Nothing Rotten about Denmark-2

 Goodbye Copenhagen. Things we didn't do:

• Make a reservation at Restaurant Schønnemann for lunch. It's one of the oldest dining places for a classic Danish smørrebrød.
• Get to the Copenhagen Contemporary or the Carlsbad Glyptotek museums.
• Get a Danish from a Danish bake shop! Really?

Now we head north for a museum and a castle, and then west to spend the night before we catch ferries to Aarhus.

First stop, The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk. What a wonderful museum and a beautiful setting! When we arrived there were kids rolling down a grassy hill by the Nivå Bay.

View upon arrival

Beautiful gardens

There was an extensive exhibit of Chaïm Soutine, but we really were attracted to the Bourgeois X Giacometti exhibit. Bourgeois' Spider Couple is fascinating. Menacing, until you read that her mother was a weaver. And the larger spider is protecting the smaller spider.

Spider Couple - I'm on the right

Hero shot of spiders

David was also able to see one of Kusama's light installations.

After a lovely lunch in the cafe (raw asparagus again) we head to explore the Kronborg Castle, the setting for  Shakespeare's Hamlet. As it was a fort, it didn't have a lot of embellishment and is rather somber.

Kronborg

Entry archway

Tower

Fireplace

Fort

Rooftop

We booked a room at the Lynæs Hotel in Hundested. Katrine Sørensen and Henrik Wich-Nielsen bought the hotel five years ago and have done a wonderful job of updating and restoration. They are gracious and attentive hosts.

Lynæs Hotel (from their web site)

Dining room (from their web site)

The first thing I noticed when we entered the dining room were impressive, large paintings on the walls. The artist is Katrine's father, Arne Haugen Sørensen, a well known Danish painter. 

Besides running the hotel, Katrine and Henrik also host music nights and I can imagine how much fun they must be!

View from our room

Hundested is a charming town, with an active port, arts community and places to explore such as a lighthouse, shops and galleries and a sand sculpture park.

For dinner we headed to Restaurant Havfruen and experienced a national dish called Stjerneskud - A Shooting Star (named to honor Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen). It's a large, no, enormous open-face "sandwich" with toast, salad greens, fried and steamed plaice, sauce, a PILE of shrimp, boiled egg, asparagus (raw), caviar and garnished with lemon and dill. I didn't think I could eat the whole thing but I did–delicious!

Image from Seggelund

The next morning we took one ferry from Hundested to Sjaellands, and a second from Sjaellands to Aarhus. Aarhus is the next!

Nothing Rotten about Denmark

Denmark, why Denmark I said. David, "I just want to see what it's like". OK, how about Italy? New Zealand? Spain? David, "Denmark".

OK, here we go. Our 10 day trip to Denmark, and spoiler alert, I was pleasantly surprised. Lovely people, great food, castles, museums. FTI, the Economist just named Copenhagen the second best livable city in the world (After Vienna).

Be sure to buy and download a Copenhagen Card when you land. You'll get access to museums and sights, as well as, transit.

David takes off!

Copenhagen

We stayed at the 71 Nyhavn Hotel in the old harbor area. The staff was wonderful, very helpful and very pleasant. After checking in, we walked to Paper Island and saw the Opera House. After a nap, we walked down the street to have a Smørrebrød, which is an open face sandwich. A great idea, less bread and you eat with a fork and knife, not stuffing it into your face. Quite civilized.

Nyhavn

Nyhavn

Opera house and Paper Island

Breakfast at the hotel is wonderful! Fruit, Danish pastries, seeded crackers, bread, eggs cooked as you liked, Skyr yogurt cups, smoothies, pork liver pate (my favorite) and more.

That next day we ascended the 400 steps of the Our Saviour's Church, of which, the last 150 wind around the outside of the spire. There are no barriers outside, just a handrail. The Danes expect you to conduct yourself appropriately and not die by falling from a church spire.

Our Saviour's Church

Looking down

Weird stuff in church attic

More weird stuff

Bell in tower

Going up!

Width of last step

View of Copenhagen from the spire

Another view from the spire

As usual, I did a lot of research before the trip. One of the restaurants that I really wanted to try was Kødbyens Fiskebar. It's in the meat packing district which seems to be the place to be–restaurants, bars and galleries!

We were lucky to get a table as the place was packed, many of the Danes choosing to sit outside in the late afternoon sun. The restaurant provides blankets for diners who get too chilly in the evening.

Oyster sampler

Sourdough bread with seaweed butter

Scallop with lovage and elderflower

Squid with chicken dashi

Plaice

Plaice with asparagus and new potatoes with lovage.

After taking a bus back to the hotel, we were treated to a view of the full moon.

Moon and water.

Moon and old harbor.

We had wanted to visit the Danish Museum of Design, but the main exhibit was closed. Before leaving  for our trip, I had happened upon the Danish painter, Vilhelm Hammershoi. His limited pallet, treatment 

of light and contemplative interiors are mesmerizing. The Statens Museum had a number of his paintings.

Vilhelm Hammershøi

Stue i Strandgade med solskin på gulvet

The museum had a lovely cafe, and we had a light lunch. Every time in Denmark we had asparagus, it was served raw.

Sourdough bread with asparagus, cream and rye crumbs

The next day was rainy and chilly, aka, Seattle weather! We decided to explore the Rosenborg Castle. If you had a royal auntie, this would be like her attic. Every little thing that was given to the Danish Royal family has been stored here. But downstairs you can see the royal jewels. Not quite like the British, but still quite lovely.

Royal stag

Ceiling

Window view

Garden

Hot dogs are quite popular in Copenhagen. There are a number of stands that sell them. We got ours from DØP - The organic hot dog stand. To be honest, I prefer Costco's hot dog.

DØP dog

The Round Tower is a wonderful place to explore! It was built as an observatory and later used as the center of Copenhagen to map out the city.

Nook in tower

Tower ramp

Tower curves

View from tower

City spires

Red tile roofs.

Walking around, you never know when you'll find a new friend!

David and new friend

The next day we left to head north, first to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art,  then Kronborg Castle and then to Hundested for the night. The next day we would catch two ferries to Aarhus.