Tak!

Believe it or not, our days have finally come to an end. We are leaving Denmark tomorrow, so this will be my last post for this blog. I still have some packing to do, and also have to get some sleep, so it will be a quick note, but I just wanted to say "thank you" to all my friends and family who have visited my blog. I am not usually good at starting something and sticking to it, but knowing that my friends and family were reading my blog was a huge motivation for me. I know I am not a good writer, and I have probably bored you here and there, but thanks for sticking with me and letting me complete my diary.

Copenhagen is a great city - it is has an efficient and reliable public transportation system, miles of bike lanes, cutting-edge architecture, numerous kid friendly places, top-notch restaurants (though unfortunately we didn't get to experience much this time...), serious focus on the environment, so on and so forth... It has so much to offer.

Anyway, we really had a wonderful time here, and we hope to come back again.

If you are looking for a place to go in the summer, I highly recommend Copenhagen, Denmark!

Thanks again, and bye for now.

Tak!

Little friends...

Our little friends from the Nature Center (see last post).

Mr. Snail

and Mr. Slug (ナメクジ）.

He is about 7-8cm (3 inches) long - huge!

Nature Center in Vestamager

Our days in Copenhagen are almost over, and I have to say I have been to A LOT of parks here, but I was missing one big piece - the Nature Center in Vestamager. It is located just south of where we live, and it is only one bus ride away, so despite the sketchy weather, we decided to check it out.

The nature center is huge - it is about 2,000 hectares or 5,000 acres, and there are so many ways to enjoy this park such as renting a free bike (you will need it to see the whole area!), or camping or riding a pony. One of the first buildings you see in the park was the "children's room", so we went in (of course). It's a pretty small room, and not much to do, but somehow we were there for a while. You could do your own face painting so you could pretend to be a raccoon or a mouse and play in the little "animal house". (Mio wanted pink hearts for some reason.)

It started pouring so we were stuck in that room for a while. But we ran out of things to do, and we decided to run to the cafe, which was fortunately located next door. The cafe was very nice - not what you expect to see at a state-owned facility, but again this is Denmark, so it has to be nice. They even had candles on each table, and on a rainy and cold day like this, they made the place look very cosy. From the huge windows you get an amazing view of the vast meadow - it must be beautiful on a nice sunny day...

We had lunch at the cafe, and were ready to head home. We stepped outside of the cafe, and walked out onto the grassy area to take one last view of the meadow. And what did we see? This!

They were so pretty...

We only got to see and experience a very small part of this huge expanse of wild space (we didn't even get to the playground...), but I would love to come back if we come to Copenhagen again. The whole area surrounding the nature center is going through a major development, and there are so many cool buildings being built. It would be very interesting to see this place in a few years to see how different it looks from now.

Healthy Snacks

It is Monday, and we are back to our weekday routine, which usually means going to a park somewhere. Today, we went to yet another park we had never been. It was pretty close from where we live, and it had a very nice playground. And like most other parks, there were a lot of bikes and tricycles to ride.

When we got there, there was a group of children probably from a nearby preschool accompanied by teachers. They played for a while and it was time for snack, so they were gathered at the picnic table in the park, and started their snack/lunch. The teachers brought the food, and they were distributing it to the children. They each got - one cherry tomato, one carrot stick, and one slice of about 2cm thick slice of cucumber (that was the first round and there were plenty more in the bags if you wanted more.) They also brought some brown rye (?) bread, and cold cut meats like ham, and they put them together and gave a slice each to the children. What a healthy snack! I couldn't help asking them if I could take a picture, because I was just amazed... And they do this everyday.

I have noticed, in general, that the Danish kids eat very healthy snacks. Vegetable sticks and fruit seem like the most common snacks (we adopted the custom a bit but let's see how long it will last...). As a matter of fact, you go to a supermarket, and there are very few "baby/children's snacks" sold, unlike in the US where there is usually a whole isle dedicated for it. Even the adults eat pretty healthy, too. My friend here was saying that she went to a pretty big summer festival where people gather on the big lawn for live music etc., and they didn't sell a single "deep-fried" food, but they had a fruit stand, just selling a lot of real fruit! That is crazy healthy!

Cucumber slices for snacks, anyone?

Andersen Bakery

In the center of the city, across from the Central Station and next to Tivoli Garden is a bakery called Andersen Bakery. For those of you in (from) Tokyo, the name and the logo may look familiar, but it is a "faux-Danish" bakery franchise based in Japan. It originally started in Hiroshima and now has branches in Tokyo and Copenhagen and even in San Francisco. Their bread is pretty good, (not the best), and the bakery is still pretty popular in Japan.

We stopped by on our way to go on our little excursion on Saturday. Because of the location, and because it was a Saturday morning, the bakery was very busy. They have pretty much the same kind of breads you will find in most bakeries here, but they also have some Japanese speciality breads like "cream bread"(クリームパン）- a soft bun with custard cream filling and "melon bread"（メロンパン）- a soft sweet bread topped with a cookie dough layer. I got them both for Mio, and she was so excited as she was probably getting tired of the hard and chewy brown rye bread or the super flaky danishes, and misses the soft and sweet bread that she is familiar with... (we can get them in NY as well). Jonathan got his usual frøsnapper, and I got my usual thebirke, both of which were also pretty good.

I think it is impressive that they do good business here where there are so many good local bakeries to compete with. While I have not come across any review saying their bread is exceptionally good, I have read in quite a few travel guides and on the internet that they have the best hotdogs in Copenhagen. That is pretty amazing, right? I would love to try one before we leave, but I don't know if I will get to as we only have 5 days left. Oh well, if it doesn't happen, we will save it for the next time...

Last Day of Class

It was last day of class for Jonathan today. After his morning class, we had an appointment to have lunch with the coordinator of Jonathan's school's program. And we had another appointment in the afternoon to go over to Jonathan's co-teacher, Bo's house. The semester is surely coming to an end...

After the lunch, we had a little bit of time before heading to Bo's, so we went into Hay House, yet another gorgeous interior design store that sells a beautiful selection of latest Danish furniture and homewares. We didn't have enough time there and we definitely have to go back before we leave.

Then we took the bus to Bo's house. His lives just north of Copenhagen, in a charming former fisher village, which is now quite an exclusive residential area. His house was beautiful with a lot of nice details. And he served us this pretty and delicious raspberry cake which we ate outside with coffee in Royal Copenhagen tableware. What a perfect Danish setting... We had a wonderful time. Thank you so much, Bo!

On our way to the bus stop, we stopped by at the Skovshoved Hotel, which is just a few minute walk from his house. It is a really lovely hotel - just a three-story small hotel, but rated one of the 50 hottest hotels by Condé Nast. Bo showed us inside, as he knew the people there, and we couldn't stop admiring how beautiful it was. We would love to come back at least to have a meal at the restaurant in the hotel.

We leave Denmark a week from today...

A Day Trip - to Sweden

Jonathan had a day off, so we decided to go to Malmö for the day, the third-largest city in Sweden located in the southern tip of the country. It is just over a 30 minute ride on the train from Copenhagen's Central Station. The train goes over Öresund Bridge, an almost 8km long bridge (the longest bridge in Europe) that takes you across the ocean.

We got to Malmö in no time, and after lunch, which was not so great, we started exploring the city. There were beautiful squares, waterfronts, parks, and historic buildings, and vibrant pedestrian streets with shops. It was very walkable, and a little bit like Copenhagen but in a smaller scale. We totally enjoyed our stroll.

Not only Malmö is beautiful, but it is also known for its sustainability. Apparently, Malmö is one of the most sustainable cities in the world. They already have a district that runs on 100% renewable energy, and by 2030, the whole city will run on 100% renewable energy. That is pretty impressive.

After walking around the city center, we found a nice playground by the beautiful library, and let Mio play there a bit, and took the train back to Copenhagen. Unfortunately I don't have a "proof" that I have been to Sweden, as you don't need a passport to go to Malmö. Oh well. It was a fun day trip.

Driving in Fælledparken

Today, we went to the "Traffic Playground" at Fælledparken, which is the largest park in Copenhagen. The park is located next to the National Stadium, and it's a large park with a wide open space perfect for picnic. At the traffic playground, there was a miniature road course with lanes, traffic lights, signs, gas station and even a bike lane. And there were many karts which you pedal to move (like a tricycle).

Several weeks ago when we went to the mall, Mio had the opportunity to ride one of those go-karts where you step on the accelerate button to start the car. Well, Mio got on by herself, and when the car started moving, she immediately started screaming because the speed totally scared her, and because she was screaming and not steering, the car kept moving and she crashed into the wall and she screamed even harder. It was a terrifying experience for her... But today, she was in control. The cars were meant to be for kids aged over 5, so it was a little bit hard for her and I had to push her most of the time, but she had a good time trying something new.

After the park, we met up with Jonathan for our almost "daily" ice cream. We were back in the city center, and we decided to go into Illum Bolighus. According to my travel guide, this might well be the store to go "if you only have time for one store in Copenhagen". The book was right. They had top-notch contemporary interior design, beautiful house ware items, furniture, clothes, jewelry, etc... There were too many things I wanted to get. I LOVE this rug pictured below (click the photo to enlarge). It is a rug with these small colorful felted balls strung together. I've seen these at Louisiana Museum and a few other places. It's a "happy" rug that makes you smile... :)

A Dip in the Harbor

One thing we wanted to do while we are here, was to go swimming in the harbor. There is a public swimming facility called the harbor bath right on the water in the area called Islands Brygge. Since it opened in 2002, it has become a very popular spot for Copenhageners to come to relax in the summer.

We haven't been able to go because of the poor weather, but today, it was sunny and warm, and we actually felt like taking a dip in the water. When we got there around three in the afternoon, it was packed with sun bathers. There are five pools of which two are for children, and of course that's where we went.

The pool was, as you can see in the pictures, green. That's because of the algae growing, and the steps (ladder?) to go into the pool, and the bottom of the pool were a bit slimy and slippery. But everybody knows the water is clean, and nobody seemed to mind. The water was very cold, but once you get used to it, it was fine (I still didn't want to get wet above my shoulders though...).

Yuto enjoyed his first swimming pool, and kept wanting to go back even though his lips started to shiver. And Mio? She was really excited before we got here (she got ready very quickly), but once she saw the water and felt how cold it was, she did not want to go in. Oh well, this may be our only visit then. But at least we came and enjoyed the summer day like the Copenhageners do.