eating in copenhagen

Dear Sheddists,

Copenhagen offers some superb culinary experiences .. and one or two little challenges!

U Formel

First prize, undoubtedly, goes to U Formel, recommended to us by the receptionist at Hotel Alexander on the first night of our stay.

The restaurant is just around the corner and the food's so good we pay two further visits after our initial foray into its darkened recesses.

The lamb and the Danish roe-buck are spectacular, as is the magnificently seasoned beef tartare.

U Formel is clearly the place to be with smart business suits rubbing side by side with bare-armed tattooed hipsters.

Hotel breakfast

Breakfast at the hotel is ... interesting!

The organic cheese-cutter requires no little application to get going and the absence of homely marmalade we attribute to the early attrition of fellow guests from Germany. It is, however, the glazed bacon that proves the final straw.

A cloying, syrup coating applied to greasy porcine slivers does not a natural bed-fellow make!

 A cheeky ice-cream

The gardens of the Rosenburg Slot provide more refreshing fare. A welcome ice-cream beneath canvas umbrellas.

Smorgasbord

Denmark would not be Denmark without the legendary open sandwich that is smorgasbord. We sample ours at the cafe attached to the Danish Design Museum.  Works of art on a plate ...

 

the botanical gardens

Dear Sheddists,

allegedly home to every plant found in Denmark the Botanisk Have or Botanical Gardens is currently under development.  A brand new Natural History Museum is planned to open in 2020 but right now the gardens look more than somewhat neglected.

We enter through a small side entrance by the current National History Museum buildings and walk past several beds of randomly cultivated weeds.

The Palm House, funded by legendary Scandinavian brewer Carl Jacobsen, promises a little more. We climb the metal-worked spiral staircase to a roof-top steamy panoramic jungle view above.

Back on firm ground we skirt the serpentine lake that snakes through the grounds and watch sundry Danish teenagers playing catchy-kissy with a frisbee.

Municipal gardens are good for these sort of things and with happy memories from days of old we make our way out.

Best regards,

electrofried(mr)

 

a quiet haven

Dear Sheddists,

just a short distance from the hustle and bustle of Nyhavn lies a quiet haven of tranquility.

The Skuespilhuset, home to the Royal Danish Theatre, is a truly stunning work of modern architecture. Its blackened window glass-frontage commands calm and reflection.

A brief walk beyond takes us to the royal palaces and then on to the Danish Design Center.

Best regards,

electrofried(mr)

nyhavn, a picture-postcard

Dear Sheddists,

we pass this way several times on our journeys through the heart of Copenhagen.

Nyhavn is a 'picture-postcard' for the city, a harbour created in 1671 which at one point was home to the legendary Hans Christian Andersen.  The original intention for the new development was to attract investment from wealthy Dutch settlers, an objective which sadly failed to materialise.

It has to be said Nyhavn looks much better from the far side, away from the hustle and bustle of tourists who throng to sample the food and drink on offer from the many cafes and restaurants that pepper its brightly coloured facades.

At the end of the harbour lies a bridge to which have been padlocked hundreds of passing dreams and loves.  it stands in stark contrast to the earlier history of Nyhaven as an infamous red-light area.

We prefer to walk on, hand in hand, to a beautiful quiet haven just beyond.

Best regards,

electrofried(mr)