Food in Copenhagen is not cheap. When purchased at the grocery store it will run you 2X as much, on average, when compared to the U.S. When purchased at a restaurant food can cost up to 4X as much as the good old U.S.A.

I get a good lunch at the canteen at Copenhagen Business School for about US$6 to $7, but other than that the pickings have been slim. We did find one other good deal. At a place called “Lille Istanbul” on Viktoriagade near the corner of Vesterbrogade in Vesterbro there are about 13 different, very tasty sandwiches to choose from. They are called “Super Sandwiches” and they go for only 25 DKK (or just over US$5) each.

Last night we went out to a place all of the guidebooks rave about as being the best deal in town. “Le Le Nha Hang” is the name of the place, and it, too, is in Vesterbro. The food was OK, but the prices are no longer under 100 DKK as all of the guidebooks promise. The cheapest dishes start at about 115 DKK now. Their menu has been revised recently it seems. For a bowl of soup, a salad, and two drinks the two of us paid just over US$70. It was a good meal but not something I would pay more than about $20 – $25 for in the U.S.

Posted on July 28th, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: copenhagen, food, living in copenhagen, vesterbro. Comments Off on Cheap, good food found in Copenhagen!

Every day in Copenhagen there is a changing of the Royal Guard at noon. We headed out on our bikes at about 11:15 to see the guard change. Within 30 seconds it started to rain. By the time we were at Rosenborg it was pouring. As we headed around Rosenborg we could see the new crew of guards getting ready to depart. They march from there to the royal palaces.

The time was now about 11:40 and the rain stopped just as quickly as it had begun. In fact, sections of blue sky appeared which made for some good pictures. Even though we were drenched just 15 minutes before, by 11:55 we were pretty much dry. I don’t understand how this Danish rain works, but for some reason it is quick drying. This wasn’t the first time we got caught in a downpour only to be dry soon after it was over.

Police officers moved all of us to locations out of the way of the incoming guards. Luckily we were moved right into the front row. I thought it was rather ironic that police were doing security for guards. Not only that, the royal family spends the summer elsewhere (Grasten Slot?) so the guards aren’t really guarding them. When you think about it, what we have here are police guarding guards who aren’t guarding anything!

I followed the outgoing guards down the street back towards Rosenborg. It was amusing to see them go down the middle of streets, stop at red lights, and then begin marching again as soon as the signal turned green like a giant toy soldier car rather than a group of pedestrians (who obviously use sidewalks and not the center of a street for autos).

Posted on July 24th, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: changing of the guard, copenhagen, living in copenhagen, pictures. Comments Off on Changing of the Danish Royal Guard

Last Tuesday we had perhaps our most action-packed day of our adventure so far. We traveled what I will call the “Zealand Loop.” I highly recommend this trip if you are planning on being in Copenhagen for more than a few days. In fact, I probably recommend the Zealand Loop even if you are only going to be in Copenhagen for two or three days if you enjoy castles and/or the beach.

We were a bit concerned by the weather forecast which called for clouds and rain, but we lucked out and had a mostly sunny, warm day with no rain.

I took over 200 pictures in one day so I’ll break this entry down into four parts with today being the overview and the next three entries being the three places we went. I won’t bore you with all of my photographs either.

If you were to go to each of these areas from Copenhagen by train they would cost 115 DKK each round trip (about US$25). By doing them all in one day you only have to pay the 115 kroners once (with a 24 hour unlimited pass). As importantly, you get to see the wonderful areas in between the three locations, making a loop, rather than just treading the same path to and from Copenhagen.

We started off by going from Copenhagen to Helsingor (Elsinore).

(Don’t forget to have your train ticket punched at the Copenhagen station. The guy who sold us ours didn’t mention that fact and we got chewed out on the train. The lady didn’t fine us though which could have been as steep as 600 DKK (about US$130).)

The train line ends at Helsingor and you’ll want to get off anyway. A short walk of under half a mile takes you to Kronborg Castle, the setting for Shakespeare’s Hamlet. 

From Helsingor train station (which looks like a castle itself) you hop on a train for Gilleleje. Gilleleje has an awesome beach and tons of cute, Danish, summer cottages. We spent most of the day here.

If you want to see the inside of Frederiksborg Castle you’ll need to get there before it closes at 5. If you prefer beaches, or if you’d like to take pictures of Frederiksborg Castle at dusk or after dark, then hang out at Gilleleje until 7 or later.

From Gilleleje train station take the train to Hillerod. You’ll go through forests and see lakes along the way. The scenery was excellent and the windows on the train were huge.

You can walk to Frederiksborg Castle from the train station, but we took a bus, being rather tired by this point. Be sure to walk the grounds behind the castle. They are, in many ways, as impressive as the castle itself. We were there several hours after the castle had closed so there were virtually no tourists there which was nice. You can still walk the grounds and enter the courtyard even after the interior of the castle is closed so don’t worry about arriving late (unless you really want to pay to see the interior).

Finally, take the train from Hillerod to Copenhagen to complete the loop. Arriving back in Copenhagen was almost a shock. Even though we had been away for only 12 hours or so, Copenhagen seemed to have changed into a big city. I suppose it always was, but I didn’t realize it so much while living here everyday. It took a trip to the countryside and the relaxing feeling that came with it to wake me up to my Copenhagen surroundings.

Posted on July 20th, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: castle, copenhagen, living in copenhagen, pictures. Comments Off on The Zealand (Sealand) Loop

Nyhavn means New Harbor in English, but this harbor isn’t very new. Nyhavn has been around for well over 300 years. Hans Christian Andersen even lived here for a while.

Tourists come here now as the starting point for Copenhagen Canal Tours or just to enjoy the views. Many also eat and drink at the restaurants, cafes, and bars. From the signs I saw the establishments appear to be even more expensive than those located elsewhere in town. We investigated getting some ice cream here, but it was going to be over US$6 a cone in Nyhavn, versus the usual $4 to $5. (By the time we get back to the states next month I’m guessing we will have spent over $300 on ice cream, ice cream that would have cost us less than $50 back home. Ouch!)

July is Copenhagen Jazz Festival month so a temporary venue was set up and jazz was playing. We couldn’t get very close so we kept going.

If you are familiar with San Francisco, do these pictures remind you of anything? To me Nyhavn seems a bit like a blend of the “Painted Ladies” seen from Alamo Square with the Marina/Fisherman’s Wharf. I say this only because, as a former tour guide in San Francisco, these kinds of strange parallels always seem to pop into my head.

Posted on July 19th, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: copenhagen, hans christian andersen, living in copenhagen, nyhavn, pictures. Comments Off on Nyhavn

Between our visits to Glyptotek and Vor Frue Kirke, mentioned in yesterday’s entry, we had a nice lunch at Pasta Basta. It was relatively inexpensive by Danish standards but still set us back at least 4X more than what we usually pay for lunch at a restaurant in the states. After lunch we headed for The Round Tower, a place I had read about many years ago in a wonderful book called, Blind Watchers of the Sky. At least I think it was in that book. If not, I’m sure it was discussed in Music & Silence.

The Round Tower (or Rundetaarn) is a most interesting building. You gain access to the top by going up a long, spiral, brick ramp.

From the top there are outstanding views of the city. And on the very top there is a functioning observatory. We were even able to use the telescope at the top! I believe it’s the oldest functioning observatory in the world at nearly 400 years. There can’t be many older since the telescope has only been around for 400 years.

There wasn’t much to see on a Sunday afternoon with no sunspots. If you really want to see something impressive out of this telescope you’ll want to visit in the winter. It doesn’t get that dark in the summer in Copenhagen.

From the top of the tower you have a great view of Rosenborg and the Statens Museum for Kunst.

In the distance you can see the bridge linking Denmark and Sweden. You can also see an airplane coming into Kastrup, Copenhagen’s airport. The far away, spiral, church steeple is part of Vor Frelsers Kirke on Christianshavn.

As previously mentioned, the Star Flyer ride at Tivoli offers incredible views of the city. These people are in swing seats way, way up in the air. The large tower obscuring the rest of the riders is the Copenhagen City Hall tower.

Posted on July 18th, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: copenhagen, Københavns Rådhus, living in copenhagen, museums, pictures. Comments Off on Rundetaarn (The Round Tower)