the danish way

pictured: illustrations of danish midsummer - Sankt Hans aften

so today is midsummer in sweden - a day where fertility of both flora and fauna is celebrated with foods, dancing, and poles decorated in flowers. but we aren't in sweden. we're in denmark. and midsummer isn't that important here.

instead, midsummer here is celebrated on the 24th of June and is called "Sankt Hans aften" and is celebrated with bonfires and traditional songs. but we were here on the 24th and it seemed to be a day just like any other.

so, as we miss out on swedish tradition i pretend in my head that it's midsummer. that i'm eating all the yummiest strawberries and cream that my stomach can take and dancing like a little frolicking lamb.

but on the outside i'm experiencing life in copenhagen as it appears the locals do. and that starts with some weekend brunch at a place called kalaset. delicious and multifaceted the meal was just what we needed - and a nice departure from the past month's breakfasts of yogurt, toast, and cheese. alex and i shared thick banana chocolate pancakes and a vegan brunch plate which included a tasting of: hummus, olive paste, assortment of fruit, tofu scramble, falafel, tomato sauce, bread, and a small smoothie. yum! i wish it had been cheaper. but that's copenhagen for ya!

pictured: image from google of the flea market we went to (it pretty much looked exactly like this)

then we walked north a bit to explore the saturday-only flea market. decently packed with people, what was for sale was mostly a bunch of crap. like a real flea market. i had gotten so used to fancy brooklyn markets - ie brooklyn flea - that i forgot how much junk people try to sell. but the prices were right and alex got some vintage postcards.

next we moved on to a small, artsy type shop called "CMYK kid". it reminded me a lot of a place called cinders gallery in brooklyn. there were some nice looking prints, but those are too bulky, so i got some postcards instead. and this shop was located in an oasis of a cool street in the middle of an otherwise blasé neighborhood. down the street was a neat cafe, the coffee collective. with a menu made of legos and the baristas taking your order and making your coffee nearly two feet from you - without any counter between you and them - it was more like someone's kitchen than a cafe. it was nice. the cups looked pretty cool. and the coffee was really good.

with coffee in tow, we wandered over to the largest park in copenhagen (i think) - Fælledparken. nice, open, and only spotted with groups of people, it was very different than central or prospect park. don't get me wrong, prospect park is probably my favorite park ever. but it could really do without half the people.

after a little break in the sun, we headed over to the water to get a view of the modern opera house and new looking theater. this area definitely seemed to be the most populated in all of copenhagen - with tourists eating ice cream and drinking beer by whizzing buses and ferries. miss all of that - it was a pretty nice area (probably the one you've seen if you've looked at anything about copenhagen).

then it was time to check out the shopping scene and what in terms of department stores copenhagen had to offer. like other european and asian department stores, there was a gourmet food market in the basement. this is my favorite part of shopping. looking at food. it really makes me understand why i went into what i did - branding. but it really makes me struggle. i love seeing stuff. food, packaging, neat innovations. but really, what's it all for? why does it make me so happy? am i hard wired to like abundance, no matter how much i already have? probably. but putting self-conflicting thoughts aside, i enjoyed seeing lots of products i had only read about in blogs, in their reality.

pictured: inside Magstræde 16 // alex with organic brew

the shops here close rather early on saturdays - 6pm. so off we went for an early dinner of fancy pizza, in the cute, cozy restaurant - Magstræde 16. i ordered the daily white pizza special of goat cheese (i think it was brie, but the guy said goat), rosemary, thinly sliced potatoes, and truffle oil. alex went for a classic - tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, and basil. they were delicious. alex also ordered a nice looking organic beer - as he has at almost every restaurant in sweden and copenhagen. it's amazing how much more avaiable organic beers are over here versus new york. even in normal restaurants you will almost always find one organic brew. get with it new york!

and then it was time to head back to the room we are renting in someone's apartment. and there we noshed on marinated garlic, fresh cheese (soft cheese, sort of like whipped cream cheese) and crackers while we live streamed the world cup and watched as the US played pretty poorly (as far as my amateur knowledge of the game can tell) against ghana. oh well. next time guys.

and tomorrow is it for us - as far as scandanavia goes. early we will take a crappy easyjet flight to berlin where we will catch a train to the next farm. im so apprehensive about these next two places - but i think it's only because alex is the one who's made the contacts, not i, and it was all in german, so i don't really even have a sense of "voice" as to who these people are. as my mom says "i'll keep my fingers AND toes crossed". good night.

pictured: as the room we rent states - this is the "room with a view"