Sunday, May 15, 2011

Copenhagen Pt1 (parks, nuts, bars and beer)

I spent my first weekend in Europe in Copenhagen, which is a city filled with tall blondes and I'm the antithesis petite (code word for short) and dark skinned. So I was like a tiny munchkin walking around the wonderful city. And it is a walking city, ok honestly it's a cycling city but unfortunately if there's one thing I can't do is cycle.

It was warm in Copenhagen so everyone was out in the parks. And in the squares which were filled with buskers, these guys were playing latin tunes.  I spent 30 minutes sitting on the square (not at a cafe on the actual square) listening along with tourists and locals and parted with a few coins as thanks.
During the days I was all about snacking and eating on the go. I mean here at home we drive everywhere, so I needed to keep nourished, energised and hydrated for all the walking I was doing.

Excuse the less than flattering photo but taking pics while walking and eating is a tricky business. You find food stands everywhere that sell these so I assumed it must be the local thing to eat. A roll with the top end cut off, mustard and tomato sauce (ketchup) squeezed in and then the bacon wrapped pork sausage stuffed inside. It's a tasty although slightly salty snack.
 For snacks I found a great stand that sold nuts and dried fruit. There were dried figs, dates glazed orange segments and so many varieties of nuts.
Dried fruit and nut seller
My first night I tried something that I have only tried once before, BEER. There is a big bar culture and everyone drinks beer so when in Copenhagen bottoms up. I found that I enjoyed Tuborg because it had a strong bitter taste, which I enjoyed well into the night and the days that followed at the many bars, and along the harbour in the afternoon.
Downstairs bar
Now that I'm back home I decided to stop being a snob and try a beer. I've found that Pilsner Urquell tastes quite similar to Turborg. I'm not sure I'm a converted beer drinker but I can have a beer, two or three for the best of them, I think. Well feel free to invite me to have one or recommend others to try.

Tak! (Thanks)

Getting back into Foodie fixing

It's been a while since my last blog in March. I think it's due to the worst parts of my personality procrastination and obsessiveness, then throw in a bit of hoarding. That means I have a backlog of blog entries on my blackberry that I just haven't posted. My obsession with Strategy which also happens to be my day job, and keeps me super busy.
But enough with the excuses from now on as it passes my mouth, my fingers should be hitting the keyboard. May not make for a great dinner companion though, oh well!

But what has really kept me away is a Eurotrip that I just got back from Copenhagen (herring), Amsterdam(Sucre) and London (L'atelier). As I type I'm watching the pvr-ed (recorded) episodes of Masterchef Australia, one of my TV obsessions of the moment, to catch up for the time I was away. And I enjoy nothing more than enjoying a plate of food while watching food on tv.



I am going to be putting some stuff about my travels and these are the pics just to give you a taste of things to come. It was a mixed bag of fine dining and sidewalk eating. Honestly, what i miss most about the travels is side walk and late night shwarma eating.


Something that I noticed was the restaurant concepts and how refreshing and original everything was. So watch this space as the foodie fixing obsession gains momentum.