I
At the glorious Louisiana Museum, a contemporary art museum about a 45 minute train ride north of Copenhagen, we chanced upon a huge exhibit of work by Gabrielle Munter, a German painter we didn’t think we knew. Except the portrait used for the brochure cover and the main poster looked familiar. Turns out it was on loan from the Des Moines Art Center! That was strange.
Loved everything about the museum – the setting (on an estate with lovely grounds high above the North Sea), the architecture (a lovely old country house with modern almost Japanese-style additions that wind here and there), the grounds (sweeping lawns, gardens, paths through the woods) and of course the contemporary art and sculpture. The cafe was lovely too. Good food and we sat outside at a table overlooking the water. We have had the most amazing weather.
Tonight we splurged at Relae, a restaurant run by one of the many Noma-trained chefs in this city. We sat at one of three tables overlooking the kitchen which was fascinating, with all the chefs and servers moving around in sync with each other. It felt like we were watching a culinary ballet. The food was one of a kind. All super fresh and locally sourced and unusual. We got the “Relae menu” which was a handful of small exquisite courses.
The young couple next to us, who have a restaurant in Singapore, got the “Relae experience” which was twice the food and presumably, the cost. A few examples of what we ate: a thin pressed patty of raw trout topped with what we were told was green strawberries; two thin perfectly pink slices of incredibly tender lamb, served with sliced cherries and bits of roasted pinecone (or something like that); desert of ice cream encased in a thin skin of rhubarb. (There was no written menu so doing my best here.) No desire to eat like this all the time but it was a new Nordic splurge/adventure.
One of my bigger regrets is not going to see the real Prince when he performed years ago in Ames, Iowa (not far from where we live in Des Moines). So last Friday, we took the best we could get, especially now that Real Prince is, sadly, no longer with us. We went to a tribute band that rumor has it was the only fake that the Real Deal approved of.
Another “hit” (vs miss) as expected in this perfect little north Arkansas town brought to you by Walmart. This is our second trip to Crystal Bridges and the museum continues to vow. The setting, deep in the woods; the architecture, a dramatic series of curvy buildings in and around a small lake; the art work, a fantastic collection of American art, especially the last 50 years or so; a classy restaurant dining room with terrific food; what’s not to like?
The drive north from Hot Springs, especially the initial stretch on two lane highway 7, was spectacular. Curvy winding roads up and around and down woods-carpeted mountains, really gorgeous.
After the museum, we visited the 21c museum hotel downtown, ultra modern with a museum on its walls of very interesting art and a stylish restaurant called Hive where we had a drink, sitting under a big piece of plastic orange honeycomb with a big toy bee hanging out in it. Tonight we had an excellent dinner at Oven and Tap downtown– edamame, meatballs, fried chicken. Can’t complain.
TakeBetsywithyou 