The door to our flat!

After walking past the 10^th sex shop on route to our accommodation in Copenhagen, my expectations were plummeting to the soles of my unfashionable shoes, but once I saw the wine bar opposite where we were staying, my worries disappeared. On first glance it did indeed seem we were staying in the seedier part of CPH, and sex toys have certainly come a long way, but we’d actually found ourselves a pretty cool home away from home as it turns out… and the Vesterbro district is very cool – how do I know this? Because everywhere we went was a magnet for the hipster brigade, packed to the rafters and, in what seems to be a direct correlation, had fairly uncomfortable seating.

We only had three nights and were on a mission to seek out the best of Danish design and I have to say, thanks to Illums Bolighus, mission accomplished. Who needs museums and art galleries when you can see four floors of Eames, Hansen, Jacobsen et al, and it must be mentioned that I have a serious crush on Muuto at the moment. The only problem is that there is absolutely no more room in our tiny two bedroom apartment for all this amazing stuff.

…but it was quite nice inside

Shopping aside, I was determined to ride all over Copenhagen but the constant drizzle of rain put paid to that idea. Most of where we needed to go was only five to ten minutes away anyway, but it would be lovely in summer. I did interest Chris in a trip to the river, but half way there he saw the shimmering gleam of the mall in the distance and exclaimed disgustedly “I’ve been tricked”. Well of course I tricked him! – I knew I wasn’t going to get him anywhere near a mall, but I have needs that must be met so a little subterfuge is sometimes necessary 🙂

I didn’t get to see The Little Mermaid in the end, but now I have something to go back to Copenhagen for, apart from food & design.

Food highlights (Vesterbro district):

• Kaffe: delicious hot chocolate, spartan seating and what looks like an indoor tree house out the back
• Malbeck: best cheese board I’ve had since being in Europe and fantastic wines – very odd seating arrangement
• Madklubben: If you only go to one restaurant in CPH, make sure it’s this one (also make sure you book because it’s hugely popular)
• Mother: another hugely popular restaurant – it’s more of a vibe thing tho – the pizza is just pizza
• Granola: kept coming back until we got a seat for breakfast. Worth the wait.