Come on in…the (iced) water is lovely!

A quick check-in from the beach, where I’ve just been down for my morning swim! Now, as you can probably see from all the white in the above picture, the snow is still with us here in Copenhagen. The roads are pretty bad today. And the pavements aren’t so easy to navigate either… In some… Continue reading Come on in…the (iced) water is lovely!

The Danish Prime Minister (almost) got a nose. A small one!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Update to my original post from Thursday 23 January: Helle didn’t get “a nose” in the end. Today, 24 January, it was announced that, yes, the opposition parties wanted to give her “a nose”. But that they couldn’t agree on… Continue reading The Danish Prime Minister (almost) got a nose. A small one!

What a piece of (Danish) junk! May the force be with you!

My DD11 (dear daughter, aged 11) was at a classmate’s birthday party at the ice rink yesterday afternoon. Now, the rink is right next to our local recycling centre so, when the time came to pick her up, I decided to load up the car with junk and kill two birds with one stone. Or… Continue reading What a piece of (Danish) junk! May the force be with you!

Great Dane-ish Pastries! (Part Six – Bread Rolls)

Okay, where did we get to with our wienerbrød? So far we’ve seen the spandauer, frøsnapper, kanelsnegl, tebirkesand thewienerstang. Yummy, yum, yum! For breakfast today we have a selection of plain bread rolls. Okay, not exactly wienerbrød. But quintessentially Danish nevertheless! Oh, and before we go any further, you should know that Danish bread rolls… Continue reading Great Dane-ish Pastries! (Part Six – Bread Rolls)

Great Dane-ish Pastries! (Part Five – Wienerstang)

Today we have one of the ‘log’ type pastries – a “wienerstang“. One looooooong bar of yumminess, great for sharing! And it’s cheaper than buying individual pastries – good for crowds! [said the Canny Scot]You'll need a large platter to hold this one... There are selvfølgelig various varieties… With sugar and chopped toasted almonds on… Continue reading Great Dane-ish Pastries! (Part Five – Wienerstang)

Friday Fun – It’s Marvelous! Mosell!

Time for a little Friday fun! From the very hip ‘I-only-release-my-music-on-youtube’ Danish rapper Marvelous Mosell. A little ditty about a guy who feels a cold coming on and phones in sick – and basically spends the whole week eating junk and watching (junky) tv: TV Shop, Melrose Place, Married (with Children), Prince of Belair, Hallmark,… Continue reading Friday Fun – It’s Marvelous! Mosell!

Great Dane-ish Pastries! (Part Four – Tebirkes)

Who’s ready for another wonderful, wonderful Dane-ish pasty? Today we have the tebirkes.  Which, translated literally, means a ‘tea-poppy seed’. Outside of Copenhagen, it’s sometimes called a Københavnerbirkes, a ‘Copenhagen-poppy seed’. Tebirkes As you can see, it’s a fairly high, light puffy bread roll and, as the Danes say, it “sidder mellem to stole” – ‘sits between two… Continue reading Great Dane-ish Pastries! (Part Four – Tebirkes)

You know you’re in Denmark when… (Cycle attire)

While not an avid follower of fashion, I do try and take pride in my appearance.  (For example, I would never dream of leaving the house without mascara and lipgloss.  Hey, I don’t even walk around my own house without mascara or lipgloss – don’t want to scare myself in the mirror!) But these autumn mornings, when I’m biking… Continue reading You know you’re in Denmark when… (Cycle attire)

Great Dane-ish Pastries! (Part Three – Snegle)

Last time we looked at the frøsnapper – a ‘seed snapper’ - guaranteed to leave you with black and white bits between your teeth. Today we have en kanelsnegl (a ‘cinnamon snail’) and it comes a very close second to my all-time fave (which you met in Part One – en spandauer). It’s a good… Continue reading Great Dane-ish Pastries! (Part Three – Snegle)

You know you’re in Denmark when… (Parking)

You know you’re in Denmark when… You decide to leave the car at home and bike down to the S-tog station (Danish underground train station), as vacant car parking spaces are few and very far between. Then spend five minutes wandering around the station, wondering where on earth to park your bike, as - fiddlesticks!… Continue reading You know you’re in Denmark when… (Parking)

Dear Gym Teacher…Love Mum

On Thursday morning my son had yet another (is-this-toothy-traintracks-saga-ever-going-to-end?) appointment with the school orthodontist, and this particular one would take a whole hour in the Dreaded Dentist’s Chair.   Which meant he would miss at least one, if not two, classes.   My son started school six years ago and, in the past, he would… Continue reading Dear Gym Teacher…Love Mum

Great Dane-ish Pastries! (Part Two – Frøsnapper)

Last time I introduced you to my all-time favourite Danish pastry, the Spandauer. Not to be confused with my other favourite Spandauer…Martin Kemp, hee hee! And swoon! Today we have….en frøsnapper – a ‘seed snapper’! En frøsnapper - a frog snapper! Frø is the Danish word for ‘seed’ and – as you can see from… Continue reading Great Dane-ish Pastries! (Part Two – Frøsnapper)

Great Dane-ish Pastries! (Part One)

I biked down to the bakers this morning to get some Danish pastries for breakfast. Now, please note, I don’t normally shell out exorbitant amounts of money buying fresh pastries on bog-standard Wednesday mornings - it was a special mid-week treat because we’ve friends visiting from London. Anyway, the bakers shelves were jam-packed with sticky/crumbly/crunchy… Continue reading Great Dane-ish Pastries! (Part One)