Copenhagen July 2013

It has been about 25 years since I was in Copenhagen. It was my first trip to Europe and ever since I have always dreamed of returning. This summer I finally made it back to Copenhagen. Things were different, but yet enough remained the same. There have been inhabitants in the area for 5000 years, and things have changed quite a bit since its original Viking fishing village roots. Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the 15th century and since the time of King Christian IV in the 17th century, a major cultural and urban center. The city although far north has some of the mildest winters compared to the other Nordic countries due to the Gulf Stream. Today there are almost 2 million people in the Copenhagen metro area.  

The old city is a medieval city complete with narrow winding cobblestoned streets dominated by old churches and towers. Many of these old buildings have copper roofs on their towers giving the city a charming feel. Copenhagen was late in removing their protective city walls, and therefore later in modernizing compared to other European cities but when they finally did, they had a grand plan. The city expanded out to the surrounding lake areas and incorporated villages outside the old walls. A beautiful area is the 17th century waterfront Nyhavn which today it is a major restaurant and night life area. Not far from here is the harbor with the “Little Mermaid” the city’s emblem perched on a rock. She is in the harbor which the area around it has been transformed into a beautiful park.  

Christian IV left a lasting mark on the city of Denmark in many ways. He founded and designed the oldest park in Copenhagen, the “King’s Park” outside Rosenborg Castle. Rosenborg Castle was a vacation home of the royal family which over the years became less used as a residence, and became a kind of royal warehouse. Today you can tour the castle and see many of the “extra” items that ended up in storage, from furniture and thrones, to dishes and jewelry. Gifts from visitors from other countries made their way here as well. The castle is small and easy to get through in about an hour. Don’t miss the trip to the basement to see beautiful crown jewels. Another interesting fact about Christian IV is his establishment of amusement parks. The oldest amusement park in the world is just outside of Copenhagen founded in 1583 complete with rides, games and restaurants. Within the city is Tivoli Garden which opened in 1843, (after Christian’s time) and boasts the oldest rollercoaster (1915) and the oldest operating Ferris Wheel from 1943.

These are the things I remember the most in my original trip to Copenhagen, old streets, old amusement parks, beautiful buildings and churches. It is all still there, but what impressed me more this time were all the modern additions. I had the distinct feeling of being in a Jetson’s Cartoon while waiting for the metro on an outdoor platform near the airport. The landscape is fairly barren without tall trees; modern buildings surround the area are all a sleek and “green looking”. Copenhagen as a city had a plan for its development which is seen as a model for modern cities. Copenhagen won the most Environmentally Friendly city in 2006 and the World’s Best Designed City Award in 2008. The harbor is now so clean that there are areas for swimming. Perhaps the Gulf Stream warms the water enough for Nordic blood to take a dip, but even in July I would not. 

Another memory I had about Copenhagen was the food. I remembered going to a pub type restaurants and pointing to something on a menu (everything was in Danish in those days) and ending up with baskets of fried fish or some sort of sausages. I drank Tuborg Gold or Carlsburg lagers. Good because it was different than home, but not that memorable. My how things have changed! Along with winning awards for environment and buildings, Copenhagen has 13 Michelin starred restaurants. One of these restaurants, Noma has won the World’s Best Restaurant for the years 2010, 2011 and 2012. Unfortunately the next available table was 12 months too late for us, but no matter, when you have that much competition in town, everyone steps up their game! We had a great dinner our first night at one of the Top 10 ranked restaurants on Trip Advisor, Brasserie Degas. Everything was prepared fresh from seasonal ingredients, leaning heavily on foods from the ocean with a distinctly modern flair. The next afternoon we were out in the lake region pondering lunch as we were walking. Two men sitting at their table outside a café jumped up and said take our table. They had heard us and were insistent that we eat at this café and taste traditional Danish food. They even made recommendations for things to order, discussed them with the waiter and in a short time we were having a traditional Danish lunch. Smorrebrod are the traditional open faced sandwiches, but in this case we had several platters of food to build your own. My favorite was a dish of cold curried herring pieces. The fish was put on a dark rye bread with the curry sauce. On another platter we had a variety of smoked salmon, tomatoes, capers, hard boiled eggs and pickles- a sort of deconstructed egg salad. What made this plate was the sauce. When I asked the waiter what it was called, he said “Béarnaise Sauce”. This was not a Béarnaise sauce that I was familiar with. It was cold with great chunks of pickled vegetables in it, a little tangy and quite delicious. Pouring it over a quarter of a boiled egg was much better than any deviled egg I’d ever had! So, now the search for curried herring and a secrete Danish Béarnaise sauce begins.

Back to the beer; Danes have been drinkers of beer for the past 5000 years and average 80 liters per person per year. In the olden days, it was the woman’s job to make the beer. The better she made the beer, the more people signed on to work for their harvest at the farm. In the late Middle Ages the first brewery guild was formed and turned beer brewing into a man’s job. Until 1838 the only kind of beer made in Denmark was hvidtol (white beer). But then in 1847, someone brought the king a German beer and Carlsberg Brewery was founded, brewing German style beers. Tuborg Brewery was founded in 1873 and brewed traditional style lagers. Recently, there has been an explosion of microbreweries in Denmark, and now there are at least 200 microbreweries, many receiving international recognition. Currently, according to Ratebeer.com, Mikkeller’s Beer Geek Brunch Weasel is the #20 beer in the world. Legend has it that Mikkeller was founded by two hobby brewers who have gone from kitchen brewing to international fame in a few short years. They have a pub in the Vesterbro neighborhood and another Mikkeller & Friends Pub nearby. Their website lists a Mikkeller Bar in SanFrancisco for those of you that can’t make it to Copenhagen.  

Where ever you go in Copenhagen you are sure to meet the world’s friendliest bartenders. They will be happy to set you up with something to your liking. And if all this doesn’t make you want to jump on the next plane to Copenhagen, then maybe the Copenhagen Olentvsiaster Beer Festival will. The website promises over 700 beers. The 2014 dates are May 23-25 at TAP1 Ny Carlesberg Vej 91 Copenhagen V. Perhaps you will join us because I’m not going to let 25 years go between visits anymore.