Since BBC4 first gave us a glimpse of Nordic noir with The killing (Forbrydelsen) back in 2011, my saturday night television void has been filled with dramas radiating from some far off corner of the planet. Nothing better describes an ideal winters evening that watching a dark , dingy , depressing detective drama from a country I’ve never visited in a language (or 2 in the case of the bridge) that I don’t speak.
So when gifted with a reading week in early February what else really was a girl to do; catch up on work i may have missed , consolidate my notes from the previous term … or jump on an Easyjet flight to the home of Legoland , pastries and Sarah Lund and sample the delights Copenhagen has to offer.
Located on an island off the coast of mainland Denmark (i was not aware of this until we landed) and only a 1hr 45 minute flight from the UK , Copenhagen really is the idea destination for those long weekends when you have a few days to spare.
So together with my Mum we donned our chunky patterned jumpers (anyone who hasn’t watched the killing that reference will go straight over your heads, see picture below)and headed for the skies.
Sarah Lund- best known for her patterned jumpers , lack of human emotion and eating food straight from the pan
My first thoughts regarding Copenhagen when we stepped off the train at Copenhagen Central station (trains runs directly to central from airport or towards Malmo in the other direction) were that I had accidentally stumbled into a Katie Melua song. Bicycles surround you at every angle, all neatly arranged in lock ups for people to use to get around the city (an idea we ourselves flirted with until we saw the equally impressive volume of car traffic and the interesting merging of bike and car lanes). Maybe only consider hiring a bike to explore Copenhagen if you consider yourself a proficient cyclist not if much like me you don’t even hold a valid cycling proficiency test.
Our hotel (The Absalon) was perfectly located les
s than 30 seconds walk from the train station and only 5 minutes away from the renowned Tivoli gardens.
Tivoli is the second oldest amusement park in the world and
attracts over 4 million visitors per year, sadly though it also shuts between December and April meaning apart from peeking through barriers and almost sneaking through a service entrance we were unable to see the delights inside.
Day 1
Despite our flight landing in the evening , we were determined to not lose an hour and so after almost quite literally throwing our bags into our room we headed out to wander around the city. From walking through the red light district (actually only one street really) to crossing a bridge and ending up on a different island we used this time to try and find our feet before our first full day. After walking around in no particular direction for a few hours our hunger got the best of us and we journeyed back to the hotel to scope out a much talked about pizza place called ‘Neighbourhood’ (http://neighbourhood.dk/) , which as with all the food in Copenhagen did NOT disappoint.
This restaurant embodies the word hipster , from serving the food on wooden boards to lighting so dim I actually saw people using their phone torches to read the menu . Despite this food was a definite 10/10.
Day 2
Our first full day in the city and determined to walk our little feet to the bone , an early start was in order and fueled by quite possibly the best hotel breakfast and most definitely the best danish pastries I have ever had the pleasure of eating , we set out on a 2 woman trip to see everything.
So not to turn this post into something that resembles a dissertation here is my concise list of things to see when time isn’t to be wasted ( in no particular order):
1.Nyhavn
2.Carlsberg Glyptotek
3.Christiansborg palace
4.The little mermaid statue
5.The marble church
6.Amalienborg
The great thing about a city like Copenhagen is the proximity , though distances may look vast on a map the entire city is walking distance from each other and thus there is no requirement for buses or taxis. After a full day of exploring and clocking up almost 15km of walking we settled into dinner and another much recommended establishment also located in what seems to be the current ‘in’ area of Vesterbro. Unlike Neighbourhood where the idea of bookings is laughable and waiting almost an hour is ‘part of the charm’ , a table at Madklubben comes on with reservation in advance and once you’ve tried the food its not hard to see why.(http://madklubben.dk/vesterbro/) I opted for the burger and sweet potato fries followed by a ice cream cookie sundae with salted caramel sauce that I could quite happily eat every day for the rest of my life, sadly though in a very out of character move I didn’t photograph either plates of food , mainly though because the level of hunger by this point was at such a level that it had taken all my willpower to not nibble on the surrounding tables food whilst they weren’t looking.
Day 3
Day 3 , Friday , gloomy skies and forecasts of snow , one could almost say ‘the lights were low’ and we most certainly were ‘looking out for a place to go’ , so it was only inevitable really that we grab our passports and head to the land of Ikea , ABBA and Wallander…. SWEDEN.
Under an hours train journey across the infamous Oresund bridge and you find yourself in the quaint Swedish city of Malmo.
Filled with quiet cobbled streets , Malmo is a place that lends itself to a day trip , from shops commonly seen on the UK highstreet to interior design shops that couldn’t be more Swedish unless they actually played the soundtrack to Mamma Mia on loop. Our excursion to Malmo also brought with it snow , which it appeared was only a novelty to us and in-fact did not even seem to register on the radar of all local swedes but none the less brought out Malmo trip to a close as we rushed to make the last train before the infamous rush hour crush.
Day 4
Despite being the last day of our travels and with a flight scheduled for early evening , we made sure to try and tick off those last few to-do’s , these included a trip down to see the old meat packing district which in a fashion reminiscent of New York is now filled with trendy cafes and deli’s serving enough pastries to put anyone into a diabetic coma. The streets by this point were lined with a dusting of snow , enough to warrant complete shut down in the UK but barely enough to even feature on the weather forecast in Denmark .
And finally finishing the trip as we started it , no trip to Copenhagen would be complete without a quick pit stop in ‘Joe and the Juice’ before catching the train back to the airport. Based around healthy rye sandwiches and smoothies , this joint offers customers a healthy take on the Tom Cruise classic cocktail with bar tenders who make smoothie making an art form. (For anyone to whom this sounds appealing but who doesn’t fancy a flight in order to get their smoothie fix , Joe and the Juice actually has branches in most UK john lewis’ , something we found out much to our excitement on arrival back to the UK)
So there we have it , far longer than I planned but definitely not as long as it could have been , my idiots guide to what to in Copenhagen when time is precious , the weather is freezing and food is always a priority.
Rating:
Hotel 10/10
Travel 10/10
Things to do 10/10
Food: there isn’t a rating out of 10 worthy of describing the food in Copenhagen
pancakesandpressups 