clock, and by 5:00pm, I was about ready for bed.

But we still had to eat dinner, so we headed to another indoor food market. This one was more grocery-store than Copenhagen Street Food (there were butchers and fish vendors and whatnot everywhere), but there were also a few places where you could grab a bite. After a few laps around the place, Evan and I settled on sharing fish and chips and a fish taco, which was more like a fish burrito (but still pretty darn tasty).

Fish are friends, not f--oops. 

The market was closing up as we left, so we stopped at a bakery stand for some macarons to take on the road. (It really is an addiction.)

Sunday dawned just as cold and windy as the day before, but at least the rain wasn't as heavy, so Evan and I finally showed up for a walking tour. Our tour guide was a good-natured Australian, who made jokes about every nationality in our tour group, plus the Swedes (the archenemies of Denmark) and Kiwis (apparently New Zealand and Australia don't get along very well). He was also very informative:
--You know that device that you stick in your ear for hands-free calling? Well, the name "Bluetooth" comes from Danish King Harald Blåtand (Harald Bluetooth), who played a major role in uniting warring factions during the 10th century in parts of what are now Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.
--Carlsberg beer is Danish, and every year, the Carlsberg award goes to a Dane who makes a major contribution to society.
--Niels Bohr won the Carlsberg medal for his contributions to science (the structure of an atom, anyone?). Part of his prize included a house with a pipeline from the Carlsberg brewery, so he had free beer for life.
--Niels Bohr also saved a huge number of Danish Jews during the Holocaust. His mother was Jewish, and when he was evacuated to Sweden, with the intent of being transported to the US to work on the Manhattan Project, he refused to go until the king of Sweden publicly promised to evacuate all Danish Jews and to offer them refuge in Sweden until it was safe for them to return to Denmark. This promise was upheld, and over 7,220 of Denmark's 7,800 Jews, plus 686 of their non-Jewish familý members were saved.

The tour ended near Frederik's Church, which has the largest dome in Scandinavia. Evan and I poked around the church for a few minutes (not going to lie, it was mostly because we needed to warm up, but also it was a very pretty church). We then made a beeline for the cheesecake place recommended by our tour guide.

Say "cheese!" (cake)

We had a few hours to kill before our 8:30pm dinner reservation at 108, so we wandered for a bit more before finding ourselves back at Copenhagen Street Food.

We whiled away the time by sharing a couple of beers, as well as an order of duck-fat fries and a croque monsieur. (Yes, we had a pre-dinner snack. This girl gets hangry way too easily.) We then classily ducked into the bathrooms to change into our dinner clothes. Now somewhat presentable, we walked over to 108.

I'm sure I didn't fully appreciate the culinary skill involved in such a dinner, but everything was pretty dang delectable in my opinion. And I definitely enjoyed watching Evan swoon over every bite.

Here's what we ate:

Slices of pumpkin with fresh goat’s milk cheese and blackcurrant leaves

Grilled courgette with gammel knas and blackcurrant leaves

Braised oxtail with black autumn truffles

A caramelized milkskin with grilled pork belly and cress

Grilled monkfish with cabbage cooked in chamomile, summer greens and a sauce of mussels

A sourdough cone filled with blueberry ice cream and mint

Speechless? Me too. (Even more so after I saw the bill.)

The next day, Evan had to head back to Rennes for class. So we checked out of the Airbnb, and he headed to the airport while I found the hostel I'd be staying in for my last night in Copenhagen.

I checked in and shoved my bags into my locker, then turned right back around and headed out to take advantage of the all-too-limited daylight hours. I was off to find the Little Mermaid.

Maybe you knew this, but Hans Christian Andersen, fairytale author extraordinaire, was a Copenhagener--probably one of the most famous ones. He wrote classics such as "The Princess and the Pea," "The Emperor's New Clothes," "Thumbelina," and, of course, "The Little Mermaid." In honor of what is probably Hans Christian Andersen's most famous story, there is a statue in one of the Northernmost harbors in Copenhagen of the Little Mermaid herself.

It was quite a hike (it took most of the afternoon), but it was through a nice part of town, and it was finally a sunny day, so I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the Copenhagen-style hot dog that I snagged from a street vendor on my way back to my hostel.

By the time my weary feet crossed the threshold of the hostel, it was dark outside, and I was once again ravenous (in spite of the pit stop I'd made at Lagkagehuset). So I asked the girl at reception where the closest place for good, cheap food was, and got directions to a kebap place right around the corner. Between the falafel and the fries, I was happy, and I went to bed early in preparation for my bus to Berlin the next day. 

And of course, I had to stop at Lagkagehuset one more time on my way out of town.