A Visit from the Schers

Lori and Eddie (Zac's aunt and uncle) stopped by Copenhagen to visit us after their amazing Northern Lights cruise around Norway! We spent two action-packed days with them and had a total blast.

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On Tuesday, Zac and I took the day off work and rode the train into Copenhagen to meet them for coffee. I suggested La Cabra because it was near their hotel and that coffee shop is supposed to have excellent cardamom buns (a very Danish thing). We hugged, we smiled, we shared fantastic cardamom buns, and we heard all about their cruise. It was so nice to catch up a little and see their faces in person.

Lori had planned a Copenhagen food tour led by a local Dane from Frederiksberg, so after coffee, we walked to our meeting place. I have become a big fan of any tour led by locals - I've done two in the last year (Christiania and Segovia), and I thought both of them were so informative and unique. I think tours by locals just give you a slightly different view of things than you would get just leading yourself around to places with good reviews online.

Claudio met us right on time. He was born and raised in Denmark but has a Danish mother and an Italian father (or was it the other way around?), so he loves food and the story behind food.

Our first stop was St. Peders Bageri in the Latin Quarter, the oldest bakery in the city. He told us about the history of the bakery, how different pastries got their names, and the love that the city has for the head baker and the shop itself. We sampled tebirke, which are Danish pastries made with butter dough and topped with poppyseeds. We all agreed we would've looked right over this boring-looking pastry, but it was delicious (and to my surprise, had a very "wienerbrød" flavor, and if you've been reading my posts, you know how much I love wienerbrød).

Our happy crew in front of St Peders Bageri

Next stop was a small sandwich shop that offers hand-held smørrebrød, which are just small versions of the Danish open-faced sandwiches that many people eat for lunch. It's a slice of Danish rye bread layered with either dinner leftovers, lunch meats, remoulade, crispy onions, pickled cucumbers, tuna salad, or other random things. We sampled one that had a chicken salad on top. Claudio described the Danes' quest for "the perfect bite" containing all the flavors and textures at once, so many of the pre-prepared smørrebrød sandwiches have sweet, savory, crunchy, sour, chewy, and salty elements to them. The crunchy part of ours came from a piece of baked chicken skin, kind of like a chip, placed on top of the chicken salad pile, and then there were pickled red onions and sprouts on top. They were very good, and I've never eaten hand-held size smørrebrød before, so it was a nice experience.

Smørrebrød stop!

After our little bites, we went to a restaurant for elderflower refreshers and to a hot dog cart for Danish hot dogs (without the meat for Lori and Eddie). The Danish hot dogs are different because they make these very red-looking wieners, put them on a bun, and cover them in diced fresh onions, French-fried onions, remoulade, and pickled cucumbers. Admittedly, we have visited these carts a couple of times since moving here but we always just ask for plain hotdogs with like ketchup or mustard on them. They are SO much better with all of the things on top. We've been doing it wrong.

As we walked from place to place, we talked about the history of the city, its foundation, special design elements that have been incorporated to manage flooding, architecture, fires, the old city walls, the expansion of the city beyond the walls, and elements of Danish culture.

We found ourselves in Gary Monks Square surrounded by colorful buildings, benches, and people just out enjoying their day. There used to be a monastery there and the monks wore gray robes, hence the name. We learned about the story of Corfitz Ulfeldt and how he was basically a traitor who got banned from the country. He had a mansion there, but the tore it down and erected a pillar of shame that people could spit on to express their disgust with the traitor. They took it down and just put a plaque stone in its place now, and I think the pillar is in the museum.

We ducked down a little pathway behind some buildings and visited a site familiar to me - Sømods Bolcher! (During my first ever visit to Copenhagen, we visited this candy shop, recommended by a colleague, and watched them make the candy in front of us. It was really interesting, but I have not been back in over a decade.) Sømods Bolcher is a very traditional old-fashioned candy store. Lori and Eddie had fun joking that the type of candy in the jars was the kind you used to see when you visited the homes of your grandparents. It would be hard and all stuck together, and nothing that kids really wanted.

Fortunately, we were all able to sample a candy of our choice. They have candies in all the popular flavors, different licorice-flavored candies, and pretty mixes. Lori and I tried Pink Panther, which was a combination of raspberry and black licorice (delicious). Zac had a hawthorn candy, and Eddie tried (oh no! I can't remember!).

They were not making any candy when we went into the shop, but you could see they were preparing for the next round. They do it several times a day.

Our final stop was the Torvehallerne, a big hall housing a food market. Throughout our tour, Claudio had been telling us about the concept of New Nordic food. Essentially, the old recipes and Nordic recipes have become overshadowed by travel and trade and the influence of foods from other cultures - you can go to Copenhagen and get foods from around the world! A team of chefs began reimagining Nordic foods and recipes, creating delicious dishes that appeal to all the senses and initiating a kind of revival of Danish and Nordic cuisine. They built a food lab for chefs from all over to come experiment with new recipes, they went out into nature and found berries and plants from the local flora that hadn't been used in foods before, and they ended up winning a bunch of fantastic awards for the dishes they created.

The food hall houses a lot of things and we got to sample from around the different stalls. We had frikadellers, the Danish pork meatballs that I have talked about before, but these were made with fish rather than pork, so fiskefrikadellers, dipped in a house-made remoulade. We sampled amber chocolates at Summerbird, tried Danish gin, Danish gin liqueur, an elderflower-infused wine, and wine gummies. We ate savory porridge baked into delicious tiny patties and dipped in a savory sauce, and drank a variety of beers from Mikkeler.

It was such a good tour. Even Lori and Eddie, who were self-proclaimed picky eaters, had a fantastic time. Eddie said he enjoyed everything we tasted! I'm excited that I learned about some new places and foods, I love that I learned more about the history of this great place where we live, and I'm so glad we got to experience it with two of the greatest people in the world.

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After the food tour, we had some time to kill before our dinner reservations. I suggested the canal tour, the botanical gardens, and the Round Tower with its current art exhibit. We were kind of tired from walking all around, so we chose the canal tour. It was a pretty day for it, even if it was a bit chilly. The guide sounded like he would have been very funny. Unfortunately, one group of people who boarded the boat requested a language other than English or Danish, so we all just had to do the pre-recorded audio tour and select whichever language we wanted in our headsets. The pre-recorded tour leaves out so much information! Darn.

After the canal tour, we took a quick pitstop at Lori and Eddie's hotel (25hours). The hotel was a little too quirky for their taste, but I thought the main hotel area was kind of fun. There were all kinds of lounging rooms, bars, and restaurants off the lobby. They had typewriters and stationary to write with, a huge book sculpture going up through the center of one of the rooms, and doors all over the place that said, "Scientists Only." As I scientist myself, I was disappointed to see that I didn't have access to the secret areas.

Eddie found a lovely table for one in the elevator where he could enjoy his cocktail during the 10-second ride, too.

We don't have pictures from dinner, but we made reservations at Gorda in Frederiksberg. It's a wonderful, cozy, Latin-American tapas restaurant. Jacob and Christina took me there once and I haven't stopped thinking about it. We shared several plates - empanadas, ceviche, croquettes, calamari, potatoes, guinea fowl, and broccolini. It was delicious.

We escorted Lori and Eddie back to their hotel and picked up the haul they brought us from the U.S. Zac and I had a drink in the lobby while we waited for our train. He even went up to the bar and tried to order in Danish! He was disappointed to find out neither of the people behind the bar were Danes. Haha! They told him he did a good job anyway.

The kids were so happy to see their treats waiting for them the next morning, and Zac and I are quite pleased to have Cholula again for the next several months!

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I was so torn on whether to pull the kids out of school for the visit or not, but Kaden has been having kind of a rough time lately and the weather is finally getting nice, so I considered it. A talk with the district psychologist sealed the deal - she told me the kids were doing fine and that the mental health benefits were totally worth missing a day of school since they weren't testing or anything.

We had gone back and forth about what to do if we spent Day 2 with the kids, but when I suggested Tivoli or Bakken, Lori thought those sounded great and reminded me that Eddie loves amusement parks.

I chose Tivoli, because even though I've been inside of Tivoli two or three times, I've never gotten to experience it. Kaden went once with his class and loved it, so I knew he would be super happy to get to go again, and Khloe, Zac, and Harrison have never been (other than to eat dinner) either. It seemed like a good idea, and we met them there when it opened at 11:00.

Tivoli is one of the oldest amusement parks in the world! It opened back in the 1843 and it's still going strong. The first roller coaster, Rutschebanen, was opened in 1914 and you can still ride it! It looks like the predecessor of the Matterhorn at Disneyland. In fact, Tivoli is the amusement park that inspired Walt Disney when he was creating his theme parks.

Other rides followed the rollercoaster, of course, and now there are over 30 rides. Some are for kids, some are for all ages, and some are only for the brave and tall, but there is definitely something for everyone. Tivoli has concert stages, theaters, and restaurants that range from basic hot dog stands to Michelin Star. The botanical gardens are pretty in all seasons, and there are also carnival-type games throughout the park and an arcade.

We all bought ride passes except Zac - he wasn't feeling great and didn't think amusement park rides were going to improve his disposition. He bought a single ticket so he could ride on the old Rutschebanen coaster with us though! If you're used to modern amusement parks, some of Tivoli's rides, including Rutschebanen, might be a little shocking. There's an operator riding on the coaster with you using a hand brake so you don't build up an unsafe amount of speed as you hurtle through the caverns!

See the guy with the beard? No, not Zac. The guy behind me! He's the brake guy.

Over the next several hours, we did a lot of really fun things. The rides were a mix of modern and classic, and we did as many as we could. Kaden raved about the bumper cars, and they actually were the best bumper cars I've ever been on! They're electric and quiet and super bouncy. Even Zac joined us on that one. Lori, Eddie, Kaden, Khloe, and I rode Tik Tak, which was totally wild and spinny like the octopus or something, but the carts also did forwards and backwards somersaults, so it was really like nothing I've ever been on before.

Eddie and I rode a really fun carousel with Harrison - it had traditional horses, but it also had some very low-to-the-ground animals like a polar bear and a rhino maybe(?), plus some tall animals, like the giraffe and the elephant. Harrison and Eddie rode the giraffe together, and I chose a black horse just behind their right flank. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the horse was on a huge spring, so by pushing off the bars with my feet, I could move it forward and backward manually. It was literally the most fun I've had on a carousel.

We went on a ride in a flying trunk where you get introduced to a bunch of Hans Christian Andersen's stories as you move through the darkness. We ate lunch at the Gasoline Grill inside the park and got churros. We all drove some classic cars around a big California Redwood tree, and we rode an insane rotating ride that rises up a huge tower so you can see all of Copenhagen.

There was a small free-fall drop ride for children where you manually raise yourself up to the top with a pulley and then let go! It was rough on the hands, but we had a good time doing it, and the kids enjoyed racing with their partners, Lori and Eddie.

A few more new rides, some repeat rides, some ice cream, and some photo ops wore us out!

Kaden thought Grandma Debbie would like these trees.

We were just about ready to call it quits for the day when Kaden asked if we could go to the Fun House. He said there were neon lights, giant hamster wheels, and all kinds of wild things, and that Harrison would really like it. I looked at the map and saw that we were basically standing next to it, so we walked around a side path we didn't know existed and found ourselves on one of the coolest "streets" in Tivoli!

We found the entrance to the Fun House and figured we would just poke our heads in while the kids went in. We were surprised to find out it was for adults as well, and before too long, Lori, Eddie, and I were chasing the kids up the crazy stairs, across the wobbly bridges, through the moving walkways, and over the irregular patterns in the floor. We ran through the hamster wheels and slid down the giant metal slides, and it was just awesome. Lori called it "a litigator's dream" because there are no rules and everyone is just running up and down all this mechanically moving stuff, but we got out unscathed.

It was super fun and we were glad we didn't pass it up. The Fun House ended our day at Tivoli and we headed for the station so we wouldn't be late for Khloe's ill-timed Spring Concert at school

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Khloe and Harrison both had spring concerts during the week, and Khloe's was on Tivoli day. Lori and Eddie were happy to come along though, so we got to see her play the ukulele to Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" with her classmates.

(Seriously, this concert was mad. The kids were all playing songs that classes would never be allowed to play in the United States. The songs were all about sex, I think. Also, one class played Rammstein. Kid concerts here have more enjoyable music, plus the kids get to basically play whatever they are able to get their hands on. We had drummers, ukuleles, cajons, tambourines, flutes, guitars, basses, a cello, a violin, and a piano. So cool.)

We ran out of the concert early so we could eat a late dinner in Birkerød. Zac took Lori and Eddie on a quick driving tour of ALK, then we walked through the town center and I showed them the in-ground trampolines that are everywhere in Denmark.

We ate a nice dinner together at Gastro 27, a local restaurant that has a cozy atmosphere and yummy pasta. We shared wine, talked about the kids, and lamented the fact we didn't have more time together. It was a very hygge evening and the perfect end to a perfect visit.