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Posts from the road

Return to Italy!

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(Orvieto, Italy)

After the success of last year’s trip to Cinque Terre (for hiking) and Sestriere (for skiing), it just made sense to return to Italy again in 2017.  The skiing will take place in Madonna di Campiglio next week, but our travel adventures this year are beginning in the Umbrian hill town of Orvieto.

Orvieto’s main street at night – at the bottom left is a sign pointing down a side street to the Trattoria Antica Bucchero

Like all of the hill towns in Umbria and Tuscany, Orvieto’s location was chosen because it was relatively easy to defend against invaders.  The historic centre is situated about a thousand feet above the valley floor and, as we arrived by train, we had to take a funicular to get there.

The Piazza Repubblica, as seen from the Torre del Moro

Our first Umbrian meal was at the Trattoria Antico Bucchero. We were jetlagged and extremely hungry, so I do not have any pictures of the food.  While we enjoyed our pastas, bruschetta and salad, dessert was probably the highlight.  My wife had vin santo (a local fortified wine) and biscotti (to be dipped in the wine), while I had vin santo and pecorino e miele.   It translates simply as “sheep’s cheese and honey” and it was just a few pieces of cheese, some hazelnuts and a small container of honey.  However, the cheese was sharp and splendid…and it was even better with honey on top!  The honey was clear and almost colourless, but it was the best I have ever tasted.  It is no surprise that Italy is a stronghold of locally sourced food.

Trattoria Antica Bucchero, after our meal

We’re going to be in Orvieto for three nights and there is an awful lot to see.  We’ve bought Carta Unica combo-tickets that give us free admission to most of the top sights in town as well as transportation to and from the train station.  With its narrow and winding ancient streets, it’s also fun just to wander here and completely forget that it is the 21st century.

The Palazzo del Popolo, with rural Umbria in the background

Future posts will include details on some of these sights and our further culinary adventures.  For now, I’ve included some introductory photos taken on the streets and from the top of the Torre del Moro, a medieval clock and bell tower rising 47 meters in the middle of the old town.   We climbed all the way to the top and, as it is definitely not the high season for tourism here, were able to enjoy the view all by ourselves.

Posts from Base Camp

Books and Travel Guides

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

As I’ve been reading a lot of books lately, I decided to make today’s post about travel guides and “books about other places”.

Some very popular travel guides perpetuate the myth that travel is only for the very wealthy.  When listing accommodations, these guides generally give only 5-star hotels and throw in the occasional 4-star hotel as a “budget” option.  They are often the same luxury brands we have at home (and generally avoid because of their exorbitant prices) and offer exactly the same experience that you would get in your home country.    This naturally leads to the question:  why bother traveling, if you could have the same experience at home?

A small Nova Scotian fishing village, just east of Peggy’s Cove

For such travel guides, I generally find that the cost of one night’s accommodation corresponds to what I will actually spend on a week (or more) of accommodation…with no increased risk or discomfort.   One travel writer (more about him later) says that the more you spend, the more of a wall you build between yourself and what you traveled so far to see.

Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

So…which travel guide do I recommend?  I prefer guides that have few (or no) recommendations for hotels and restaurants.  Such businesses can change very quickly and the information is often very outdated by the time you read it.  Instead, I like guides that focus on objectively describing what a place is like and form some kind of opinion on local experiences.

The famous lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove…sadly, being renovated during our visit

When I first encountered the Rick Steves series of European travel guides, I was quite skeptical.  His books and travels shows (broadcast on PBS) assume that the reader is American.  His appearance does not fit the stereotype of an advocate for smart budget travel.  And yet, when you read his guides closely, he actually makes a lot of sense.  He is the writer mentioned above who pointed out the inverse relationship between spending and experiencing.

Lobster Traps at Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

I think Steves is strongest in describing travel in Italy, as he clearly has a passion for that country.  However, if you are traveling to any European country for the first time, you could do worse than read a Rick Steves guide.  I do disagree with him about the pace of travel.  As he assumes an American audience, he also assumes (unfortunately) that the audience has very little in the way of vacation time.  If you follow his sample itineraries, you could find yourself suffering travel burnout very quickly.

Swissair Memorial at Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

However, you shouldn’t restrict yourself to travel guides.  I recently read John Hooper’s “The Italians” to gain a little more insight into Italy and Italians, as we will soon be in Italy again.  I also read Helen Russell’s “The Year of Living Danishly” just before visiting Denmark:  it was written by a U.K. resident who moved to rural Denmark after her husband got a job with Lego!  That, in turn, led me to “The Nordic Theory of Everything” by Anu Partanen (originally from Finland but moved to New York after marrying an American).  While it is definitely not a travel book, it is an interesting read because it challenges some long-held assumptions about the Nordic countries.  All of these reflective books provide insight that you rarely find in travel guides.

Another view of the Peggy’s Cove lighthouse (still being renovated, 30 minutes later)

The pictures in today’s post are all from our 2009 visit to Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia.   Coming up next:  arrival in Italy!

Posts from Base Camp

Not a Travel Flashback on Skiing in Val Gardena, Italy (2013)

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

In my last post, I said that I would dig up some photos from a 2013 ski trip to the village of Selva (in the famous Val Gardena of northern Italy) and write a “Travel Flashback” post on it.  I found the photos, but have decided against a traditional “Travel Flashback” post.

Chapel in the snow, on the Sella Ronda route

I have to admit that I did write a flashback post about Val Gardena.  Alas, I wasn’t very happy with the post.  It has now been 4 years since visiting Val Gardena and there have been other ski trips to northern Italy in the interim.  Ski trips are the ultimate in “experiential travel”:  you’re not just observing, you’re interacting with the dramatic mountains.  However, it’s hard to effectively convey that interaction in writing many years later, especially without any significant notes.   It also would have been much different if I had not been skiing in Italy since then, as there would not have been any conflicting memories from 2014 and 2016.

Blue skies high above Val Gardena

Importantly, this was also one of my last trips before deciding to launch this blog.  Over time, I have developed strategies for blog entries that don’t require me to spend precious vacation hours in front of a computer.  I can now create the framework for a blog post in a few minutes, if necessary, and fill in the details later.  Back in 2013, however, I didn’t have those strategies.

Everything is bigger in the Dolomites

The only real travel revelation during that trip?  This was the first time I had stayed for an entire week in a “half-board” (breakfast and dinner included in the cost of the room)  arrangement and I was worried that the food would become tiresome after a couple of days.   Not at all!  The food was great at the Hotel Europa and we enjoyed getting to know the restaurant staff during the course of the week.

Our hotel in Selva (Val Gardena) – right across the street from the gondola station!

And what about the skiing?  While not as challenging as the larger ski areas in Switzerland, I remember this much:  there was an epic dump of snow on the third day that left us with outstanding conditions for the rest of the week.  I don’t have any good photographs from that day but there is a brief video from that morning (you can link to it directly here).  The powder was even deeper in the afternoon and it was difficult to leave the slopes at the end of the day.

Looking up from the lower slopes of Val Gardena

Despite not being able to create a satisfying “travel flashback” post about it, I still look back very fondly on Val Gardena.   There’s something to be said for living in the moment and not spending too much of your trip thinking about blog entries.

Skiing in the dramatic Dolomites never gets old!

If you want to know more about skiing in the Val Gardena region, you can start by checking out the posts from my 2014 trip to nearby Cortina d’Ampezzo (here, here and here).

Returning to the present:  our trip to Madonna di Campiglio is rapidly approaching.  The next blog entry may well be from Italy!

Posts from Base Camp

This Year’s Travel Plan

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

2016 ended up being a busy year for travel, with three major trips (Italy, Chile/Argentina, and Denmark/Sweden) and a number of shorter trips within Ontario.  So…what’s in the cards for 2017?

Regular readers of this blog will not be surprised that another ski trip is coming up soon.  Last year, I spent some time in the Cinque Terre region of Italy before skiing for a week in the “Via Lattea” ski region surrounding Sestriere.

On piste madness! (Unheard-of mid-afternoon deep powder on an open piste at Sestriere, 2016)

This year, I will be skiing at a completely different resort in the Alps:  Madonna di Campiglio, in the beautiful Dolomite mountains.  This is the 4th time I will be skiing in Italy since 2013.  Why Italy again?  There are quite a few reasons for this.

Our lunch venue above the resort of Sansicario (Sestriere, 2016)

An important factor is the cost.  The other major alpine skiing countries of France, Austria and Switzerland are simply more expensive than Italy:  the lift tickets, the food, the hotels and even the ground transportation are presently all cheaper in Italy.   Switzerland suffers additionally from a very unfavourable exchange rate.  There are also many airports in northern Italy and the airfares to those airports are generally less expensive too. As a bonus, the on-slope food in the other major Dolomite resorts (Cortina d’Ampezzo, Val Gardena) was among the best I have ever had.  It may be cheaper, but it’s not because of a lack of quality!

Our ski group passing through the rocks at Pomedes (Cortina d’Ampezzo, 2014)

Another factor is that skiing in Italy is easily combined with something completely different.  This year, we will be spending a week in Italy before hitting the slopes.  There are many things to see and do in northern Italy that have nothing to do with mountains and skiing.  In addition to last year’s visit to the Cinque Terre region, I’ve previously acclimatized to Europe in places like Venice, Verona and Varenna.

Shocked and awed at Forcella Staunies (Cortina d’Ampezzo, 2014)

I have to create at least a little bit of suspense about the trip, so I’m not going to name the two main towns we plan to visit before arriving in Madonna di Campiglio.  However, I will say that our flight to Italy arrives in Rome (we’re returning from Bologna)…so that gives us a lot of options for our first week.  Regions such as Tuscany and Umbria are obviously very strong contenders!

Mountain restaurant at Son Forca (Cortina d’Ampezzo, 2014)

As for the rest of 2017, I have not made any definitive plans yet.  However, it might be time for a road trip and I really haven’t spent any time in the U.S.A. since my trip to Washington D.C. in April of 2014.

The main thing, however, is that I don’t want to overplan and commit to anything too far in advance.  One of the best parts about visiting Denmark last November was the immediacy:  I didn’t research it for months or years beforehand.  It just emerged out of an unexpected brief gap in my schedule and a frequent flyer plan point redemption offer. I still have a significant number of points in another frequent flyer program that may result in a similar opportunity in 2017.

The horses who “lifted” us to Armentarola (Cortina d’Ampezzo 2014)

The ski photos in today’s post are some of my favourite ones from Cortina d’Ampezzo (2014) and Sestriere (2016).  I will see if I can locate some Val Gardena photos for a “Travel Flashback” post on that resort before leaving for Italy.

Posts from the road

Farewell to Copenhagen

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(Copenhagen, Denmark)

While I already posted about my trips to Rosenborg Castle and Frederiksborg Castle, I did visit another royal Danish residence during my time in Denmark: the Amalienborg Palace. Or, perhaps I should say *one* of the Amalienborg palaces, as it is actually a collection of four virtually identical palaces that face each other in a very large octagonal “square” in downtown Copenhagen.

This is the palace I visited at Amalienborg

I visited the only one of the four palaces that is open to the public: it focuses on the monarchs who reigned from 1863 to 1972.  Unlike Rosenborg and Frederiksborg, which long ago stopped housing the Danish royal family, the palaces at Amalienborg are still being used.  As a result, the rooms I saw were much more contemporary…somewhat old-fashioned, perhaps, but not completely removed from the present day.

A most impressive collection of pipes at Amalienborg

One of the recent Danish kings had a rather modest office…but still managed to accumulate a massive collection of pipes.  You can see some of them in the picture, although there were many more out of sight.  I believe there is also a spittoon on the right side of his chair.

Copenhagen in the late afternoon

While the palace had only limited hours and it was getting dark by 4:00 p.m. each day, the lack of natural light did not deter the Danes from being out and about.  The streets in the pedestrianized downtown district were crowded until quite late at night and it never felt unsafe.

You can’t have too many pictures of Nyhavn in Copenhagen!

In stark contrast to the castles and palaces was Christiania, located just a short walk south of downtown and quite close to “my” street food market.  In 1971, a group of 700 people claimed squatter’s rights in an abandoned military barracks and established a “free city” named Christiania.  The land continued to be owned by Denmark’s Ministry of Defence…but the squatter’s community remained intact.  About five years ago, the community began making payments on the land and became collective owners of the land.

Main entrance to the Christiania “Social Experiment”

Christiania was allowed to continue for a long time because it was viewed as a “social experiment”.  It has continued to be a haven of alternative lifestyles:  a popular local slogan is “Kun døde fisk flyder med strømmen” (“Only dead fish swim with the current”).   It has also acquired a notoriety similar to parts of Amsterdam, with the result that Christiania is apparently now the third most-visited site in Copenhagen.

The “back entrance” to Christiania

When I passed through Christiania, the skies were particularly gray and it certainly didn’t possess a magical feeling.  Nonetheless, it was interesting to see what had evolved from the original squatter’s colony.

One of the canals in Christianshavn, between Christiania and Papirøen

This ends my “on the road” blog entries from Denmark and Sweden.  I managed to see quite a bit despite arriving in Copenhagen on a Sunday and flying back home the following Saturday morning, although it is not a pace that anybody should expect to maintain for more than a few days at a time.   Travel burnout can happen!

I’m now back in Kingston and currently doing the final planning for my annual ski trip.  I expect to be back with more posts before too long!

Posts from the road

The Swedish Frontier

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(Malmö, Sweden)

Malmö and Copenhagen are in two different countries but, thanks to the Øresund bridge, are now considered to be part of the same metropolitan area. Both Sweden and Denmark are part of the European Union; they are also both part of the Schengen Area. Many people live in Malmö and work in Copenhagen. You’d think that it would not be a hassle to travel from Copenhagen to Malmö. But you would be wrong!

A medieval square in Malmö…and a very large lamp

During the height of the recent refugee exodus in Europe, Sweden was considered to be a desirable destination. It has an extensive social security system and indicated that it was willing to accept refugees. Malmö was the chosen point of entry, given its proximity to central Europe. However, Sweden is not a huge country in terms of population and eventually they decided to restrict the flow. To do this, they decided to hire security personnel and place them on the platform for Malmö-bound trains leaving from Copenhagen. As a result, I had to show my passport and be closely scrutinized before being allowed in the boarding area for the next train to Malmö from Copenhagen.

The main square in downtown Malmö

Once I was in Malmö, however, it was clear sailing.  My hotel was right across from the train station; in turn, the hotel was only a block or two from the centre of old Malmö.  It appeared to be very clean, prosperous…and just a little bit cheaper than Copenhagen.

My soup at La Soupe, Malmö

My last full day in Europe was, once again, rather cool and gray.  Eating out for an entire week was starting to lose its lustre.  However, stumbling upon a cosy restaurant called “La Soupe” was just what the doctor ordered.  It specialized in soup, of course, and I had an excellent tomato/lentil/chorizo soup that blasted away any travel weariness.  It came with some sweet black bread and was supplemented by a warming mug of tea and a chocolate ganache for dessert.

Exterior of “La Soupe” in the French Quarter of Malmö

I had some success at a record shop called Folk å Rock (which I think means “People of Rock”) and decided to wander around the area to the south and east of the historic core.  I had read a vague description of it as a neighbourhood of cheaper restaurants; in reality, it was where many refugees appear to have settled.  It was quite different from old Malmö and it reminded me of entering one of the ethnic neighbourhoods in Toronto.

I visited this record store in Malmö

I had already visited lots of museums and castles in Copenhagen, so I spent the rest of the day doing some shopping and sending a few postcards.  For my last meal, I found a restaurant close to my hotel where I thought I could use up all of my  remaining Swedish coins…neither Sweden nor Denmark use the Euro.  The restaurant was a Thai place and I enjoyed a very tasty Tom Kha Gai soup there.  Alas, I won’t give its name (or any free advertising) because I think they tried to scam me with an extra charge that didn’t appear on the menu!  They never did give me a receipt.

An excellent Tom Kha Gai at a Malmö restaurant that shall remain nameless

After that, I think I felt more ready to return home.  The next morning, I caught a train to Copenhagen’s airport (only 20 minutes from downtown Malmö…and no security check before boarding the train!) and used up my remaining Danish currency there before my connecting flight to Amsterdam.

Posts from the road

Hockey Night in Malmö

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(Malmö, Sweden)

One of my goals on this trip was to see a professional (ice) hockey game.  This proved to be difficult in Denmark, as there does not appear to be a professional team based close to downtown Copenhagen. However, with Malmö, Sweden, now easily accessible by bridge (you used to have to take a boat), I had another option.

The Swedish Hockey League (SHL) is one of the top professional leagues in the world. While it is a notch below the NHL and Russia’s KHL, it nonetheless features some premier hockey talent and a very dedicated (and knowledgeable) fan base. On November 24, I was able to watch a regular season SHL game between the Malmö Redhawks and Brynäs IF.

Malmo Arena - shortly before gametime
Malmö Arena – shortly before game time

As with European soccer, the crowd was enthusiastic and did not rely on gimmicks to get into the spirit of the game.  The hardcore Malmö supporters were in a standing area at one end of the ice, complete with drums!   Actually, I suppose there was one gimmick:  the Redhawks came on the ice at the beginning of the game through the mouth of a giant inflatable hawk:  lasers and explosions were in abundance.

Here come the Malmö Redhawks!
Here come the Malmö Redhawks!

Malmö started off the season strong but had been faltering of late.  Against Brynäs, they definitely controlled most of the game but had a very hard time scoring on David Rautio, the talented Brynäs goalkeeper.  In the second period,  Brynäs took the lead on a goal that the goal judge missed because it went in so quickly.  A look at the video replay confirmed that the puck did in fact go into the net.

The opening faceoff
The opening faceoff

Going into the third period, Brynäs was holding on to a slim 1-0 lead.  Things looked even worse for the home team when Malmö took a five-minute major penalty for a check to the head in the third period. However, they managed to kill off the major penalty and take one last run at solving the Rautio mystery.

The diehard Malmö fans in the standing room section
The diehard Malmö fans in the standing room section

With four minutes left in the game, Malmö finally scored on a rebound to tie the game.  Brynäs took a penalty shortly afterwards, on a scary play that saw a Malmö player crash into the Brynäs goalkeeper (and net) at high speed.  On the resulting power play, Malmö scored on another rebound with just two minutes remaining and the home crowd was rewarded with a narrow victory.

Malmö on the attack!
Malmö (in red) on the attack!

While the skill level was very high, I thought that the players had a tendency to forego shooting opportunities when they were close to the opponent’s goal.  There might have been more goals in this game if the forwards had shot the puck more often rather than trying to make that one final pass close to the net.  If you want to see the highlights, they are currently located at this link.

Malmö Redhawks celebrate their dramatic victory
Malmö Redhawks celebrate their dramatic victory

It was great fun to see the game and I will definitely try to catch another one if I am ever in Europe during the winter months.  I went to a Swiss League game about 10 years ago and that was a little crazier (probably because thousands of spectators from the visiting team made the trip by train and were not feeling much pain by the time they arrived in Zürich).

Stay tuned for more on the actual city of Malmö!

Posts from the road

My collaboration with Yoko Ono

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(Copenhagen, Denmark)

Unexpected things happen when you travel. Right beside the street food market on Papirøen, there was a art gallery called “Copenhagen Contemporary”.  I walked by it on several occasions on my way to the market for dinner, not noticing what it was all about because it was dark outside and I was focused on my destination.  However, I looked a little more closely on the day I went to the market for lunch.

The Wish Tree Garden on Papirøen, Copenhagen
The Wish Tree Garden on Papirøen, Copenhagen

Much to my surprise, there was an art installation from Yoko Ono in front of the gallery.  Upon taking a closer look, I realized that this was a participatory art installation:  Yoko was looking for input!

The installation, called Wish Tree Garden, consists of indigenous trees with small pieces of paper attached to them.  This is where the participation happens: people are invited to write a wish on a small piece of paper and tie it to one of the trees.

The Copenhagen Contemporary gallery on Papirøen - with "Wish Tree Garden" by Yoko Ono in front
The Copenhagen Contemporary gallery on Papirøen – with “Wish Tree Garden” by Yoko Ono in front

Quoting from the gallery’s website:  “All the wishes are regularly collected and when the exhibition ends they will be sent to Yoko Ono.  Eventually, wishes from all over the world will be gathered together in Ono’s Imagine Peace Tower on the island of Viðey in Kollafjörður Bay, Iceland: an art installation that consists of a tall column of light dedicated to Ono’s late husband, John Lennon. The wishes from CC will join millions of others that have already been collected since 1996 from other places in the world…”

Another creative person: the Hans Christian Andersen statue outside Rosenborg Palace (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Another creative person: the Hans Christian Andersen statue outside Rosenborg Palace (Copenhagen, Denmark)

I duly wrote a wish and tied it to one of the trees.  I have collaborated with many people but this was the first time that I have worked with Yoko Ono.  It certainly was a project I had not anticipated when I walked to Papirøen on a grey November afternoon.  If you’re interested in participating, this installation is going to be in Copenhagen until the end of 2017.

The abstract bicycle and pedestrian bridge from Nyhavn to "near" Papirøen (Copenhagen, Denmark)
The abstract Inderhavnsbroen bicycle and pedestrian bridge from Nyhavn to “near” Papirøen (Copenhagen, Denmark)

Another surprise in Copenhagen was coming across a spa called “Fish Kiss”.  At first, I was sure that this was a mistake.  English has some idiomatic peculiarities and I assumed that this was just an odd translation of something that made sense in Danish.  Alas, the name was totally accurate…at this spa, you can immerse your feet in water and fish will nibble at and remove your dead skin.   Apparently, this is all very hygienically done and is soothing after you get over the initial tickling sensation.

The Fish Kiss Spa in downtown Copenhagen
The Fish Kiss Spa in downtown Copenhagen

Near the Fish Kiss Spa was one of many Christmas markets I found in Copenhagen.  In the background, you can see the Christiansborg building that houses (among other things) the Danish parliament.  You can also visit the observation deck at the top of the tower – there is no admission charge, although you do have to go through an airport-style security check.

A Christmas market in downtown Copenhagen, with Christiansborg in the background
A Christmas market in downtown Copenhagen, with Christiansborg in the background

I did go to the top of Christiansborg and took a few pictures.  The day was gray and overcast, like many days in November, so I don’t think any of those photographs will win any prizes!  You can see one at the top of this post.

Stay tuned for some more on Copenhagen…and my eventual journey to Sweden!

Posts from the road

Tivoli Gardens

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(Copenhagen, Denmark)

Tivoli Gardens was founded in 1843 and is the second oldest amusement park in the world:  the oldest is nearby in the Danish town of Klampenborg. However, Tivoli (main entrance shown above) is probably the most famous  and apparently served as the inspiration for Disneyland.

Typical scene inside Tivoli Gardens in the Christmas season
Typical scene inside Tivoli Gardens in the Christmas season

I visited Tivoli Gardens on the evening of November 22.  Yes, the days are very short at this time of year (it gets dark around 4:00 p.m.) and it is rather cool, but the park is open anyway.  It closes in September but then reopens for a couple of weeks before Hallowe’en and then again for several weeks before Christmas.

Music and light show at Tivoli Gardens
Music and light show at Tivoli Gardens

The place is lit up “like a Christmas tree”.  In addition to festive music and what must be hundreds of thousands of lights, there are many stalls devoted to seasonal treats and Christmas gifts.  They say that you must have a heart of stone if you visit Tivoli at Christmas and don’t feel at least a little bit of Christmas spirit.

Tivoli Gardens
Tivoli Gardens

Some people visit Tivoli and don’t go on any rides at all.  That’s fine – the atmosphere is fun anyway and the cost structure certainly doesn’t support dabbling in the rides.  It’s best to either ride nothing or to get an unlimited ride pass, as the cost for individual rides is almost criminal.  Still, it didn’t seem right to travel all the way to Denmark and not go on a single ride at Tivoli.

Nimb Hotel inside Tivoli Gardens
Nimb Hotel inside Tivoli Gardens

However, while I enjoy the thrill of downhill skiing, I am not really into deliberately scaring myself.  This ruled out some of the crazier rides at Tivoli.  As I wanted to try at least one ride, I opted for the sedate Ballongyngen Ferris wheel.  It goes back to 1943…but that was still one hundred years after the park first opened!

The Ferris wheel at Tivoli Gardens
The Ferris wheel at Tivoli Gardens

Particularly given the price, the ride was over quickly and I only had time for a couple of photographs of the park.  Then again, I was the only person on the Ferris wheel.  Needless to say, I’ve never been on a Ferris wheel by myself on a dark late November evening with hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights twinkling below.

View from the Ferris wheel at Tivoli Gardens
View from the Ferris wheel at Tivoli Gardens

Keen observers will have noticed that, other than the awesome Hunter’s Pot at the street food market, I really haven’t said that much about Danish food.  That all changed at Tivoli.  I began with a combo of Gløgg and æbleskiver.  Gløgg is basically glühwein (mulled wine), but it was nicely enhanced by raisins and roasted almonds.  It was an excellent choice on a chilly night.

The market area of Tivoli Gardens
The market area of Tivoli Gardens

As for æbleskiver…don’t be put off by the rough-looking name.  These are delicious miniature warm doughnuts, dusted with powdered sugar and served with fruit jam for dipping.  It was a mess and (like the Ferris wheel) it was over far too soon, but I will never hesitate to accept æbleskiver if they are ever offered to me again.

The hut where I bought my æbleskiver
The hut where I bought my æbleskiver

After those sweets, I needed something substantial and savoury.  I found it in the form of a frikadelle sandwich.  This consists of a toasted bun with Danish pork meatballs topped by a mustardy remoulade and pickled red cabbage.  Pickled red cabbage is awesome by itself and I really enjoyed having it on this (once again messy) sandwich.

Stay tuned for more on Copenhagen…including my collaboration with a world-famous artist!

Posts from the road

A Visit to Rosenborg Castle

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(Copenhagen, Denmark)

The first castle I visited in Denmark was the Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød. It goes way, way back in history.  The next castle on my list was Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen (seen from the north entrance above).  While nowhere near as large as Frederiksborg, it was also more “up-to-date” and reflected royal life in the relatively less-distant past.

Rosenborg Castle from the southeast
Rosenborg Castle from the southeast

What surprised me the most about Rosenborg was how much *stuff* the royals had.  The jewels, the knick-knacks, the dishes, the paintings cluttering  up the walls…it all seems to have been kept and even huge castles were not big enough to hold it all.  It was also clear that Asia held a particular fascination for the Danish royal family, as many objects are from Asia and the decor of many rooms can be described as “Asian-inspired”.

The Great Hall at Rosenborg Castle
The Great Hall at Rosenborg Castle

Rosenborg was built as a “pleasure palace” (to quote the brochure) by Christian IV in the early 1600s.  As it turns out, it was no longer used as a residence by the 1700s…instead, it was where the kings placed their most treasured possessions.  It became an actual museum by 1838, so that the public could also see these treasures.

Frederik III's special chair for guests
Frederik III’s special chair for guests

There were a few items that disclosed some personality.  Apparently, Frederik III was a bit of a prankster, as he had a special chair that he would encourage guests to use.  Upon being seated, the guest would be grabbed by clamps hidden in the armrests.  The guest would also be soaked in the seat with water running from a holder in the backrest.  It is difficult to think of any current monarchs who might employ a similar device with their guests.  However, I welcome any clarification from readers who have received such treatment from royalty.

Close-up of the thrones of the king and queen, in the Great Hall
Close-up of the thrones of the king and queen, in the Great Hall

The most impressive room was, not surprisingly, the Great Hall.  It is the best lit room and glitters from the shiny tiles and an abundance of gold and silver.  Silver lions protect the thrones, which themselves are made of narwhal tusk and silver.

Christian IV's crown from 1596
Christian IV’s crown from 1596

I’d have to say that the royal crowns were the most impressive items.  These are under heavy security in the basement treasury but I was still able to take extreme close-up photographs of them.  The most ornate is Christian IV’s crown from 1596.  But, like cars, even crowns can be replaced by lighter and sleeker models.  A subsequent display showed Christian V’s crown from 1671 (which remained in use for nearly two centuries) and the queen’s crown dating from 1731.  These looked like they would be much more comfortable to wear, for those so inclined.

The more modern crowns from 1671 and 1731
The more modern crowns from 1671 and 1731

While history is interesting, one has to be careful about overdoing it while traveling.  To provide some balance, I visited one of the most famous amusement parks in the world that same evening.  All the details are coming up in my next post!