Exploring Copenhagen

We finally found a cat. And he was a well fed, friendly cat, but we had to travel outside of the city proper to find him.

Yesterday, our Danish dinner mates, who were young and hip, encouraged us to travel outside of the central district to Norrebro, where Noel has his restaurant, and Frederikborg where the University garden is. They said that is where the Danish people live. Like Boston, there are folks who live in town, but they settle in Brookline and Arlington. We were game!

Brad is not a subway guy, but the subways here have converted him. Most were built only 20 years ago, and they look like they were built yesterday. Boston’s subways were built 125 years ago. The cars come every 4 minutes – we walked into the station and onto a car. Because they are so new, they connect with the train and light rail systems and come into the airport terminal.

They are a dream of mass transit. There is a large bus network and a water ferry as well, all for the price of a subway ticket – $3. You can bring your dog and your bike (and presumably your cat). You don’t tap in and out like London, it’s more like Germany – everyone can buy a monthly pass very inexpensively, and day trippers buy tickets at the station or at convenience stores or on your phone (if you have a Danish phone number). Inspectors do random checks to see if riders pay, and this was our first sighting of an inspector this week.

The Metro station in Frederiksberg comes into a lovely mall with a supermarket, gorgeous bathrooms and a large display of ugly, very comfortable shoes. Yes, the nail salons were run by Vietnamese.

A light mist was falling, so we dithered in the mall and had a wonderful cardamom roll – the Dane’s best pastry – and another cup of glorious coffee. Have I mentioned how ridiculously good all of the coffee is?

Fortified, out we went to find the University garden. What a treat! Very much like the Arnold Arboretum with trees and specimen bushes from all over the world. Humor me – here is some garden porn.

Winding paths lined with roping climbers, rhododendrons of the most beautiful shades, trees that looked fake. All lovely.

The borough has paths for bikes (of course) and paths for walking through herbaceous beds in addition to the sidewalks. The homes are substantial, but close together, and there are playgrounds all over that were filled with parents and children.

We got back on the Metro and headed to Norrebro to see the famous cemetery that every Dane has told me about, Assistenskiregaden.

It was gorgeous. Huge and very wooded and well planted with graves interspersed. There are areas to picnic, walkways, benches, alleys of trees and even Hans Christian Andersen is buried there. He did write The Emperor’s New Clothes, so it’s fitting that we visited his grave given what is going on in America. I do love me a cemetery.

We had a little lunch at a chain fish place (not an inspiration), walked through the Arabic part of town and saw more barber shops and hair salons than in the whole of Massachusetts. Everyone must get their hair cut weekly.

The complexion of the residents of these outer boroughs was much more diverse than city center. It was encouraging to see such a mixture of cultures — even the restaurants were very diverse — Vietnamese, Kebab shops, Falafel stands, Greek Food, Curry joints and hot dog stands. We saw a great pop up business, bicycle cleaning.

We headed to yet another part of town, Vesterbro, where there is a community center run by the owner of our hotel. It is housed in an abandoned church, and is a free place to hang out, grab an inexpensive meal, coffee, see some entertainment, take a yoga class or make pottery. It’s called Absolon.

Fab!

We finally headed back, but made one last walk through the city, wistfully looking at our favorite sites.

The ice cream shop was open on our way back. I asked about the whipped cream…. It’s not whipped cream, it’s called Guf, and it’s homemade marshmallow fluff, in several flavors! This I discovered on my last day!

So back to our beloved apartment where we got our books and took them to the canal to sit and read in the late afternoon sun as the boats went by.

We dressed for dinner and headed out to Kanalan, it’s been there for 40 years and has a minor Michelin rating. On our way we passed this dive bar we go past every night, The Eiffel Bar. Windows blacked out, beaten up door, we always tease that we’re going to go in. The door swings open as we’re passing and a guy that looked liked a drunken Lurch from the Addams family, stumbles out. What does he do, though he can barely walk? Gets on his bike!

Kanalan was as expected – cozy, delicious, buzzy and friendly. No conversations with other diners, but a convivial atmosphere and wonderful food.

Eclectic and delicious. Ceviche, smashed cucumber salad, grilled prosciutto, potato with smoked halibut, spicy lamb and skewered beef with feta and mint. What a way to end the trip!

More from the airport tomorrow.