Day Three
Day 3: On my 3rd day in Copenhagen, I decided to relax a bit and not rush around to see everything. I saw most of the major highlights the past two days so today I wanted to slow down a bit. I started off my day by heading to Fiskebar, yet another restaurant owned by ex-Noma people. See the trend here? I couldn't get a reservation to Noma (the #1 rated restaurant in the world) so I opted for anything else (which was not hard, there are a bunch of other restaurants owned by ex-Noma people I didn't get to go to!).
Well, this restaurant is located in the Inner Vesterboro of the city, near the Meatpacking District. On the weekends, there is an outdoor food market right in front of Fiskebar where you can get fresh seafood, burgers, etc. Wish I had known about it earlier, I would've gone to Fiskebar on a different day and sample the different foods at the fair instead! Fiskebar was good, especially if you love oysters. However, this was a really expensive lunch. Probably because of the really expensive humongous oysters that are native to Denmark. Those are the ones to the left below. I had that, other oysters, and the cod. The oysters grown in Denmark were delicious though, so if you're an oyster lover you should try one since you're there anyway!
After lunch, I really wanted to go shopping. I took the bus back towards the downtown area of Strøget and came across a photography exhibit on Mario Testino. I didn't plan on going to any more museums, but I am actually fascinated by his work, after years of reading celebrity and fashion magazines. He's a well-known photographer amongst the stars and I've always been drawn to his images so I decided why not check it out? It was at the GL Strand and his work is on display until Sept. 18, 2016.
After browsing the exhibit for less than an hour, I finally went shopping. I didn't buy too much, but I like to look to get inspired. Strøget is a very long shopping street with tons of stores. There are three local places I really liked:
- Illums, a major dept. store. What I liked most is that they have this huge rooftop/food hall where you can hang out on the balcony and view the city from above.
- Illums Bolighus, an interior design/decor store. Initially I got this store confused with the dept. store, I thought they were one and the same but they are not! A lot of different home decor stuff resides in here. I bought a candle from here that I love the smell of.
- Hay Market, another interior design/decor store. Had a lot of cute things, there's also a mini Hay market inside Illums Bolighus. And apparently, there is one here in NYC as well at the MoMa Design store in Soho! Which I found out about after I came back.
View from Illums
The only other things I really bought in Copenhagen were tea and cookies. For tea, I went to Tante Tea. One type of tea that I love that i can't really find in America is Milky Oolong tea. I first found it a few years ago in Vienna but haven't come across it since. So I was super happy to see that Tante Tea had some! If you like black tea with a hint of milky flavor, definitely check it out. There are two locations for it, one of them being in the Torvehallerne market I mentioned in an earlier post.
In the evening, I went to eat at the Copenhagen Street Food at Paper Island. So it was Saturday night and it was paaaaacked! But I realized that no matter where you go in Copenhagen, even though there's so many people around, it never feels crowded or overwhelming. There is always room or a seat to find. With so many food choices though, it was hard deciding what to try. I finally settled on a surf and turf burger and it did not disappoint!
Afterwards, I walked over to the Opera house and watched the sun set over Amalienborg Palace.
Day Four
Day 4: Sunday was day trip day! Most stores are closed on Sunday so it's a good day to go on a day trip where shopping is not the goal. I woke up early and caught the train from Norreboro to Kronborg Castle, which serves as the inspiration for Shakespeare's Hamlet. For this trip, I knew I wanted to get to the castle by 10 am so I could have breakfast near there and then pop in when it opens at 11. I bought a 24 hour metro pass (choose the one for all zones). I forget which train I took but Google Maps had accurate directions and train times! And the castle was the last stop. It took about an hour to get there, and then it's about a 15 minute walk to the castle. The day I went was very warm and sunny. Be sure to bring a hat and sunglasses!
Anyway, so when I got there Sunday morning there were not that many restaurants open. I ended up grabbing coffee and a pastry from Spisehuset, which is inside a cultural building right next to the castle. The nicest surprise of the day though was when I walked into the building and heard classical music playing and thinking it was a CD. It was not! There was string quarter! Next to a very casual food stand! It was such a nice way to start the day.
Visiting Kronborg on the outside was beautiful. It's right by the sea, across from Sweden. The doors open at 11 am to sell tickets to visit inside. In the courtyard above is where they will have live productions of Hamlet. Inside the castle, it's a quick but interesting walk through. The Royal Family used to live here but there is not much furnishings inside.
Where they held their grand parties.
I stayed here until about 12:15 and then headed back to the train station to catch the bus to Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. The museum closes at 5 pm, so I went to catch the bus (not the train) since I knew it would drop me off directly in front of the museum. If you take the train back, you have to walk another 15 min. from that train station to the museum so why waste time? Also, the bus and train take the same amount of travel time (about half an hour). I think the bus I took was bus 388. When I got to the museum, I had lunch at the cafe. Overall, I thought the museum was FANTASTIC! I am not one to love all museums, but I really enjoyed this one. It's in a beautiful spot right by the sea as well, and they had a lot of interesting exhibits. The outdoor area was really nice to sit out in and relax for an hour. I had taken a sarong with me to serve as a blanket so I laid out on the grass and took a nap.
I really enjoyed my time at the museum and highly recommend a trip out here. If you only had time for one, I say make time for Louisiana over Kronborg. And bring a blanket or something easy to lie out on!
In the evening, I had dinner at a place in Norreboro. Norreboro is a nice neighborhood--I didn't spend too much time in it but a lot of places to eat and hang out in. I had dinner at Oysters & Grill. Definitely get the langoustines here! Very fresh and juicy. Also, it was one of the more affordable meals I had in Copenhagen.
Day 5
Day 5: No more picture posts! I was soooo exhausted on my last day in the city. All I did was some last minute shopping, took a nap, and went to the airport. But I did have two good eats before I left: Grod, which is in Norroboro and had a really creamy and yummy parmesan risotto, and I got a juice from Joe and the Juice, which is everywhere in the city and wish I had time to drink more of their really fresh juices! However, it turns out there is one here in NYC too (which I discovered when I came back) so will definitely check it out here as well. My flight home was at 6:30 pm, I got to the airport at 4 pm and was certainly enough time to get thru security, etc.
SAS Airlines was great too, the plane was comfortable and in good condition and the flight attendants were friendly!
And I've successfully re-capped my last trip before starting my next one in a few days... ;)