Jimmy’s photo of us in Nørrebro
Our street in Bergen at 10:45 p.m.
Lunch at Schønnemann
Before we left our great Airbnb In Nørrebro, our gregarious host Jimmy, a documentary filmmaker and televison news cameraman, insisted on taking our photo (he has compiled an album of his guests from around the world). It was a nice parting souvenir.
Filed under Scandinavia
Searching for Noma. (Never did find…not that we were going to eat there…..)
We are really sad to give up our bikes tomorrow. Today, we rode much more confidently, comfortably and competently, with one day of experience under our belts. I read in a guide book today that the bridge road we ride to get to Nørrebro is the most heavily traveled bike road in the world. I believe it. We road directly to Nyhavn in about 12 minutes (much faster than expected) and hoped on a one hour guided canal tour (We took the cheaper one that starts with an “n” — it was good.) The tour especially was helpful since we rode our bikes past many impressive buildings and statues we were wondering about. We found out what several of them are.
Herring for lunch…in honor of dad!
We also realized that there was a posh neighborhood to explore east of Nyhavn canal so we rode up and down various long straight streets with imposing stone mansions. We also rode into the royal palace square just in time for the changing of the guard. — much more accessible than the one at Buckingham Palace. We also rode along Gammel Stan, a pretty, narrow street lining a canal (unfortunately under construction) and in the narrow cobblestone streets with smaller very old houses (dodging a tour group or two).
Chairs from my childhood (Danish modern!) at the Danish Design Museum
Chairs from our kids childhood!
The weather was sunny again and hotter than yesterday– unusually hot (it got up to 79) we are told and the city is talking about being too dry (meanwhile we heard there is rain and flooding back home in Iowa). Both dirck and I didn’t think to use sunscreen and are looking a bit tomato-ish.
We ate well again but had some customer service issues, which was a change from yesterday when the servers were so on top of things and personable at Pate, Pate. At the fashionable Almanak, in the cool green painted Art Deco building called the Standard, near Nyhavn, we had slow and confused service…so confused that we were half way through our meal when we realized it wasn’t what we ordered. It was the order of the table next to us . We ended up getting our original order as well — basically two entrees each and the guys next to us appeared to be investment bankers on an expense account who ordered the most expensive entrees. Thank you very much.
The rose shrimp in particular was the most flavorful cold boiled shrimp I have ever tasted. The shrimp were big with the heads on and the guts, I gotta say, were delicious (akin to the creamy stuff in lobster). It came served simply with a couple dabs of mayonaise and two beautifully toasted small crispy bread chunks. The entree I ordered was far more modest but also good — an open faced sandwich with tiny little shrimp and hard boiled eggs with rich yellow yokes.
In my dad’s honor we tried herring (my mom noted in her 1972 travelogue about her Copenhagen trip that “Allen loves the herring.”) Still not my thing but better than the yucky pickled herring in white cream sauce that dad loves. We got to try it two ways, thanks to the order mixup and the fried kind was my favorite (not exactly sure what the other herring was…)
We loved the Danish Design Museum despite the persnickety staff and their rules. Our favorite part was toward the end of the loop we all had to follow — with all the Danish modern furniture and especially the Danish chairs, several of which I grew up with in my ancestral home in Huntington Woods. It was really interesting to see the roots of some of those designs in earlier furniture and chairs. I also liked the temporary exhibit we were required to visit first — showing the confluence of Japanese and Danish modern design, which was new to me. And the clothing design exhibit was fun. But I would have preferred to visit the permanent exhibit first, when I had the most energy and before I started to get thirsty (from all that herring and shrimp.) By the time we got to the museum’s cafe, I was so thirsty but for the first time we encountered flat out rude servers. We waited for awhile at the counter, only to be finally acknowledged and told we needed to sit at a table and be served. Which we did for way too long, watching the one server nearby clean table after table instead of acknowledging the few of us sitting and waiting in the sun. We finally gave up and I drank some warm water out of the bathroom faucet. Grrr.
We had a much better experience at Emmery, a little bakery around the corner from our Airbnb where a sweet young woman not only swiftly served us an incredibly delicious Danish version of a cinnamon roll (with gobs of chocolate in the hollow Center) but added a piece of a chocolate rum ball — another Danish speciality she said we needed to try. (But not called “a Danish” and not really resembling the American one.)
Dinner at Baest , a two minute bike ride from our Airbnb in Nørrebro (as fate would have it) was an adventure. The casual (but pricey) restaurant prides itself in making/raising almost everything it serves. On its farm outside town….the cheeses, charcuterie, greens, vegetables. Everything tasted vividly fresh and full of flavor. Our pizza was a little strange…looked more like a salad, with fresh greens, herbs and uncooked mushrooms atop a burrata type cheese (stratatella?) and perfect chewy crust. We had a strange dessert we were told is very Danish and translates into”cold bowl.”It looked more like breakfast, i.e. Breakfast cereal. It was sliced fresh strawberries and bits of biscuit in a soupy yoghurt-like liquid. “You helped us decide what to do on that,” one of the two young British guys sitting next to us joked. They passed.
Filed under Scandinavia
Near Narroport Metro
I haven’t seen this many bikes in motion since RAGBRAI, the annual ride across Iowa that lures about 20,000 riders. The difference here is the riders are sharing a lane along busy city streets, which takes some getting used to, especially since Danes don’t do the courteous Iowans’ heads up (“on your left”) when they pass you. Often the pass very closely on the left or the right, which can be unnerving. We found out that the street we ride from the Norreport station to Nørrebro is the most heavily cycled street in the world. I believe it. Other than the sometimes intimidating volume of bikes, this is a bikers’ city. Everyone is riding everywhere and there are designated lanes and traffic lights for bikers that help set them apart from the walkers and the cars.
Nyhavn canal
The terrain is also flat, although the brick streets along the canals are very rough riding. And the distances from one attraction to the next are easily ride-able. We rode to many of the main tourist spots and neighborhoods –the graffiti and psychedelic murals of the hippie neighborhood Christiana; the cool spiral steepled church in Christianshvan.
Christiana scene
We rode twice over the cool new bridge that connects christianshavn and Nyhavn, the famous canal lined with painted row houses in deep ochre, rouge and blues. We passed a lot of grand buildings we were not familiar with. We rode thru Vesterbro, another neighborhood I considered staying in, Vesterbro, and ate outdoors in the meat packing District at Pate Pate. (Inspired by that name, I had excellent chicken livers. Also lemonade with little bits of freshly ground vanilla bean.)
Tonight we went to Tivoli, which was fun but we don’t do rides and we didn’t get the full effect of the fairytale lights at night because it was still light out when we left at 10:15 p.m., which is amazing. It didn’t get dark until 10:45.
Filed under Scandinavia, Uncategorized
Mural at O’Hare
And so it begins! After a six hour drive from Des Moines to Chicago and a few hours hanging out with emma, we arrived 3 hours ahead of our 9:45pm flight at O’Hare to Copenhagen via London on Norwegian Air. Had lots of time to kill and fortunately our gate was right by a Frontera grill Torta stand so we shared an excellent Cuban sandwich.
Our maiden flight on Norwegian air went well. Nice clean not to bare bones a plane for an economy carrier. No pillows or blankets but not sure we need anyway. Very young chipper English-sounding flight attendants. Not sure we needed the food either although it came when we paid extra for a seat assignment and checked luggage.
9:30 pm outside our Airbnb
We did have a tight connection in Gatwick – 70 minutes – but our flight arrived almost on time. We easily found the metro at the airport and the metro came quickly. E got off at Norreport metro station and walked northwest along frederikborggade and the lively bridge to our Airbnb. We are staying in an elegant turn of the (20th century) yellow brick apartment on the top floor (5 flight) with high ceilings, white walls, crown mounding, contemporary art, carved wood, Danish modern furniture. The owner is a documentary journalist for a local tv station. We are in Nørrebro along the lake (which we thought was a canal). Initial impressions: classy cool city, everyone riding bikes, few wearing helmets, striking blonds and brunettes, more smoking than expected, everyone out til late and still light hours enjoying the cafes and sunshine. We had an excellent fish and chips and salmon burger at a hip little cafe called “Hooked.” On Norrebrogade St.
Too exhausted to write more. Dirck has already conked out on our bed in our high ceilinged room with the glorious view at Sortedam Dossering #27.
Filed under Scandinavia
Hakone
Kimonos seem to be having a “fashion moment,” with fall 2016 magazines trumpeting kimonos and flowered prints as a fall fashion trend. So… click here for details about the store we went to in Kyoto that sells used and re-purposed kimonos/”designer” clothes made from old kimonos…My aunt found another good place selling “vintage” kimonos near The Philosopher’s Path/Walk in Kyoto.
Filed under Japan
Kyoto yakatori
I never heard any Japanese people use the word “Sayonara” while we were here but it seems the right word as we sit in Narita Airport, waiting to board a flight home via Minneapolis. (The Japanese guy at the Delta check in machine looked at our final destination DSM and said “I don’t know that one.”)
We had a last walk around Ginza and the Tsukiji Fish Market this morning and had enough time to take the bus rather than the Narita Express train from Tokyo Station. (The bus was 1000 yen/$10 – one third the price of the train and took about a half hour longer. The bus turned out to be faster than advertised (1 hour 15 minutes, with no traffic issues) and in some ways easier than the train. We just stood in line and paid the driver, rather than having to figure out the machines for the train track and navigate Tokyo station in search of our track.
We had four hours to kill at Narita and started by visiting Sushi Go Round, a conveyor belt restaurant where we scarfed down some more tuna shashimi and fried chicken. Nearby is an outdoor observation deck where you can watch the plans come and go so we trudged around in the heat and humidity briefly. Then time to try to spend as much of our yen as possible. We never did find the wasabi Kit Kats we saw in the Yamanashi bus station so settled for green tea Kit Kats and Oreo cookies to give as gifts.
Last night, I met a nice Japanese woman in the bath who was traveling with an American woman from Maine – both are involved in organizing an Andrew Wyeth exhibit. That was fun. Now starting to board. Goodbye Japan. Great trip!!!
Filed under Japan
We went to Yoyogi Park this Sunday morning to do some people watching, thinking we’d 
see more Japanese kid culture. Instead we ended up at a Brazilian festival, complete with performances by martial arts dancers and drummers and Brazilian churrasco (grilled meats). Like the Japanese, we went with the flow and it felt like we were in Central Park at times, except for the giant shrine nearby, Meiji Jingu, which was very Japanese and hosted several elegant wedding parties. From there we walked in the general direction of Shibuya, where we encountered more crowds. It’s pretty astonishing how many people there are out and about in this city.
We were not entirely sure which crazy intersection was the famous Shibuya Crossing. Several qualified. Traffic stopped in all four directions while a sea of people crossed the street in all directions, including diagonally. It was crazy to not only watch but join in. The stores didn’t interest us much but it was fun to see more kid fashion trends…including a store of baby doll fashion. (That get up is expensive.)
At about 4 pm we stopped at a chic coffee cafe called 24/7 where people we eating stacks of fluffy pancakes. It didn’t occur to us to eat them any time other than for breakfast but must say they looked delicious. My ice coffee was served in a ceramic soup bowl with a giant block of ice and a little pitchers of milk and simple syrup. Made iced coffee quite exotic. Must try that at home.
Back in our neighborhood near Tokyo station we ended up having tapas for dinner at Zion, a popular place, we noticed, with Japanese people and, it turned out, for good reason. The food was great and we sat at the bar watching the chefs prepare paella and mussels and plates of jambon. Time now for our last bath of the trip. Tomorrow home. It’s time but we loved getting to know Japan!
Filed under Japan
Boomeranged back again to Tokyo from the countryside, which has turned out to be a good way to deal with the craziness and rush of this big city (i.e., in small doses).We left our little rustic Fuji Hakone Guesthouse in Hakone and took a slightly out of the way route so we could ride the old narrow gauge mountain train from Gora. It was fun creaking along a narrow track cut into the mountain, lined tightly with purple hydrangea.
After one bus ride, three train and one subway (not as hard as it sounds) we were back at our sleek business hotel in Tokyo, Super Lohas where the lovely female staff greeted us as old friends (this is the third time we have stayed with them during this trip.) After lunch at what turned out to be a Chinese, not Japanese, restaurant near our hotel (we went where diners were. Chinese was a nice change) it was time to brave the crowds and check out the crazy teeny bopper scene in Harajuku on Takesita Dori and beyond.
Takesita dori, HarajukuWalking along Omotesando Dori, we were in the quintessential dense crowd we’ve seen in movie depictions of Tokyo, with clans of kids dressed in all kinds of costumes, from baby dolls to punks. (This is the first place in Japan where I’ve seen tattoos and pierced and trans Japanese.) It was the biggest crowd I’ve ever been part of but everyone seemed to get where they were going and keep moving without crashing into each other. I wonder if people are so orderly here (for example, lining up for various subway cars) because it’s the only way to make a city with this many people function well.
Dinner tonight was at a packed hole-in-the wall tucked underneath the Yamamote train line rail in Ginza called Andy’s. Excellent, affordable, quick service. It was also one of the few places we’ve been that seemed to do it all, rather then specializing in say, sashimi, or yakatori (grilled meat/veg on skewers). We had excellent everything– asparagus, mushrooms, gyoza stuffed chicken wings, fried chicken and garlic prawns (small portions so not too much food….) We walked back to our hotel through Ginza, with all its fancy stores lit up and flashing.
I bought a yukata (the traditional cotton robe we’ve enjoyed at almost every hotel we’ve stayed at here) at the Oriental Bazaar.
We also wandered the narrow streets of Aoysama, an upscale neighborhood of fancy little shops and modern architecture homes that reminded me of London’s Covent Garden (even before we chanced upon a store called Neal’s Yard, an old Covent Garden favorite.)
Filed under Japan
We found the Hakone that lived up to the hype today. After a haphazard journey that involved a bus (the wrong one, apparently) and then a train (which turned out to be the famous narrow gauge train through the mountains), we arrived at the Hakone Open-Air Museum in a downpour. Fortunately there were several closed air (indoor) galleries and several fantastic museum shops to explore until the rain finally became mist and then fog and then a few hopeful patches of blue sky that never really panned out.
But we were able to explore the famous sculpture garden for hours. So spectacular, especially with the atmospherics from the fog and mist drifting across the forested mountains and into the valleys. We ended up staying almost four hours there and could have stayed longer. The combination of dramatic contemporary sculpture and gorgeous gardens was stunning. Everywhere we walked, we’d find sculpture and nature complimenting each other. Female bronze nudes popping out of a sea of tall grasses. A bright red circular sculpture in a rock garden pond with orange and white koi swimming around. A grassy hillside dotted with bold sculptures. And this being a hot springs area, there was a long narrow outdoor foot bath for strollers to soak in while admiring some sculpture.
Indoors was a really interesting exhibit of work by a contemporary Japanese artist (Tadanori Yokoo), another interesting permanent Picasso exhibit and a way cool exploratory exhibit on sculpture that included two podiums where you could stand and move around and a sculpture on a video screen would duplicate your position. Amazing.
We left reluctantly and took the train a few stops to Miyanoshita station, which turned out to be another highlight. Wet and hungry (we delayed lunch so we could stay at the Museum), we found an ideal spot – the Naraya Cafe, a charming place that served not only great pizza but we ate it while sitting at a table with our feet in a foot bath underneath the table. That was a first. We sat at an outdoor wooden table on the side of a mountain, with a tarp draped above us to keep out the pouring rain, eating delicious pizza and soaking our feet. Oh happy day! The cafe was all wood and bonsai plants and gorgeous crafts. Reminded me of a place you’d maybe find in Big Sur.
Miyanoshita is the home of the famous old Fujiya Hotel, where we peeked into the gorgeous wood carved dining room, wandered around the gardens and the old-fashioned swimming pool, and stocked up on some breakfast food at the hotel’s bakery. We also did a little walk on a narrow path in the woods, high above waterfalls and a ravine that reminded me of my beloved Ithaca.
Tonight, we had a good Japanese meal at a little place near our guest house called Hanasai and ended up chatting with a mom and her two teenage kids from the Netherlands. Also chatted with people today from Seoul and Kobe. Great day.
Filed under Japan, museum exhibit, THE ARTS
TakeBetsywithyou
TakeBetsywithyou 