It’s Gonna be a Bright Briiight Sunshine-y Day!

I’ve decided that coffee shop blogging is where it’s at. Right now, I’m enjoying the most delicious chai tea latte I’ve ever had, and listening to super-chill lounge music. There are people chatting all around me, but seeing as I can’t understand anything that they’re saying – I can just zone out and focus on the task at hand.  I’m not sure if I’ll ever blog from my boring old desk again!

This past week has been lovely- full of the usual culinary experiments, Skype chats with my favourite people back in Canada-land, adventures with Sarita, and fun with my kitchen-mates.

Astrid and I made some delicious spring rolls (minus the diced paneer), using this recipe here.

Spring rolls, ready to be cooked

On Tuesday night, we had a Tietgen Cafe downstairs in the party hall. Instead of the usual late nights, loud music, drinking and dancing, we met at a very dignified 8 PM for tea, coffee and board games. It was really sweet, and I couldn’t believe the turn-out — it was a full house! I went down with a few of my kitchen-mates, and we played foosball and then a Danish version of Trivial Pursuit….. from 1982. I would like to extend a heartfelt apology to my kitchen-mate and foosball partner Søren – I am the worst foosball player EVER, really sorry about that.

Foosball @ Tietgen. Girls vs. guys - who do you think won?

However, despite being in Danish, I think I redeemed myself during the Trivial Pursuit component of the evening. Even though some of the questions were incredibly hard, and/or incredibly irrelevant in this day and age, some of the questions were quite easy considering it’s 2012 — for example “What district in the USA is a major player in the film industry?” Hmm…

For additional amusement and an added challenge, sometimes I read the question out-loud to the opposing team in my tragic Danish.

Trivial Pursuit - Astrid and Jonathan are clearly mystified by attempts in Danish

A couple nights later I was struck by the urge to make some delicious Morning Glory muffins. I used this recipe here, minus the walnuts (too expensive), half the oil, and I also added some orange zest.

Thanks to Søren and Agnethe for the loan of these colourful muffin cups!

Morning Glory Muffins

Have I mentioned that I’m a bit of a messy cook?

Muffin-baking aftermath

Sarita and I went to a really cool (and by cool I mean free) cocktail event on Friday night hosted by a company called AirBnb. My good friends at Wikipedia say that Airbnb is “an online service that matches people seeking vacation rentals and other short-term accommodations with those with rooms to rent, generally private parties that are not professional hoteliers. In July 2011, the company had over 100,000 listings in 16,000 cities and 186 countries. Listings include private rooms, entire apartments, castles, boats, manors, tree houses, tipis, igloos, private islands and other properties.”

Pretty cool, right? Because I’ve booked an apartment in Vienna, and another one in Berlin for when my sweetheart comes to visit, I received an invitation to a free cocktail event that AirBnb was hosting in Copenhagen. We enjoyed free drinks, appetizers and travel vouchers, and we met lots of really interesting people. Unfortuantely I didn’t snap any pictures of the cocktail bar, but check out the website if you’re interested! My trips are booked for May, so I can’t actually recommend this company/website yet, but I’ll let you know what my experience is!

Later in the evening we made our way over to the super trendy Meatpacking District ( in Danish it’s Kødbyen, which literally means “the meat-town”). [Insert dirty joke here.]

Kødbyen

And here are some blurry pics I took of the different bars – you get the idea. Kødbyen is hipster-central. That’s all you really need to know.

Kødbyen

Kødbyen

Sunday was a wonderfully relaxing day (as every good Sunday should be!) – Sarita and I bought croissants and went and sat by the canal at sunny Kongens Nytorv, along with 10,000 other people who had the same idea. It was actually pretty funny – Kongens Nytorv is quite a touristy area, and there are lots of cafes and restaurants situated along the canal – it was interesting to see all the wealthy people sitting in the patio areas on the left enjoying expensive appetizers and drinks, and all the poor/young people (like us) sitting on the ground on the right with croissants from 7-11, and other cheap street-food. Such a clear division.

We went for a walk along the water, and saw the Little Mermaid again – this time in the sunshine!

Little Mermaid! (Photo is strangely cropped so I can pretend it was just me and the mermaid, and not me, the mermaid, and a couple dozen other tourists with giant cameras!

Sunshine?! In Copenhagen? Time to break out the enormous sunglasses!

What a gorgeous day!

On Monday night, it was my turn again to help cook our kitchen’s common dinner. I cooked with the other Laura in our kitchen (this is also why I’m know as Laura C./Laura Canada! ) and we made four enormous and delicious lasagnas!

Check out that rainbow of peppers! Our lasagnas were heavy on the vegetables in order to keep costs down. Oh, and to be healthy of course.

Lasagna Success!

Now that the days are getting sunnier and longer, I’m determined to start doing some more sight-seeing. Classes are cancelled next week for Easter break, so I’m going to have even more time than usual to go exploring.

Tomorrow I’m going to take the train to Helsingør, better known as Elsinore in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

Take care!

- Laura

PS. And if you’re wondering about the title of this blog entry, it’s because this song has been stuck in my head for days! Must be this strange thing they call sunshine…?

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sunshine-y day
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sunshine-y day

Beaches, Coffee, and Soothing Electro Experiences

I soothed my soul this week.

With electro music.

While lying on the floor a church, staring at mesmerizing moving images projected up on the ceiling.

And just for the record – this was a totally drug-free experience, I swear!

It’s been a wonderful week here in Copenhagen. After months of gloomy, rainy, and cold weather, we’re starting to have a few beautiful sunny days! Seeing as my BFF Sarita abandoned me in CPH for an exotic week-long vacation in Bulgaria with her love —  I was left completely to my own devices. Here’s a snapshot of what I got up to this week!

There was, of course, a grocery shopping adventure. (Somehow I managed to cram all of these groceries into the front basket on my bike – it made the basket so heavy though, that it was pretty hard to turn the handlebars on the ride home — oops!).

Check out that enormous package of ginger! A staple in my cooking these days.

And here is a delicious meal that followed…

Pesto- cream cheese chicken, mashed potatoes and salad

I have a bit of an apple obsession these days – thanks to someone who lives two floors below me. Baked apples are a delicious and healthy dessert – but they’re not for the impatient (you have to bake them in the oven after all!). But here’s an easy and delicious short-cut: slice up an apple into bite-sized pieces, toss into a pot on the stove with a bit of butter, add some (or copious amounts) of cinnamon and a bit of brown sugar if desired, and cook for about 5 – 10 minutes. Serve over greek yogurt, or with a bit of vanilla soymilk. Delicious! I’ve already hooked a couple of my kitchen-mates on this positively scrumptious (who doesn’t like that word!?) dish – and I’m sure it’ll become a Tietgen phenomenon any day now.

Apples and cinnamon with vanilla soymilk

This week for my Danish Architecture and Urban Planning class, I had to take myself on a self-guided excursion to Amager Strandpark, or Amager Beach Park as it’s known in English. Because I live in Amager,  this beach park was only about 15 minutes away by bike! Unfortunately I picked a really gloomy day to go there, but on the plus side, I had the beach all to myself! Apparently it gets absolutely packed during the summer months.

Amager Strandpark

Fleur - my trusty steed

A couple of days ago I went to a really funky cafe by Kongens Nytorv to meet a new friend for coffee. Freya is a lovely Australian girl who actually came to Copenhagen on exchange a few years ago – she fell in love with the city and the people (or at least with a certain one!) and now she’s back to live here permanently! Freya and I actually met through this blog, which I think serves as proof that you can meet non-serial-killers on the internet!

When I was walking down this street on the way to the cafe, I definitely had one of those pinch-me-I-can’t-believe-I’m-actually-in-Europe moments! Something about this particular street- the narrowness, the uneven cobblestones, the textures, the coloured buildings- it’s just beautiful!

Nybrogade, on the way to the cafe

I really love this building.

Nybrogade

Nybrogade

I met Freya at Cafe Retro, and we talked for hours while enjoying these delicious lattes.

I love the little blue flowered plate!

Cafe Retro is actually a non-profit cafe – the baristas are volunteers, and the cafe sends all profits to India and Africa. Learn more about Cafe Retro here.

Cafe Retro- Copenhagen

While Freya and I were chatting, she mentioned that there was a really cool event happening in Copenhagen that evening, and she invited me to go with her.

Her description of the event: It was called ChurChill, it only happens a couple times a year, and it was happening at a church across town this evening. What we would do is go inside, lie on mattresses on the floor, and listen to electro music while looking up at the ceiling.

My answer? Yes! (Really, could there be a more interesting Friday night activity?)

I quickly biked home to Tietgen, did another awesome BodyPump class with Astrid, and then jumped on the metro to meet Freya.

Once we found the church, we were greeted by a priest (father? pastor?) at the door, and invited inside. Freya and I arrived pretty early, so we were able to grab a prime spot on the floor.

Photo Credit: Freya

So – for a couple hours we zoned out on the floor, listened to soothing electro music, and gazed at crazy images on the ceiling.

ChurChill at Brorsons Church. Photo Credit: Freya

One of the many images projected on the ceiling. Photo Credit: Freya

ChurChill Photo Credit: Freya

On the way out, we were treated to some free hot chocolate and freshly baked buns at the door. It was such a unique experience, and I felt that my soul had been 100% soothed.

The next day Sarita came home! I took her back to the sweet coffee shop that Freya showed me, and on the way home we happened to stumble upon the St. Patrick’s Day parade!

St. Patrick's Day Parade

St. Parade's Day Parade

St. Patrick's Day Parade

So happy that this one is home!

Check out those Bulgarian ski-slope induced tan-lines on Sarita!

I’m off to the fruit and vegetable market. Have a wonderful week!

- Laura

The Solo Girl’s Guide to Cruising in Norway + The Royal Danish Ballet

So. I went on a cruise.

By myself.

And actually, it was fantastic!

Last month, on a whim, I booked a 2 night mini-cruise from Copenhagen, Denmark to Oslo, Norway. Check out my tips below so that if you, too, find yourself in this somewhat strange situation, you can have an equally amazing cruise experience!

1) Not only are you flying solo – you’re kinda poor. (C’mon, you booked this cruise because it was 79% off on Groupon.dk!) So, before you depart, grab a (reusable) bag and hit up the cheapest grocery store in your area. Locate and purchase the essentials. Fruit, vitamin water, Pringles, chocolate and croissants. Check!

Cruisin' Essentials.

2) Make conversation with fellow cruise passengers on the bus. I met a really nice older Norwegian man who told me the perfect time to see the fjords in the morning, and also reassured me that the sailing would be very calm. Yessss!

3) Grab a map. Assume all navigational responsibility. You’re gonna be on your own, sister!

Map of Oslo, Norway

4) Board vessel and survey your assigned sleeping quarters. Have a small panic attack. Vow to spend as little time in this window-less room as possible. Hey, at least you’re above sea-level! Whew!

Interior Room on board the Crown of Scandinavia

5) Purchase a Starbucks-equivalent  latte from Barresso for $5.75 CAD, and enjoy the view. Contemplate life. Also contemplate rapidly decreasing bank account.

Latte on board the Crown of Scandinavia

6) Enjoy a Pringle and fruit dinner (the prices at the restaurants on board were outrageously expensive!)

Ready to depart CPH

7) Fall into a blissful, Gravol-sedated sleep (The Gravol was actually not necessary, the sailing was so calm!)

8) Wake up in beautiful Oslo, Norway!

I disembarked from the Crown of Scandinavia at precisely 9:30 AM. I spent the next few hours wandering around Oslo, and checking out the sights. Here are some of my pictures!

Oslo

Oslo

Oslo

Oslo Opera House- you can walk on the roof!

The Crown of Scandinavia. In the foreground is a very cool art installation called She Lies - made of stainless steel and glass panels.

View of Oslo from the roof of the Opera House

The beautiful National Theatre building

The Royal Palace (currently undergoing construction)

Later in the afternoon I stopped for a latte at a sweet little coffee bar called Steam.

Steam- Oslo, Norway

Steam- Oslo, Norway

At around 3:30 PM I walked back to the DFDS terminal and checked in again.

Oslo

Goodbye freezing cold Oslo!

Oslo at sunset

The ride home was smooth, and I actually slept really well! I had purchased a book earlier in the day in Oslo, so I spent most of the evening sitting on a higher deck (that actually had windows- yay!) reading, and eating grapes and Pringles. All part of a nutritious and delicious cruise-y diet, I say! Haha.

We docked in Copenhagen on Tuesday morning at 9:30 AM, and I had quite a busy day. After “unpacking” (throwing my clothes on the floor) I headed off to my Danish Architecture and Urban Planning class, and then immediately afterwards had dinner and then went out to see the Royal Danish Ballet! Sarita and I had booked tickets a few weeks ago through the University of Copenhagen’s Political Science department – we got an amazing deal, only 75 kr ($13 CAD)! The performance was called Dans2Go and was in three parts – two popular ballets as well as a pas de deux (whatever that is, I’m pretty sure it was the classical two person piece in the middle ) My favourite part of the evening was the last piece - Flemming Flindt’s The Lesson, a psychological masterpiece about a sadistic ballet instructor. It was dark and creepy – but so powerful!

The theatre was gorgeous -

Royal Danish Theatre

The company was excellent -

Ballet enthusiasts

And the dancing was amazing -

Royal Danish Ballet

Just another wonderful weekend in Copenhagen.

- Laura

Culinary Delights in CPH + Tour des Chambres

The other day, a certain someone mentioned to me that he thought I’d been neglecting this blog a little bit. I want you to know that this is simply not true, in fact, I’d be more than happy to show you what I’ve been doing eating in Copenhagen lately. Okay, maybe that wouldn’t make for the most interesting blog post, but let’s start with that, and then move to the main event- the Tour des Chambres! (My rusty French tells me that it should be Tour de Chambre, and Wikipedia agrees, but using the extra s’s is more widespread when referring to this Danish tradition).

Last week I was struck by the urge to make wonton soup from scratch. Wonton creation is a bit of a labour intensive process, but luckily I have amazing kitchen-mates, so it became more of a communal event. I made the dough, Astrid rolled it out, Sarita dealt with the meat for the filling, and together, we filled and wrapped the wontons. Perfect system!

Sarita and Astrid

The wonton soup was delicious! I highly recommend both of the recipes I used. If you’re interested, you can find the recipe for the wontons here, and for the wonton wrappers here. And for my North American readers, be thankful you don’t have to translate those recipes into deciliters. Ugh.

Wontons- ready to be boiled!

A few days later, and following a late night, a few of us decided to have a impromptu common dinner – “American-style”. Woohoo! Luckily we had a genuine American in the kitchen to help keep us on track.

Evan the Amerikaner and Astrid - check out those burgers!

Here’s a shot of Wednesday’s Thai inspired meal- it’s basically green curry, but with a few extra additions (like potatoes). Delicious!

Thai Green Curry

Last week I came up with a ridiculous AMAZING idea- I was going to become what they call a “morning person”. I know, I know- the words make my stomach turn too. Hahah. Anyways, one morning my neighbour, Vedran, and I got up and met in the kitchen at the crack of dawn (okay, it was 7:30 AM) and went to the gym. I’ve been avoiding official “gym-going” for the past couple of months and instead I’ve doing lots of biking, walking, and lugging my groceries around-  but, since the gym is literally 15 seconds from where I live, I decided to go for it, plus, they offer spin classes- which I’ve always really enjoyed. So- we made it to the gym, and I did my spin class – which, unfortunately, I wasn’t terribly impressed with. The gym that’s around the corner from us here at Tietgen is fairly new and strives to be “low-cost” – so most of the classes they offer don’t have live instructors, they’re video-classes. The classes with live instructors cost an extra 9 kroner ($1.50 CAD) and don’t run very often, whereas the video-instructor led classes are at no extra cost, and run all the time. Anyways, the video-instructor wasn’t terribly engaging, the music was quiet —  it was kind of like spinning to amped-up elevator music…. still, I was up early and felt super-productive for the rest of the day!

The next day the same neighbour and I decided that hitting the gym two days in a row was pretty ridiculous, but thought that we would get up early and go for coffee instead. At 7:00 AM. Yeah. The coffee run was a bit of a bust (it was cold, dark, and it turns out nothing is actually open before 8:30 or 9 AM anyways). However, I went for a nice, peaceful walk around town, and ended up stumbling across Rosenborg Slot/Rosenborg Castle – originally built as a country summerhouse in 1606, and used as a royal residence until 1710. I can’t wait to go back to the beautiful gardens in the springtime.

Rosenborg Slot, Copenhagen

On Friday afternoon, Astrid and I hit up a BodyPump class at the gym. BodyPump is a group fitness class offered through Les Mills, a massive New Zealand company that exports its fitness classes to over 14,000 clubs across 80 countries. Sadly, I don’t think we have Les Mills in Victoria, because it was a blast. Check it out! It was pretty much exactly like that, minus the massively- muscled men. Great music, an awesome instructor, and an incredible workout!

And then we…… made cinnamon snails and played Bop? Let me tell you, it was a rockin’ Friday night. A couple of Astrid’s friends from another kitchen also came up and joined us.

Cinnamon Buns from scratch. They are called Cinnamon Snails here, which is really a much more accurate description.

Bop- A childhood game of many Danes and Swedes. I have significantly improved my Bop skills since I first played a couple of weeks ago.

Okay- and now for the main event, the Tour des Chambres! TDC is a tradition for residents of kollegiums. The purpose of TDC is to get to know your kitchen-mates, see each other’s rooms, play ridiculous games, and just have a good time. The date of our TDC was decided on at least a month and a half ago- it’s a pretty big deal. Each resident has to come up with a theme for their room, a game, and a drink. Each kitchen has 12 rooms… so you can see that the night can get pretty crazy. We had a pre-TDC pizza dinner, and then we drew names to see in what order we’d be touring the rooms. From what I’ve learned, no-one wants to be the first room (awkward?) or the last room (messy!). I was feeling pretty good about my placement- I was the fourth room.

And so the night began!

Blindfolded, we tried to find hidden balloons, without tripping over strings and bells, while being instructed by our guide. (The girls won!)

In teams, we tasted red wine, and tried to figure out which glass of wine was from the 30 kr, 50kr and 100 kr bottle. (The other Laura and I won!)

Blind wine-tasting

We boxed, also blindfolded, and tried to step on each other’s balloons. (Guys won)

We entered Candyland (my room) and had a donut-eating race while listening to Aqua’s Candyman. Yes!! And points for authenticity, Aqua is definitely Danish!

We wore plastic grocery bags as clothing, and had a grocery race, running around the kitchen, frantically searching for the required grocery items (Team Fakta won!)

We visited the “hospital” and “bandaged” our kitchen-mates.

We jumped on rafts in the jungle and played “name that song”. (Girls won!)

We strategized with Lego..

And we danced and played Twister in the 70s disco room!

All in all, an amazing night!

Now if you’ll excuse me… I have some donuts to remove from my ceiling.

- Laura