I have a lot more to write about my back pain, and subsequent surgery and recovery, so this feels a bit out of order in the sequence of events. But as it has been a year since my ‘reward’ trip to Denmark, I realized I never shared about my experience and some of the gems we found, and that some folks might find this of interest.
I apparently was enjoying this trip so much that I hardly took any pictures, that’s a good sign that I was living in the moment. I have a lot of visual memories, but not so many pictures to share. Hopefully the words will help.
A bit of background on the trip…. Last year was A LOT already ~ with my back pain, surgery, recovery and dealing with family loss and challenges (and I came back to A LOT more of unexpected A LOT upon my return from Denmark).
As I was going through back surgery recovery (alone) Kurt urged me to plan a trip to Ireland to visit him (more on that later) and then to a place I really wanted to go as something to look forward to after my surgery recovery (which is a multi-phased existence still going on, more on that later too).
I chose Denmark, more specifically Copenhagen. And I was not disappointed.
I can not begin to describe in this post where my head was at after the year I was having (but I will try in another post), but I can say that Denmark was absolutely the best place for me to land to find myself again - both physically and mentally. For this very reason alone, despite the fact that Copenhagen is AMAZING, Copenhagen specifically will always have a deep and special place in my heart.
Hotel
This hotel initially seemed like it was too far away from ‘the action’ you read about in the guidebooks, but it was the perfect location for us. It was 12 minutes by bike to everywhere, quiet, had a great grocery store on the ground level, had a mini kitchen we could use for breakfast, and when we needed to take the train (which we only did once), was a two minute walk from a train stop.
You could rent bicycles from the hotel (as with most hotels), which we did for almost our entire stay.
The only down side of this hotel was that it was very hot during our stay and the thermostat in the room had a very small temperature range that was definitely not made for the heat, the window only cracked open about an inch, and we had an interior ‘courtyard’ facing room ~ all that combined to make me feel extremely claustrophobic in our room. To remedy that next time (and yes I would absolutely stay again), I would ask for a street facing room (and be okay with any street sounds).
I learned about this hotel in the NYTimes, not a guidebook. Any hotels recommended in the guidebooks/sites were either not my style, booked up, super expensive, or super touristy. I’m really glad I saw this article and that I booked this affordably priced hotel.
Our favorite part, coffee on the rooftop every morning watching Copenhageners cycling to work.
Hotel Bonus
In retrospect the best part of staying at Zoku was that we felt a bit more like locals in this neighborhood ~ Ørestad. Zoku was not in the heart of tourist-mania, it was located where people live.
We got to walk and bike by countless apartment complexes, seeing how local people lived and went about their daily lives. And from my perspective that was very well ~ so much open space around their buildings, and courtyards within that felt communal and comfortable.
We biked everywhere from the hotel, and because of this we would find ourselves in the flow of people living their lives ~ cycling to work, cycling home from work, and the flow of them just living their lives as they cycled to the store, to go swimming, to meet friends, to go to CPFW, wherever.
This was IT for me, this is what hooked me in to a forever and always lover of Copenhagen!
Copenhagen on a bike is EVERYTHING you have ever heard, and more. Especially in peak Summer weather. I instantly felt like part of the fabric of the city and as a cyclist everything made so much sense to me. Copenhagen is MADE for cyclists. Literally. Going into a round-a-bout? No worries, the cars are going to wait for YOU, not the other way around. Need to get somewhere? A bike is your fastest and best option (google it from your hotel and you will see).
Biking in Copenhagen particularly meant the world to me as it was one of the first times I had comfortably ridden a bike in at least two years. As this trip was almost exactly a month after my surgery recovery ‘green light’, it was like I was biking in a utopian cloud. Everything was amplified for me because of the journey I had been on to get there. I will never forget how good it felt to me on SO many levels and I will always hold it close.
Besides the amazing Summer weather, we also did not expect to find a large park like Amager Fælled in the middle of a city. We walked through here on our first day quite by chance and ended up biking through this park many times to get to our destinations during our stay. And Kurt was not the only one picking berries…. Lovely.
Dragør is a quintessential quaint Danish seaside town that we found was bikeable from Zoku. It’s just a nice place to go down by the boats, be by the water, and look over to Sweden. Most of the fun of visiting Dragør was biking there and back. We were on bike paths the entire trip there (but we wouldn’t advise the winding way we got there).
The Louisiana was not only one of the highlights of the trip, it was a personal museum highlight for me. Years ago a colleague of mine at SFMOMA came here to deliver a painting, I have wanted to come ever since. Having worked in museums, it takes a lot to impress me, but the Louisiana did not disappoint. It is a fantastic museum that I could return to again and again, and the setting is magical. Definitely worth not only the trip, but many more trips. I can not wait to go back.
Getting to the Louisiana is super easy from Zoku. We walked 2 minutes over to the train station, took a train into Copenhagen, switched trains, and settled in for a lovely 40ish minute journey out to Humlebæk Station, and then a fun walk down the road to the Louisiana. *Train Tip: sit on the right side of the train heading out of Copenhagen and you will have great views of the sea and towns the train goes through.
Our absolute favorite morning was the one we spent exploring Operaen, Operaparken, and Papirøen. We once again wandered off on our trusty Zoku bikes with only the plan of finding a good pastry, and this trip did not disappoint (more on the pastry below).
The architecture was so great here! I wish I was a local so I could go to the Operaen all the time. Operaparken was beautifully done. And Papirøen was just the coolest development, I want to retire here! We absolutely loved this area. Later we biked over to super touristy Nyhavn where it was wall-to-wall people and quickly turned around and came back to this chill side of town.
Papirøen in the morning is where we felt like we saw the real Copenhagen in full Summer Harbor Dipping Mode as locals flowed in and out for their morning dose of vitamin d and a dip. We could have stayed here all day.
*Bathroom tip(s). The Operaen is a great place to take a pitstop if the building is open, which it was when we were there. We went inside to look at the architecture, and then I wandered down to the bathroom where there must have been 30-50 stalls and I had the place to myself. We also had found a bathroom at Papirøen that there were signs to that was in a super odd location, I later realized this was probably because it was CPFW and there was a show in the vacant ground floor (start at minute 2:08).
Food
Bento Copenhagen was our favorite restaurant. We were lucky enough to walk in and get a seat without a reservation (*Copenhagen is big on reservations, we would advise making them). How lucky we were. The atmosphere, the place, the FOOD! We can not wait to return. I believe I had the Sake Teriyaki ~ it was outstanding.
Andersen Bakery. We rode the bikes here on our first day and got to go sandwiches and ate them over by Islands Brygge Harbour Bath where we got a good first taste of both the amazing sandwiches Copenhagen has to offer, but also the culture of harbor bathing. Being a lover of both Scandinavia and Japan, this was a great spot for me for sure. I can’t exactly remember what we got, but one of the sandwiches was with fresh salmon and both were on dark bread (which they offered and we were glad we got). Highly recommend.
This was absolutely a great find both because the pastries were outstanding, but also because we walked with our coffee and treats over to where everyone was doing their harbor bathing. Beautiful spot all around!
Coffee Collective Torvehallerne
We found this place on the morning we went to the Louisiana. What a great spot. I could not resist the BMO (bolle med ost, which means bun with cheese) and have been dreaming of it ever since.
Torvehallerne has a number of great food stalls. Definitely worth a visit any time of day.
Park-Café at the Louisiana is a great grab and go option that is an excellent part of the experience. We got a couple of sandwiches and went and sat in the Sculpture Park between the Henry Moore sculpture and the sea.
A few other places we ate at:
At the other end of our Amager Fælled saunter we found ourselves in a nice locals only zone (people were speaking Danish to Kurt as he looked the part with his Danish heritage) where we found a place to get granola for breakfast (Emmery’s) and have a lovely lunch (Nors Food & Drink).
Vesterbro øst in general was a great area (Vesterbro proper a bit more touristy).
Our very first bike ride was over to this area to Nam Thai.
The restaurant was fine (again lucky to get a table without a reservation), but the best part of coming here was finding this area and later Bento.
We also found and came back to Viktoria Bar. We had the place almost to ourselves and enjoyed talking with the owner.
There are so many hygge spots like this in Vesterbro øst that were fun to discover, we just touched the surface.
Uganda Ismejeri. We stopped here for an ice cream on our winding way to Dragør. A great little locals only spot.
We also had a few dud spots on our trip that I won’t bother to mention. It was vacation after all and not every spot is a winner. And because of that we have some regrets of places we did not go, but there is always next time.
A year later, Copenhagen still stays with me. I try to find ways to be more ‘Danish’ in my daily life and I am already scheming on ways to keep returning. It will always hold a special place in my heart.
And as I sit here a year later experiencing a ‘flare’ from my nerves post-surgery, finding myself back in PT after ‘graduating’, I hope to once again return to ground myself and move forward again.
This post is inspired by Marina Cooley, who was living in Copenhagen this Summer, and travels there with her students, and writes about her Danish experiences.
You may also enjoy watching some of my favorite YouTuber’s in Copenhagen: Hige and Me and Stine Eleonora Honoré.