Category Archives: Denmark

Soundscapes and Shield Maidens

Hello All

What a different place the world is before dawn. Blinkered by the night I enjoy a soundscape uncluttered by daylight’s congestion. The bicycle wheels go round and murmur along the tarmac, small bumps create metallic tinkling as the pannier grip clinks against the frame and the brakes squeal to slow me on the downhill run. Beyond the cycle’s pleasant chattering the wind flutters the leaves, stirring their dried brethren along the pavements, the river rushes over small weirs booming as it bottoms.

All joy … until the rain or frosts bring greasy and slippy surfaces when my soundscape may be something like ‘crash, bang, wallop’! But for those of you who worried be reassured I now have a jaunty red helmet to keep my napper safe.

Sadly while I am feeling virtuous and energised by all this extra exercise a good friend is proper poorly. AFl has been amazingly strong and as we share a love of things Viking I thought a little gift might be in order.

You may recall my trip to Roskilde earlier in the year with No 1 Daughter:

That’s right the home of the fabulous Viking Ship Museum. Well while I was there perusing the museum shop (those places are so damn irresistible) I found a small gem:

A long ship pastry cutter to add to my collection of needle-felting templates. At last an opportunity to use it. After all every Shield Maiden…

… needs her own long ship. Thor’s strength to you AFl.

Until next we meet,

Moke xxx

Bremen here we come … again

Hello All

Sunday 22 April 2018

Another day of train travel. Five trains to get us from gorgeous Copenhagen to lovely Bremen… and get us there they did. Only one observation: German train stations are REALLY busy on Sunday. When I inter-railed last autumn I avoided travelling on Sundays ‘cos I thought everything would be quiet and closed…how wrong can you be?!

But with connections easily made and trains on time – we even managed to make time as our train from Fredericia to Flensburg was in early so we caught an earlier connection to Neumunster – we were in Bremen while the sun still shone and there was time for an evening stroll.

I loved that we walked to an area new to me, outside the old town in Ostertor. It was buzzing with cafes and bars and cool (how hip am I? … not at all?! Mon Deiu!) graffiti.

Close to the hotel we had a fabulous supper of tapas style sides and salad.

No 1 Daughter like me thoroughly enjoyed it. By the by those little pepper things (Pimientos de padro) were a real treat.

After a long day it was then time for bed.

Night night Bremen.

Until next we meet,

Moke xxx

Finding Soul

Hello All

Saturday 21 April 2018

Our last full day in Copenhagen. There was a brief respite for my toes – No 1 Daughter is training for the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge and is a spirited walker is all I will say – when we boarded one of those wonderful (well my feet thought so) double-decker tour buses. We (my toes and I) sailed happily around some of the places we may have missed on our perambulations.

Of course the Little Mermaid is a must.

Everyone else seemed to agree! When I visited the same site [whispers] over 40 years ago we almost walked past our fishy tailed friend as there was no tell-tale crowd of onlookers to highlight her presence.

But the bus-ie balm for my tootsies was short-lived as we had set our sights on a much vaunted vegan eatery that was “off the map!”. So carefully checking out the best stop (confess that was just me) we sallied forth to go off piste and find ‘Souls’.

A little aside about hard-copy maps versus location finder apps. I love a proper paper map and while I have one clutched in my hot sweaty (it was still warm) hand I feel geographically safe and able to find most places I want to be. On the other hand I discovered a distinct downside to apps while on this little walk…they take you via diversions that they think you will be interested in (ie shopping opportunities) rather than straight from A to B – the Romans would surely be horrified.

The good thing about this ‘finder’ thing is, I suppose (did I mention my feet hurt?!), that it gave us more opportunities to enjoy the charming Copenhagen streets and be truly ready for lunch.

N.b. These pictures were not necessarily taken on this walk but No 1 Daughter loves a bicycle photo opportunity and I rather like them too.

After a block sized detour in a side street we found ‘Souls‘.

It was well worth the walk.

Here’s my Viking Salad … had to be…. with plant-based balls and salads to die for including delicious pickled onions…got to stop … my mouth is watering …..

Anyhoo fired up with all that super-food goodness I was ready to stroll back to our hotel picking up a beautiful frock for little Peanut, the one thing that was cheaper in Copenhagen than back home, and have a quiet beer in the sunshine before weeping inwardly at the thought of leaving this lovely city in the morning.

Until next we meet,

Moke xxx

Eat Copenhagen – Walk Copenhagen

Hello All

Friday 20 April 2018

Letting No 1 Daughter have a lie in I caught up with my journal and checked out the map for our planned trip to Norrebro. Lucky for us it was sunny and mind-blowingly I even discarded my coat…and May not even out yet! Shocking.

Copenhagen is a city of water, wide uncongested roads and greenery and now for us tasty eateries. To find them we ventured further afield and felt we were given an opportunity to explore the city.

We had a beautiful walk, ambling through parks, crossing over ‘lakes’ in the brilliant sunshine.

I couldn’t help but smile at the statute of the Nile on the south side of Dronning Louises Bro the bridge which crosses between the lakes Sortedams So and Peblinge So. Why all the little ‘Cupids’ are wearing red woolly hats I don’t know. But it was adorable.

It may be a ‘tradition’ as I have seen a photograph of them wearing teeny Santa hats too. If it is a custom long may it continue.

We timed our arrival in the Norrebro area to the north of the city perfectly for lunch. We had identified two vegan friendly cafes, Blue Taco and Cafe N, in the same street Blagardsgade. But which to choose?

Blue Taco won out with it’s scrumptious menu of Mexican street food and plentiful outdoor seating. Using blue corn the tacos which were indeed blue and filled with three different yummy fillings,

The deliciousness was washed down by a cool ‘Jamaica’ drink which had a refreshing ginger kick and a sprinkling of hibiscus.

Enjoying the combined warmth of the food and the sunshine we walked on to Assistens Kirkegard Copenhagen’s famous cemetery. It’s a lovely space for introspection and calm. It is also the final resting place for several well know Copenhagen-ites.

Touchingly ‘pilgrims’ have left pens and pencils at the foot of Hans Christian Anderson’s gravestone.

The lovingly kept graves of unborn children and young children were poignant yet appropriately captured the mourned for children. The cemetery is still in use and I understand that an area for the poor and homeless has recently been set-aside.

Rather wonderfully the living sat happily amongst the graves enjoying the Spring and the peace.

Sigh.

Unbelievably it was actually getting rather too hot. A good time for an ice-cream…oh dear perhaps not for us vegans..maybe a sloppy sorbet is the best we can do…but no! Nice Cream on Elmegade came to the rescue.

My vegan strawberry and lemon double scoop ice-cream was soooooo good and gave me the lift I needed for more walking before a grateful sit-down in the grass overlooking the Rosenberg Slot a beautiful 17th century castle complete with moat and gardens.

It is years since I just lay down in a park, soaked up the sun and read a book. Perhaps this is due to the fact that some unsavoury character normally breaks your reverie with all sorts of weirdness/criminality/lewdness and often all three. Admittedly I was with No 1 Daughter but I don’t think I have ever felt as safe sitting in a British city park. Here groups of students played drinking games – the rules of which we couldn’t fathom – enjoying themselves without f-ing and blinding, screeching and getting blind drunk. It was very convivial.

This little respite set us up perfectly for an evening in another kind of park. Copenhagen’s world-famous Tivoli Gardens.

We had held off visiting until Friday night so we could enjoy the added atmosphere of a free concert – turned out to be hip-hop! – and a busy vibe. Large numbers of teens thronged in front of the stage it all felt huge fun and despite gaudy lights, cafes, souvenir shops and old style fairground shies not at all tacky. I can see why Copenhagen is proud of Tivoli one of the world’s oldest amusement parks. In multi-generational Denmark this is a must for all the family.

We loved it and wended happily around the now still (no roller coaster for me …. what a shame!) but illuminated rides before toddling back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep before our last day in Copenhagen. Sob.

Until next we meet

Moke xxx

Roskilde

Hello All

Thursday 19 April 2018

Before I go on to extol the wonders of the very very delightful Roskilde just bear with me for that promised word about food…

After thirty or more years as a vegetarian bumbling my way along I decided to join No1 Daughter and take the plunge and become … vegan. I know just too hip and trendy for one such as me and good grief what a struggle to make a decent cup of tea without dairy milk! (If you are interested hemp milk has proved the most successful alternative).

Being shallow I turned vegan mostly for my own health and weight control but much as I love a salad sometimes – 12 hours on a train definitely qualifies as one of those ‘sometimes’ – I just want a calorific stodge-fest. On arrival in Copenhagen we had to resort to U.S chain Hard Rock Cafe. It was fantastic (fajitas if you are asking) but we really wanted to eat local and following a lunch at another chain Wok and Go the next day we were determined to make a better fist of things. Hurray for the Happy Cow app!

After a couple of foodie disappointments on Day 1 in Copenhagen we eventually got our act together in Roskilde so you will notice a spike in the ‘this is what we had for lunch’ pictures. Feel free to whizz past if they are not your cup of tea … no pun ….

Now to my happy place Roskilde. Only 20 minutes by train from Copenhagen Roskilde lies at the head of a fjord and is home to the (I have died and gone to heaven) Viking Ship Museum (brace yourselves for LOTS of ship photos) and the stunning Roskilde Cathedral.

But we start with our quest for good grub. Tucked away just off the main street on Rosenhavestraede we found the cosy little Satchmo Cafe. Lots of goodies were on show, our mouths were watering …. and bless her the wonderful owner and her colleague made us up a vegan platter each. Heaven. (Food photo alert)

She also threw in some energy balls and heaps of useful tips about where to go and eat in Copenhagen. As we sat chomping happily in the cafe’s sun trap terrace we were in no hurry to leave.

And yet the long ships were calling. After a quick visit to the local Tourist Information office where we were again given lots of information and two maps – one for following and one for inspiration – we set off through a sun-drenched park for the museum, those long ships have quite a loud call.

Pipe down boats … I am showing you off to the readers now.

To quote No 1 Daughter this is where I ‘got my geek on’ …. well really!

OK there may be some truth in that … here comes that photo fest of the 5 scuttled Viking ships used as barriers to Roskilde Fjord way back when (1060 to 1070AD). The ships are both trading vessels and long ships and the museum goes into depth about how they were resurrected and rebuilt. They are things of craft and beauty.

And with all this seafaring wonderfulness on view what’s a woman to do but have a go:

Erm may have been looking in the wrong direction … watch out for that iceberg…

As you can probably guess I had a fantastic time enjoying the displays about experimental and maritime archaeology together with the ships themselves and even a small hemp weaving display.

No 1 Daughter did very well. No doubt soothed by the wonderful location of the museum she humoured her old mum’s weakness for things antiquarian.

But the day was too glorious to stay inside for long. A stroll along the fjord was called for.

A walk back along the water and through the park brought us again to the centre of Roskilde and to it’s wonderful Cathedral.

Inside one can stop and think a while

And contemplate the intricate iron work and trolls!

The troll motif adorns the wrought iron grating to the Trolle family burial vault – definitely have a sense of humour these folks – where the Trolle tombs have been housed since 1600.

You can also view the tombs of most of Denmark’s royal family. Even the present queen, Queen Margrethe II, plans to be interred here. Ermmmm. Time to get back out and enjoy the evening sunlight with an al fresco supper and a short train trip back to Copenhagen.

I have wanted to visit Roskilde for many years it did not disappoint. Roskilde is now top of my must re-visit list.

Until next we meet,

Moke xxx

Explore Copenhagen

Hello All

Wednesday 18 April 2018 – Copenhagen

With the glorious weather – which I was happy to find we were sharing with friends back home – and a hearty late breakfast under our belts we tootled out into the sunshine to start our exploration of the wonderful city of Copenhagen.

We didn’t have to go far just round the corner and we were at our first port of call, the National Museum of Denmark.

A beautiful bright atrium welcomed us to the museum

And from there we went on a journey through Danish history from the Palaeolithic right through to the 21st century. Here are some of my favourite exhibits:

But my absolute favourite had to be this cabinet full of extraordinary instruments

Just in front of the hotel was a monument that gives you an idea of how they were played.

From the National Museum we walked via Slotsholmen passing the stunning Christiansborg Slot (castle) on our way to the National Library – the Black Diamond – where Lonely Planet report a great cafe….not for us …. but I will skim this. There will be more on food in tomorrow’s entry.

Refreshed by a Wok and Go we headed off to the unbelievably picturesque Ny Havn for a harbour cruise.

What a dream. Small quaint houses surround a canal head where superb boats are moored along the quay.

The cruise took us along canals and out into the harbour where we could see the Little Mermaid perched on her rock, the work of Denmark’s famous King Christian IV (you got to love a monarch who makes his subjects drink beer rather than water), the Opera House, one of Hans Christian Anderson’s houses and much more. The low bridges and tight corners were quite thrilling. From our waterborne vessel we could happily people watch – the whole city seemed to have come out to enjoy the sunshine – and allow the history of Denmark’s capital to gently unfurl before us.

No1 Daughter and I were loving life.

A wonderful afternoon spent in Spring sunshine.

Hold that thought I will be back soon

Until next we meet,

Moke xxx

Wandering

Hello All

I have done my research

And then some more

Indulged in a little guilty pleasure

Say nothing.

With all that under my belt

and my bags packed I am off with No 1 Daughter on another Inter Rail adventure.

Copenhagen here we come!

As to what this dynamic duo did next be assured I will keep you posted.

Until next we meet

Moke xxx