Tami & Clarke 2B or not 2B

A couple of girlfriends of mine - or as I like to call them: My sister-in-law and niece, came to visit a couple of old farts here in Copenhagen.  I was honored that of all the places they could have gone, they came to visit me and Jens - again.  Tami has been here a few times and Clarke was here just last year.  So it was really great that they would want to bring their charming faces to town once again.  Tami was flying in from California to visit her daughter Clarke who is now living in Paris and going to school there.  They were here for just 2½ days.  It might be a little country but there is so much here to see and experience, that you could actually book a few weeks and still not see it all.

Normally when guest fly into CPH airport, I pick them up and drive them directly to their accommodations.  But this time I decided to do something a little different.  Instead of coming into town, we drove to the other side of the airport which is even further away from town.  I took them to have a welcome lunch along the shoreline of a fisherman's village called Dragør. 

The village was founded in the 12th century.  It quickly grew as a major fishing port and became the area of the largest herring producers - smoked and pickled.

In the early 16th century, King Christian invited the Dutch to come and work the land so that the royal family had something to eat.  The Dutch, at the time, were more advanced than the Danes when it came to farming.  Often there was rivalry between the Dutch farmers and the Danish fishermen.  This part of the island, still today has some Dutch influence.  It's quiet interesting really. After lunch, the girls and I took a little stroll through the village while Jens stayed at Café Blink to enjoy a smoke and another cuppa java. 

From 12th century Dragør, I take the girls back to the future to visit "The Number 8" building.  I play a guessing game with the girls and try to get them to guess who designed the building.  I know that they know who designed it.  And I know that you know it too.  A very famous Danish architect has re-designed a very important building in New York.  Can you guess?  He is changing the Manhattan skyline along with other huge projects in the US.  His name is Bjarke Ingles and his architect firm has re-designed 2 World Trade Center.  Click here to read more and see a video about that building. 

But here in Copenhagen, Bjarke Ingles has designed a number of apartment buildings and several of them have been huge hits, winning international awards and selling out before even being built.  His latest is 8 Tallet or in English:  8 House.   It's because the building is shaped like the number 8.  It's a building like no other.  Most apartment complexs of 8 floors have elevators and stairwells.  But because Danes are so obsessed with bike riding, you can actually ride your bike to and from your front door - even if you live on the top floor.  Check out this bizarre bike ride.

We stopped at 8 House to have a quick coffee and a peek at the building before checking into the Air BnB.  Our stop here was very quick because Sleazy Jet was an hour delayed and the agreement was to be at the BNB by 16:00.

The girls checked in and unpacked and took a little snooze before ringing on our door bell.  Luckily the AirBnB was the next apartment building to ours.  We can actually see each others buildings.  Originally the girls were going to get a different kind of BnB - bed and boat.  But the docking area for this time of year was not really the best idea and it was on the other side of town which would require a long drive in our car or a long bus ride with a transfer - not convenient at all.

I meant to be on the water bus by 5:00 / 17:00 but we got a late start.  By the time we got on board, it was late and dark, so much of the great view was gone.  But nevertheless, into town we go.

Tami and Clarke on the water bus.  We got off at Nyhavn and walked the row of many restaurants.  We couldn't decide where to eat.  We sat at one restaurant but then quickly got up and went to a place where a sign which announced a veggie burger, grabbed Clarke's attention. The place was cute and the food was amazing with a very cheap price for Nyhavn.  I will for sure come back for some very affordable and delicious flavors.  Here is the link to the restaurant called NyhavnC.

Our tour home was by metro and train and a walk over Bryggebroen aka cykelslangen or bicycle snake.  The girls were surprised by all the fascinating locks hanging from the side of the bridge.  Click here to see the bridge swing in motion.  I filmed it from our balcony a couple of summers ago.

Day 2 - the girls got up, got dressed and walked on over to our apt for breakfast.

After getting grossed out by egg yoke and doing funny things with the food, we made our way down to the parking garage.  The girls are surprised by all the bikes and cannot believe - and who can - that our parking space cost more than the price of our car.  And the car was not cheap by US standards.

Today we drive north along the coast.  We got lucky - it was a beautiful sunny (but cold) day.  Our final destination is Krongborg aka Hamlet's Castle.  It is a world heritage site.  It was built in 1420 and the main purpose was to collect a toll for those who wanted to sail in and out of the Baltic Sea.  Clarke played Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet so it was fun for her to see where the setting is for the story.  Here in the castle, every summer, you can see the play, Hamlet.

walking towards the castle from the parking lot.

an iron model of the castle and the castle grounds.

Crossing the second bridge to the castle.

This is the 2nd bridge but looking back.

Once you come through the second gate,

you can see the castle.

We buy some coffee before we buy the entrance tickets.

With coffee and tickets in hand, we are set to go.

The fog has lifted and now we can see Sweden.

The inside of the castle is not so spectacular as any other castle in DK.  As a matter of fact it is rather on the boring side.  But nevertheless, here are a few shots from the inside.

Here now are a few of the paintings throughout the castle.

It may look like a homo orgie frenzy but the guys are actually beating each other to a pulp to win the hand of the maiden in the box in the upper left hand corner.

I didn't notice the ceiling candelabra being in the way when I snapped this but here is a painting of Queen Margrethe I of Denmark receiving the Swedish crown in agreement with Sweden and Norway for Magrethe becoming ruler of all of Scandinavia. In 1387, in the Swedish town of Kalmar, Magrethe managed to make an agreement between the 3 countries to be ruler of this union with herself as the leader.  The event has come to be known as The Kalmar Union.

 Looking out of a window from the Great Ballroom.

After the castle tour, we make a 1 hour tour of the town, Helsingør.  It's really cute and maybe this year I will be back to see more of it as well as the new martime museum which was built in the old dry docks.

town of Helsingør

Now it's time to head back to the city.  Clarke was very set on having dinner at Kødbyen aka The Meat Market. So I pulled into the parking lot and we walked into 3 or 4 restaurants.  It is such a popular place, that even on this Tuesday evening we needed reservations. Bummed and hungry, I made a decision to take the girls to our steady stand-by Italian restaurant just up the street from where we live.  I promised Clarke that I would make reservations for tomorrow at The Meat Market.  Imagine that: a vegetarian dying to eat at The Meat Market !

But tonight we eat Italiano. Here we are at Ponte Vecchio.

Day 3 - this morning we go to Vesterbro Torv  aka West Bridge Square - for breakfast at Café Obelix.  Good food at an affordable price, smack in the middle of Vesterbro life.  This is where it's at ! But time is of the essence to soak in all the sights, sounds, smells and tastes.

However time we did not have and the girls couldn't wait to hit the walking and shopping streets.

 Having cake and coffee at Coffee Industry Sweden - no website just pix.

 Diesel - Notice the wall behind the tank is orange.

The beautiful Amager Torv.  Say: Ahhh-maaaah-Torv.  Here is a good Wikipedia site with some quick facts for some interesting info about the history of the square and of the buildings.  This is a favorite spot for most Copenhageners. 

The shopping bag is from Samsø & Samsø.  Originally Danish jewelry, then clothing for men, then Danish design clothing for women and then Scandinavian clothing.  Inside of the bag?  Some pretty pink personals - so mind your own business!

 Easter in Tivoli opens tomorrow - the day after Tami and Clarke fly back to Paris.

Tivoli is the second oldest operating amusement park in the world.  Buy your tickets here.

From here it is a mad rush to The Meat Market.  The first available table was at 5:30/17:30.  We had to be there on time because we were limited on time.  We had to quickly suck up our food and then rush back to the apartment to pack and then head off back to the airport.

Here is a long and boring history of The Meat Market (ok ok - the English terminology is The Meat Packing District and borrowed from New York.  But in Danish, the place is called Kødbyen which litterally translates to The Meat City.  But I like The Meat Market and this is my story so there ! 

It all started way back in 1671 and then lots of bla bla bla all the way up to today where several of the meat stalls turned to rows of restaurants among other things.  It's super super trendy.  Can't even get a table on a boring Tuesday evening without a reservation.  Clarke insisted that
we go to Bollyfood. I was expecting to be disappointed but Ooooo Miiii God - I am going back for more.

 Pink booze

 Don't ask - just eat - die and go to heaven !

No website - just pix.  Seriously - the food was amazing but now we had to get our butts in gear, get home, pack and head out to the airport.

I caught the last 2 seconds of the mad dash packing - lots of souvenirs into one tiny carry-on and one even smaller back pack.  I asked the girls to take back some things from me to you but there was just no space - sorry - guess you'll just have to come out to Copenhagen and pick up your things.

It was great to have you here Tami and Clarke.  Come back again next time when you can't stay so long - wink wink.