Copenhagen

Design. Bikes. Smørrebrød.

We looooved Copenhagen!  Last weekend we braved the cold and some rain and visited the design city, where 36% of the citizens commute to work by bicycle (after loading up on fresh local pastries, of course)!

We stayed at a cool hotel that was newly renovated this year and centrally located, but in the somewhat “red-light” district, so we passed a few “ladies of the night” on our way to/from the hotel.  Ha ha.  It wasn’t seedy at all though, it’s a nice area (Vesterbro neighborhood) with pretty brick buildings and tons of restaurants and trendy shops.  Apparently, they shoot a lot of the Danish version of “The Killing” in this area (a hit show that was copied in the US last year).

We arrived early Saturday morning and after drying off and warming up with coffee and yummy pastries, we strolled down Stroget, Europe's longest pedestrian street.  We found Illum Bolighus, an ultra-cool and artsy department store with a ton of fun merchandise to peruse, including awesome furniture.  We also happened to find some really great fall boots for Matt here. 

 

 

 

As we walked around, we came across loads of great cafes, from funky and eclectic to sleek and modern.  The restaurant scene is also really diverse.  We could definitely live here and be very happy!  We strolled along the harbor, through Nyhavn ooh-ing and aah-ing at all the quaint, colorful townhouses.   

 

For lunch, we took a long walk to the other end of the island for the Nørrebro Bryghus Microbrewery. Matt went with the traditional smørrebrød (3 delicious open sandwiches with different toppings, like smoked salmon, chicken salad and pâté), while I had a hugely satisfying burger, and we both enjoyed large pints of the local beer.  

 

With full and happy tummies, we continued our walking tour and visited the statue of the Little Mermaid.  Slightly overrated, but a must-see I guess, as it’s the most-visited attraction in Copenhagen.  

 

Since we didn’t get into Noma (nor were we really expecting to since it’s rated the world’s best restaurant for the third year running, ha), our Saturday night ended in the hip meat-packing district.  We checked out a few restaurants and chose Paté Paté, where we were able to snag the last space at the bar.  It was cool, with mismatched tables and chairs, lots of candles, eclectic music, big crowd and very friendly staff (I think the waiter had a crush on Matt, wink wink).

St. Saviour’s church was our first stop on Sunday, which has a funky spire at the top you can visit.  It was a steep climb up, and some of the stairs were somewhat ladder-like, so it was a bit of a scramble at times.  After the viewing platform, the stairs turned into an outdoors spiral staircase winding around the exterior of the spire.  I made it about ¼ of the way up and then chickened out as it was really windy and I thought I might blow away!  I went back down and Matt went up to the tippy-top to take photos (he said the top just gets narrower and narrower until it ends, so no top platform or anything). Eek!

 

Christiania (“free town”), was just a short walk from the church, so we decided to check it out.  Yep, it’s a total hippie enclave in the heart of the city where marijuana seems to be the herb of choice.  No runners, no photos and no E.U.  There's actually a sign with totem poles as you  leave saying "now entering the European Union".

We also watched the changing of the guards at the palace (they wear big, furry hats like the Brits) and basically gave a full-on marching band concert.

In the afternoon, we rented bikes from the hotel, which was a great way to see the city!  We visited the Carlsberg brewery and went on a fabulous, self-guided tour and saw the biggest beer collection ever (note, their invention regarding the reproduction method of pure yeast is still used by almost all breweries all over the world).  Thank you Saccharomyces Carlsbergensis!

 

We also took the bikes to Frederiksberg Park, and walked around there (no bikes allowed inside).  There seem to be quite a few beautiful parks in the city. 

So, we didn’t go in the Tivoli Gardens, although it looked quite charming.  However, we did ooh and aah at the nightly fireworks display.

Lucerne

Mt. Pilatus.  Stanserhorn.  Beckenried.

Yay, we had our first visitors!  Julie and Arnau flew over from Barcelona this past weekend and stayed with us a few nights in Basel.  We were able to enjoy some sunny and crisp weather on our little walking tour (I would like to point out I did not get us lost, hurray!)  Since it’s a small city, it only takes a few hours to see it all!  It was good to be out in the fresh air though.  We ended with a drink at the very posh Les Trois Rois, which has a wonderful outside terrace on the river.  Unfortunately, Matt had to work, but met up with us later on.
 

 

 Autumn festival at a nearby church (fall is around the corner!)

We then drove to Lucerne for the weekend and were able to see friends (Heather and Pete) from Seattle who are passing through Switzerland on their way from Como down to Provence.  Lucerne was really cute, complete with a 14th century wooden "chapel" bridge adorned with bright flowers (so very Swiss, of course), a sparkling lake and big mountains surrounding it all.  It was fun to wander around and catch up with Heather and Pete.  We also found the selection of restaurants better than Basel, even though it's about 1/3 the size!

 

 

 

  

Sunday, we visited Mount Pilatus via the steepest cog-wheeled train (48% grade), and rode the gondola down the other side.  It was so crowded, which we weren’t really prepared for.  We had to wait almost 2 hours for the train, so we decided to get something to eat, because 2 hours should be plenty of time, right?  Well, not so much.  The server acknowledged us multiple times but never came to take our order.  We waved our hands to get her attention, and also approached her directly.  It was crowded, so we continued to wait patiently.   After about an hour though, the wait was getting ridiculous, so we went to the kiosk next door and got food/drinks and just ate at the table we had at the restaurant.  We’ve encountered slow service on our European travels, but this was unreal.  Ah, what can you do, so we just laughed it off.

The cog-wheeled train was fun and the vista from the peak was amazing – it was a clear day, so you could really see for miles.  Beautiful!