Photo Diary: Best of Copenhagen

Scandinavia Journey 2011

View Full Size Travel Map at Travellerspoint

What I ate in Copenhagen

Copenhagen was a delicious way to end our 2-week trip around Scandinavia. After enjoying some tasty meals in Reykjavik, I was a bit let down in Oslo and Stockholm (with the exception of some amazing salmon sushi in Oslo and a Thai buffet in Stockholm). Thinking Copenhagen wouldn't have much to offer, I abandoned the idea of a food list, and instead just decided to eat whatever was cheap and convenient. I was pleasantly surprised. 

Food wise, Copenhagen felt cheaper that Oslo and Stockholm, and seemed to have a wider variety of foods on the high and low end. We went cheap most of the time, but splurged a bit on one lavish dinner and some classy lunches.

1. Food I wished I had but didn't:  homemade smørrebrød picnic, that's the way to go!
2. Food I had but wished I didn't:  shrimp smørrebrød, but I don't like shrimp anyway.
3. What should have been on the list: crepes and pastries
4. Biggest surprise: I did not have any Asian food the whole time!(No lies - I missed it).
5. Most delicious meal: Hands down, the pappardelle with black truffles from Ultimo restaurant in Tivoli Gardens.

Here are my best food memories:

Ice cream cones form Tivoli Gardens, one dipped in crushed candy, and the other dipped in chocolate. Seriously the best ice cream I've ever had. 

A Nutella waffle with bananas, from a waffle cart. 

Crepe with caramel ice cream.

Hotel breakfast buffet, with a latte machine, meat, cheese, and of course, muesli! 

Hot dog from a street cart. Wasn't quite as good as Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, but it made us happy for a moment. 

The most amazing meal ever. Pappardelle in truffle oil with shaved black truffles and Parmesan cheese, from the Italian restaurant in Tivoli Gardens.  This was a big splurge for us. I think the bottle of water we purchased was $15 USD alone.  Don't ask me how much the pasta was....

One of our more gourmet lunches. Nachos with salsa and guacamole...Danish style.

A three-style smørrebrød sampler. One with bacon, ham, and blue cheese. The other with shrimp (no thanks) and the last one with sauerkraut and chicken.

A delicious sandwich from the cafe in the Louisiana Museum. This was a prosciutto
 mozzarella sandwich .

A chocolate strawberry pastry from the cafe in Louisiana.

Another sandwich from the cafe at Louisiana. Everything in this place was so photogenic. They must have known that tourists would get hungry after the hour-long train ride  to get to the museum from Copenhagen. Still, it is totally worth visiting if you are anywhere in Denmark. 

Snapshot from Denmark

Lost in a sea of bicycles, Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen Instagram Diary

Snapshot from Rosenborg Castle

At the Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen, Denmark

What do I buy in Scandinavia: Other things

So besides buying amazing totes in each city, I did actually purchase other things.

Once again, I tried very hard not to buy things that looked like souvenirs. I wanted to buy things that were functional, memorable, and cute.

1. Vintage clothing

 Iceland in particular, has some amazing vintage stores. Not only were they abundant, but also extremely cheap. I brought a tiny suitcase with me, so I really had to hold buying everything in the store.

A dress way too summery to ever wear in Iceland.
Costs only $25 USD from a store in Reykjavik

My splurge in Oslo. Almost $80 USD from a
 vintage store in Grünerløkka.

2. Stationary

There was so much cute stationary in Scandinavia. I have too much of it as it is, but I couldn't resist a few more items.

Ording & Reda Pen case from Sweden

Notebook and pens at Tiger at Reykjavik.

3. Accessories

Just a few cute impulse buys from various places.

Barrett from the gift shop of the Louisiana Museum;
Ring from a thrift store in Reykjavik.

What do I buy in Scandinavia: Origins fo the Tote Craze

In a follow up to the  post I did on Japan, I thought it might be good to talk about some of the things I bought on my trip to Scandinavia last year. 

I basically shopped my way through Scandinavia. No, it wasn't that bad,  but pretty much after one day in Iceland it became very obvious that there would be a reoccurring theme through my shopping adventure: totes. They were everywhere! And in so many cool designs! At such affordable prices! I decided that it would be cool to buy a tote (or two) from each city to commemorate my experience there. Not only did they fold up nicely in my tiny suitcase, but I also used them to haul things around. See, practical and memorable.

Ordning & Reda tote, Stockholm, Sweden: $15

Marimekko tote, Helsinki, Finland: $15

Astrup Fearnley Museet Gift shop tote, Oslo, Norway: $10

Tiger tote, Reykjavik, Iceland: $3

Torpedo tote, Oslo, Norway: $5

Design Week tote, Copenhagen, Denmark: Free

Tiger Tote, Copenhagen, Denmark: $3

Assistens Kirkegård: The world's happiest cemetery

It's true! This is the happiest cemetery you will find. It has a very fairy tale quality to it that other cemeteries are so lacking. Everything from the colorful flowers to the tiny animal statues placed beside the tombs seem to put a smile on the face of this graveyard. It also helped that it was a lovely sunny day, and the Danish treat their cemeteries like parks, riding their bikes and picnicking all around. "Quaint" and "charming" are words with which you might describe this place. Some of the smaller plots were even lined up link miniature gardens. 

I feel rather embarrassed, talking all peppy like this about a cemetery. Of course, death is neither quaint nor charming, and it is always difficult for me to express my love of cemeteries without a certain sensitivity for the topic at hand. This being said, I hope that I can still indulge in my fascination of such places, their character and beauty, without being disrespectful to those resting here.