Carlsberg brewery, Copenhagen

This is the sign you see as you arrive to Copenhagen Airport which states that, according to the World Happiness Report 2013, Denmark is the world's happiest nation, therefore we should toast with a Carlsberg! (and since we're there, visit this historic brewery...)

Copenhagen Street Food

You know I love all things Danish: design, food, beer, mentality, etc. So when I heard about this place selling all kinds of street food, I knew I had to visit and I was sure I was going to love it but, there were a couple of hiccups that made it less great for me.

Bye, bye 2013!

2013 was a great year! here are my 5 favorite posts, hoping 2014 will be as good as 2013 was!

1. The "Zoetry Casa del Mar Los Cabos" posts

The Room
The Resort
Foodporn
Lovenotes
Sunset Cruise

2. The "A day in..." posts

A day in Copenhagen
A day in Oslo

3. Visit to Unicredit tower in Milan

Unicredit Tower

4. The "Sudtyrol Wine tasting weekend" posts

Wine tasting in South Tyrol, Day 1
Wine tasting in South Tyrol, Day 2
Ansitz Pillhof, South Tyrol
Hugo

5. The "Las Vegas" posts

Viva Las Vegas
Neon Museum
Downtown Las Vegas
Best food in Las Vegas
Getting married in Las Vegas
Treasure Island Las Vegas

Pumpkins in Tivoli

Although Halloween is behind us, I wanted to share this few pictures from Tivoli gardens in Copenhagen, which became a pumpkin wonderland in the past weeks.

Snapshots of Copenhagen

Bankeråt, Copenhagen

When I get asked what is my favorite place to hang out in Copenhagen I have no doubt in answering "Bankeråt".

Danish Design

If I had to choose one item of furniture for my dream house, that would definitely be the Egg Chair.

The Egg Chair was designed by Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen for the lobby and reception areas of the Royal Hotel, in Copenhagen in 1958. He was commissioned the design of the whole hotel's furniture and interiors but the Egg remains his most famous design. The design of the Egg makes it an elegant complement that creates privacy in open spaces.

So, when I think about design, I immediately think about the Egg and then of course, of Denmark, home to one of the most important design centres of the world. The Danish Design Centre carries out a variety of activities such as workshops, inspiration and feedback meetings, courses, conferences and exhibitions which help provide a better understanding of the potential of design as a tool for innovation. 

When I think of Denmark I think of design, because it is an integrated part of the living in this country, because every detail in any space is taken care of and I appreciate its functional, a bit minimalistic, yet cozy approach.

So, what are my favorite brands and addresses in Copenhagen for design?

Here's a quick list:

- Royal Copenhagen: let's start with a classic. The Royal Porcelain Manufactory was founded in 1775 under the patronage of Queen Dowager and King Christian VII. Its beautiful and elegant designs can be admired (or bought) at the shop in Amagertorv 6, a beautiful renaissance building from 1616 and one of Copenhagen’s oldest houses.

- Georg Jensen : next to Royal Copenhagen's shop, there's Georg Jensen, where you can find stylish and functional pieces of design for the home, the office, the table and even jewelry (look for Arne Jacobsen's line of silverware).

- Illums Bolighus: but why walk around the city looking fror design shops when there's a shop that hosts them all, and right in the same square, Amagertorv. At Illums Bolighus 'a store with furnished interiors, where textiles and furniture interacted with art' (as they describe themselves) you can find all kinds of brands like Royal Copenhagen, Georg Jensen, Stelton, Ilse Jacobsen, Margit Brandt, Rosendahl, Fritz Hansen, Louis Poulsen, etc.

For a more affordable piece of Danish design to bring back home, walk a few steps to get to Illum or Magasin, the two high-end department stores of Copenhagen. There, in the higher floors, you can find brands like Bodum, Normann Copenhagen, etc. sometimes offering really good deals.

Still hung on danish design? Then head to Designmuseum Danmark, Denmarks largest museum for Danish and international design and a central exhibition forum for industrial design and applied arts in Scandinavia.

Check the following map to pinpoint these places and many more you should definitely stop by:


View Danish design in Copenhagen in a larger map

If you are an Arne Jacobsen fan, you should visit the Restaurant Jacobsen north of Copenhagen (in Klampenborg, to be more precise), its interiors are an homage to this great designer.



Here's my wishlist of my favorite Danish design pieces:

A good guide for a three-day design visit to Copenhagen can be found here.

Smørrebrød

If you have been to Copenhagen (or to any place in Denmark) then you must know what Smørrebrød is. If not, you should really reconsider your traveler skills... For those of you who don't know, smørrebrød is an open sandwich made with rye bread (rugbrød) and butter (smør), typical from Denmark.

Rye bread is typical in Scandinavia, it is dark and heavy and you can usually find it already sliced. Butter is spread in the bread and then a topping is added.

Toppings can be of various ingredients, the most common and traditional are: pickled herring, shrimp and egg, cured salmon, liver paté, roast beef and remoulade, chicken salad and many more.

My first 30's!

Here's a little collage I made to symbolize my first 30 years in this world...

... and if the next 30 are as great as these were, can't wait!!!

Torvehallerne - Copenhagen

About a month ago I read an article on the NYTimes about the new Torvehallerne, a (partially) covered marketplace with gourmet specialties in Copenhagen. Being a fan of Copenhagen, marketplaces and food, I decided to try it on out recent trip to Copenhagen.

It was funny to see how they turned a parking lot, which I used to pass by everyday while I lived in Copenhagen, in 2 parallel covered structures filled with gourmet stands. There are like 3 or 4 bakeries offering delicious cupcakes and Danish pastries, an Italian deli with great sandwiches, sushi and tapas places, fruit and fish stands, butcher, florist and even an ecologic kebab cart outside: a foodies paradise!
But after visiting the Boqueria market in Barcelona and the newly refurbished San Miguel market in Madrid, I was a bit disappointed with the architecture of Torvehallerne. First of all, we are in Denmark, it rains and snows often from September to June so what's the point of dividing the two structures? If one wants to go from one structure to the other and it's raining/snowing, one has to cross this open-air space to get there; why not making a unique, big covered structure? Also, there are tables outside and a couple of stools at some of the food stands inside; while it's nice to grab a sandwich or coffee and enjoy it outside sitting in a bench on a sunny summer afternoon, again, what do you do when it's raining/snowing? Since there was a lot of space and since they were building something new, it would have been nicer to get tables and stools in a covered space, like a food court maybe.
However, my favorite spot in Torvehallerne remains Agnes Cupcakes ***CLOSED***, I've tried their cupcakes from the other location in Sværtegade some months ago and loved them (their apple cupcake is to die for!). Apparently cupcakes are the new must in Copenhagen so don't forget to pay a visit to Agnes and Torvehallerne!

Torvehallerne is located in Frederiksborggade, just off Norreport Station. While coffee shops and bakeries are open everyday from 7 to 21, the rest of the stands have different opening hours (closed on Mondays) so make sure you check the website before visiting.

Yellow Skagen

Skagen is a place that not many people know about but in my opinion a must see in Scandinavia. It is located in the tip of the northernmost part of Jutland, the Danish peninsula. On its north beach people can experience the beautiful landscape of waves from the Baltic Sea and from the North Sea clashing together and therefore changing the orientation of the tip (sometimes it's on the right, sometimes on the left).

Tourists in Skagen's tip

 Apart form being a touristic spot, Skagen is a fishermen town, very characteristic and live. It's beautiful houses are mostly colored yellow, in fact, in Denmark when one goes to get paint, among the palette of colors he'll find yellow skagen.

Yellow Skagen

If you talk about Skagen, you can't ignore the Skagen Painters. They were a group of artists who moved from the city to this quiet, beautiful area and started an artist colony in the late 19th century. Some of these artists were: Peder Severin and Marie Krøyer, Michael and Anna Ancher and Christian Krohg. They started a small museum in the dining room of the Brøndum’s Hotel in 1908 (they used to meet there, the hotel still exists). In 1919, the hotel donated its old garden to Skagens Museum, where it still stands after various renovations.

Me in Skagens Museum garden

 Today Skagens Museum has more than 1800 works of art at its disposal. Since I fell in love with the paintings of these artists, here are some of my favorites, the pictures were taken in 2008 during the SALON style exhibition:

Salon style exibition (photo from Skagens Museum website)

Summer evening at Skagen - P.S.Krøyer

Skagen's paintings

my favorite: Summer evening on Skagen's Southern Beach. P.S. Krøyer

Midsummer's Eve bonfire on Skagen's beach. - P.S.Krøyer

 The beauty of the paintings resides in the colors, especially the color of the sky which at this latitude has very special tones of blue, and the reproduction of everyday life scenes, like the wives of the two painters walking at the beach or the typical celebration of Sankt Hans Eve with the bonfire. 

If you are in the area, you might want to wander around North Jutland, not far from Skagen you can find Råbjerg Mile, the largest moving dune of Northern Europe, that makes you think for a moment that you are in the desert and not in Scandinavia.

Råbjerg Mile

 You mught want to stop by the Tilsandede Kirke (the Sand Church), a church located 4 km. south of Skagen, it is tall, white building at the top of a sand hill. But what is visible is only its bell tower. The rest of the church was buried by migrating sand dunes (like the ones in Råbjerg Mile) around the 1400s!

Den Tilsandede Kirke (photo from Wikipedia)

 Last time I was there we drove down to spend the night in Sæby, a small fishermen town south of Skagen 50 km. Henrik Ibsen (among other writers) lived here and here he found inspiration for one of his plays, maybe that's why they call it the "Poets Village".

us in Sæby

 The landscape is not so different from the Painters Village, Skagen: blue sky, yellow houses, people on bikes, etc. But the best place of Sæby , for us, is an excellent fish restaurant: Frank's Restaurant by the harbor. Their buffet is great! fresh fish, cooked different ways, soups, salads, etc. and the price is very good considering you're in Denmark and you're having fresh fish (lunch buffet 139 dkk, dinner buffet 199 dkk).

us after dinner at Frank's

Sæby evening

We stayed and Aahøj Hotel, a cozy bed and breakfast by the river, clean, reasonably priced and very quiet.

We loved our time in North Jutland! can't wait to go back!

Our version of "Summer evening on Skagen's Southern Beach"