Days Like This

Here’s Nico and Finn - the new two pets in this household of animal lovers. Throughout the years and my visits, I have met a bearded dragon, chameleon, and even searched for a lost hermit crab. Since I’m not used to birds just flying at me with some regularity, I have yelped a few times as they got their daily exercise. This morning as they preened each other, they hung out on my knee while I was on the sofa:



We eventually motivated and walked over to a local bakery and had pastries and iced lattes. It was a short walk, but were careful as we maneuvered on sidewalks with Ben’s wheelchair.

After resting at the house, Rachel and I motivated to visit nearby Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød, not to be confused with Frederiksberg Castle in Copenhagen. It was only about a 20 minute drive and Rachel missed it when the family visited before, so I was a perfect excuse to go see it.





The famous Neptune Fountain is in front:



This is the Rose Room and the reliefs were very 3-dimensional including the incorporated antlers:



The ceilings were impressive:



As well as the Audience Salon:





The Great Hall:



But we were most impressed with the Royal Chapel:





The castle also is the National History Museum and Portrait Gallery. So the top floor includes many paintings as well as photos of the Royal Family. This was helpful as Rachel reinforced her knowledge for her residency exams. This painting à la Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People” was interesting as well as in front of cushioned bench:



The gardens were well-manicured and a couple was taking photos after their wedding which was held in the chapel (timing feels appropriate as my family is in Korea at my nephew’s wedding):







We returned home to get ready and timed the nearby 150S bus to head into Copenhagen. We could have also taken the train, but the bus was direct and convenient.

Our agenda for the night was to dine at Geranium which is the 2nd restaurant in Copenhagen to be named World’s Best (NoMa was 1st) and the 1st Danish restaurant to win 3 Michelin Stars. We had eaten at NoMa last time I was here and actually had gotten off the waitlist for Geranium, but had decided one fine dining experience was enough over the course of a trip.

Since we had more time to plan, I was able to book this months ago and was really looking forward to it as a colleague said it was better than NoMa and I totally agree. The service, ambiance, and food were all world class and struck the perfect harmony of excellence and ease.

Curiously enough, it’s located on the 8th floor of the Parken Arena, home to concerts and FC København. Rachie and her husband had even seen Metallica here! We learned the owner is a huge football fan (obviously as most Europeans are), but it did have a lovely view of the Fælledparken, a popular park and soundproofing.

Chef Søren Ledet’s cooking is considered “one of the most technically correct and visually arresting” and works with local biodynamic farms to source indigenous Scandinavian produce. This was evident through the course of the meal!

Here was the entrance next to the arena parking lot:



Our elevator selfie:



The menu which we enjoyed with bottles of Danish sparking wine and riesling from Alsace served by the French-Canadian sommelier:



Some of the up close dishes due to the beautiful detail:



The phenomenal caviar supplement:



Consommé with truffle:



Hannah from the Dominican Republic, took us on a tour of the restaurant including the cellar which houses 24,000 wine bottles:







At one point, our waiter Mateo from San Marino jumped in our photo. He was wonderful and I loved how he was preparing to tell us where San Marino was and the 3 of us obviously had a good handle on geography. The servers and chefs were all lovely. We met someone from Korea, Italy, and of course Denmark. But these world class kitchens are highly international with the best of the best from around the world and I love hearing about their backgrounds and how long they have been working at the restaurant. They also seemed to enjoy that technically we were not all tourists.



We ordered herbal tea and when I saw this cart rolling towards us, I gasped they were really going to the source as our server clipped the various types for the teapot:





And of course, my famous and obligatory food collages:





When we were wrapping up, the bus was scheduled to leave from the other side of the park in 20 minutes and we grabbed it for the straight shot home. 

What a wonderful day and evening! So much has been difficult for the family recently and to have such a nice day and phenomenal meal, it was truly a euphoric experience and I’m so glad my hosts enjoyed it as much I did!