Copenhagen mini break - what I did and how I did it

Copenhagen twice in on year. Hadn't realised that until it was pointed out to me....but this time was more of a chance to experience it in summer - indulge, hang out and live like a local.

I stayed in a wonderful Airbnb in Frederiksberg, full of Danish design and great for inner city living. Close enough to walk to most places, but great for riding. Like Gothenburg, they have Donkey Republic bikes here too - so I could rent a bike for the whole time I was in town.

First stop the food markets, Torvehallerne, one of my favourite places in the whole world. Fresh local produce, food made by ex Noma chefs, caramels, microbreweries....a great place to shop, eat and while a way a few hours.  Dinner sorted and first night a relaxing evening in planning the next 48 hours.

Time to pick up a bike and head out to check out some thrift stores, galleries and shops. Highly recommended is Design Zoo http://www.dzoo.dk . It's a treasure trove of beautiful designers full of furniture, homewares and jewellery. 

GL Strand is a great gallery to visit and I was lucky enough to see a Tove Jansson (artist who created Moomin characters) exhibition. The streets a block away from the canal are full of antique shops, little designer boutiques and cobblestone walkways. Start at Kompagnistraede and then make your way to 48 Gammel Strand for the gallery.

I'd booked a table at Baest for dinner and was not disappointed. I chose the multi course option which is basically them just feeding you a bunch of highlights from their menu. Way too much food but an absolute delight. Highly recommended and more on that later: http://baest.dk/en/

Sunday is perfect for bike rides, coffees and flea markets. The Coffee Collective has branches around town and check out the internet for seasonal flea markets. I visited a great one in Frederiksberg and ended up with a pile of great Danish cutlery...as you do. 

Lunch at Relae - more refined fancy restaurant from the people who run Baest http://www.restaurant-relae.dk/en/ and more flea markets around the beautiful old cemetery park.

One final bike ride to Vesterbro for some wonderful beers at Mikkeller, one of the best places in the world to drink beer: http://mikkeller.dk

Copenhagen - let's see if we can make it a trifecta this year. One of my favourite cities in the world. 

The town with the unpronounceable name...Jönköping

Turns our holidays in Sweden are fun. Also turns out that Swedish folk are really polite and it took about the 17th time of me mispronouncing Jönköping to understand how really awesome they are. "Oh you are pretty close" they'd say...oh I really wasn't.

So Jönköping is about a two hour train ride from Gothenburg - or about 3 and half hours if you think the train you are on is going straight to that destination and you don't get off. 

Once you sort all that out, it's an easy place to visit. I actually stayed in a little town about a 20 minute bus ride away. Hot tip with that, if you also pick the very same Airbnb, go buy all the groceries you need first. Also download the really handy local bus app. The taxi was really expensive, the bus is cheap and goes there often.  Other hot tip. You can't buy alcohol over 3% at Swedish supermarkets. If you want to get liquored up, go to one of the government bottle shops and buy some booze.

I can highly recommend Jönköping for a relaxing few days. Maybe go more around the warmer months - the water is beautiful, but bracing at the start of Autumn.

Gothenburg - what I did and how I did it

Stayed at the Hotel Pigalle. Small dark, boutique hotel...think flocked wallpaper, dark velvet and general plush. Best breakfast I've had anywhere - hotel not hotel. I don't know if it is a China thing, but the cheese, the smoked meat, the unpasteurized butter...
http://www.hotelpigalle.se/

Want a snack to pass you over from airplane food to dinner? Gourmetkorv (Sodra Larmgatan 6 gourmetkorv.se) is a hole in the wall and is like manna from heaven for a gal living in Asia. Best wurst since Austria... a Kaprunner wurst no less. Authentic sides too. Potato salad just like Mutti's.

Now the food is sorted, go see some sites. Gothenburg Art Museum mixes the old with the new. Contemporary works feature in the attached gallery. At the time of my visit a wonderful exhibition on Gaza. The rest of the gallery holds Gothenburg's collection with each room a well curated mixed of Swedish art and French classic juxtaposed with the new. Goteborgs Konstmuseum (Gotaplatsen; konstmuseum.goteborg.se )

First dinner in Sweden? Mexican of course. Putas Madras has the best range of tequila in Europe and made the best margarita known to man. Tasting menu was perfect - a great mix of fresh contemporary Mexican fare.

Day 2: There's nothing like seeing a city by bike. Download Donkey Republic and you'll be set to go. Head to any of the DaMatteos open and grab a coffee and then hit the road.

Haga is a beautiful neighborhood filled with cobblestone streets, antique shops and cafes. Some ridiculously breakable purchases later and then it was off to the beautiful Gothenburg Botanic Gardens. Green space to sooth the soul.

Gothenburg is a harbour town so a ride to the harbour right all the way to Roda Stens was a must - the gallery was closed as they were preparing for an exhibition but it's s great spot to stop for a restorative IPA and then a cycle home.

Dinner at the Barn seems to be a must do in Gothenburg. The place was pumping on a Sunday night. Burgers and fries but with a Swedish twist, great service and they make their own beer. Make a booking!

Day 3: Catch a ferry and head out of town. I went to Styrsö. When you get off the ferry grab a map - there is a box just outside the cafe to the right. I didn't...but fortuitously stumbled across a sublime walk through coves of gentle lapping water.

Ferry back for fika at DaMatteos - sitting under the bright blue sky in the sun eating a Swedish cinnamon bun. Heart sings.

Last night drinks on the terrace at the hotel followed by dinner at Atelier (also at hotel but conveniently highly recommended).

Gothenburg: the perfect tonic for a relaxing few days.

All the things

On this trip and with my time in China sort of in its last hurrahs.... I've been thinking of all the things I'll do back in Canberra. More so how I'll do things differently. 

More walks in the park, more cheeky beers after work. Less screen time, less work time. More fresh flowers and more fresh air. Less time wasting and more doing. More movies and weekends away. More friends and more family (both related and by less genetic definition).

Slow roasted deliciousness

This recipe was modified from a bunch of different recipes - so lets just go with the following as tested, easy and tasty.

Get a slab of pork (well seasoned) and brown in some butter and olive. While it is browning (about 8 minutes or so) chop up a small onion and mince garlic. Add to pork and stir.

After a few minutes add some smoked paprika (about a teaspoon), some hot sauce (about a tablespoon), extra salt, pepper and a glass of wine or two (I mixed white and red). Bring to boil and add a tin of tomatoes (and fennel seeds if you have some). Place in an ovenproof dish like a clay pot (or if your started this shebang in a dutch oven extra points to you) 

In your heated oven (180) cook the crap out of the pork for about 3 - 4 hours. Check it every hour so that the sauce has not evaporated away and turn every hour.

Take it out of the oven and watch it fall apart in the most delightful way. Served with pasta after adding in extra slow cooked tomatoes and parsley. Or just eat a big slab of meat with polenta.

Old Fashion Bar

What a view, and cute deckchairs with an outlook onto the Guangzhou Opera House, astro turf, a cooling fan and even more cooling cocktails. 

Potential new hang - Old Fashion Bar. Perfect place to drown your sorrows when lamenting your decision to let a bunch of Germans steal your dog. I can recommend the Singapore Sling and the great company c/o my friend on the 19th floor.

Now the dog has returned, I can see this being to type of place to celebrate with your canine friend. I'm not sure of opening hours or address, but head to underground part of the Guangzhou Opera house and head towards the square.

Go slow, slow go

Sometimes life sneaks up on you doesn't it? I don't know, even here you can get into a rut of same old same old. Sometimes you don't realise how stressed you are, or happy (or unhappy for that matter) you're feeling.  And sometimes you don't realise how lucky you are.

It's funny because here life is both really easy and really hard. I don't for a minute take for granted how fortunate I am, but unless you live it, it's difficult to fathom just how isolated and rudderless you can feel. So much is just out of your control and there is not much you can do about it.

But in all of that also comes reflection and the realisation a bunch of folks near and far have got your back. In China some of those people are just a few floors or a mobike away -  others a call or an instant message away. Some of those people of late have saved my sanity. Proper.

And the good thing in all that (aside from the sanity saving) is that when I get back I'll have an extra posse of people in my corner - China folk (and peeps beyond) who will be there when all of this is done and that ain't bad.