North Zealand & Noma

Today the plan was to head to the north. Rachel didn’t have class today and she met us at the hotel and we walked to the nearby transit hub at Nørreport. Our regional train arrived as we walked up to the track which was perfect timing. Our ride was about 40 minutes northward - we saw many trains and entire train cars were dedicated to bicycles!



Our destination was the end of the line at Helsingør, to visit Kronborg Castle - apparently one of the most important Renaissance castles in Northern Europe. The castle position was also important due to its location at the entrance of the Øresund sound - one of the key entrances to the Baltic Sea. 

Helsingør is known to many as "Elsinore", which is the anglicized way to say the town name and famously known as the setting of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

Upon arrival into town, we stopped into a coffee shop and picked up some chai lattes and waters. We then walked north a few minutes and through the culture yard which is also the same location as the Maritime Museum. Here’s a picture of William in the yard and pointing at the castle:



We were very happy to arrive at the castle and decided to take the obligatory group selfie - we are always so well put together:





We were advised that a 15 minute introduction to the castle had just started in the courtyard and we learned about the history of the castle which was used by Danish royalty for many years. 

The castle was later used by the military and turned into barracks. Then the government decided that it was best to revert the castle to be a museum and show tourists what life was like here. Here are some photos of the courtyard:







We explored the many rooms that depicted life throughout various centuries:







And looked out windows to see the sound:





The palace exhibitions encouraged you to touch different things and try to experience what life was like - like sit and play cards. I nicknamed it the “Please Touch Palace” like the interactive Please Touch Museum. Clearly this is a good place for children and for those who are over 1,000 years old:

We were told that we must explore the underground tunnels which were a bit spooky:

A statue of Ogier the Dane, of Danish folklore and a symbol of Danish identity and patriotism:



After a full visit at the castle, we headed back towards town and to the train station where we stopped to see the statues of Hamlet and Ophelia:





As it’s important to swipe in and out, Rachel demonstrated how to tag your transport card. Luckily for us, Mikey, William, and I had the Copenhagen card which automatically included free transport and just needed to be shown or scanned when needed.





We took the train southward to Humlebæk about ten minutes. As we needed a little snack since we didn’t have lunch, we picked up ham and cheese croissants and some beverages. We then walked about 10 minutes to the Louisiana Museum of Art. Apparently, the owner of the land had three wives whose names were Louise.

The museum is filled with modern art and was very impressive and expansive. It was actually very easy to get lost in the many rooms as there was no clear route to visit the museum and you could just wander for hours.

This is an art piece of a diving board looking over the sound:



We also enjoyed a Yayoi Kusama installation room where we did not have to stand in line for hours to experience and was able to just walk in (even into the water, well not technically):



Rachel next to a Giacometti:



There was a huge Alex Da Corte exhibition which was bright and very stimulating:





Outside the sculpture was also impressive. Here’s a Richard Serra positioned well in the garden:



We caught the train back to Copenhagen and did not get much time to rest. So we decided to call a cab to go to our dinner at Noma, a world renowned restaurant. We actually had gotten off the waitlist as it is very difficult to get in.

When you arrive, you sit in the garden greenhouse where they serve you an elderflower tea in front of quince fruit. We decided they do this to manage the number of people arriving at the restaurant at a similar time as they do not have many seatings. Rachel in the greenhouse / waiting room:



When they are ready for you, you walk through their garden towards the restaurant:

Here’s William in front of the fancy door to the restaurant with all the antlers:

The decor was very autumnal and we enjoyed a glass of white wine to start:





Noma’s name comes from "nordisk" (Nordic) and "mad" (food). Indeed our menu was full of reindeer, bear, and many different types of vegetables. It was also specifically a Game and Forest Menu. You could tell the amount of attention and care that went into every dish and the quality of the execution. Here is the obligatory food collage:



A close-up of the first and last dish which were reindeer hearts with béarnaise sauce and duck paired with a mushroom dipping sauce and a side of plum topped with black truffles - part of the top 5 best of the night:



We clearly realized sometimes the descriptions of the dishes were not as specific, even though we would have eaten it anyway. At one point, we discussed “what’s a ragú?” Here’s a copy of the full menu:



We then toasted with a glass of champagne that we were treated to by the restaurant. What a celebration for us to spend time together in Denmark!



The service was diverse from the many international chefs who came to explain their dishes. They also changed our “charging dishes” many times which was the place setting of the dish. Well, they didn’t change mine at all because I kept it clean! We also made a habit of asking them where they were from and making small talk. One chef, Alex was from Virginia just like William and Rachel and in fact, from Rachel’s hometown. So at the end of the meal he invited us on a tour of the kitchen:









Here are some of their many awards:

Where the staff does their family meals - what a large staff! The interns are in charge of cooking for everyone. They even made Singapore Hainanese Chicken tonight which I love:



Here’s where Alex was explaining they grow mold in the freezer:



This is where they store the different kinds of miso that requires varying durations of fermentation:



A photo of all the Virginians:



All in all it was a wonderful experience trying different types of food. The kitchen tour was the most extensive and truly world class. Indeed a world class meal with world class friends!