Today was lunch

Today was all about lunch, at Noma which is currently voted the “world’s best restaurant”. And so of course there’s a whole post about the meal at http://saltyplums.co.uk just across the road. We arrived at 12:30 and didn’t leave until 5pm, so really I’m just filling in the gaps here.

Is life the same for everyone? Do you find that you arrive everywhere just-in-time even if you think you’ve planned plenty of slack? It felt like we had allowed for a relaxed breakfast at Broholm, a short exploration of the unique stone-age implement museum in the grounds, the drive back across Funen and Zealand (not forgetting £27 at the toll bridge!) and then finding a parking space near our hotel before finally strolling in a leisurely manner to Noma. So naturally I ended up frantically punching buttons and cursing the obtuseness of the Danish parking ticket machine before we force-marched our way along the canalside to reach Noma a mere ten minutes late for our reservation.

Bizarrely the ticket machine seemed to have given me 48 hours of parking for 12p. Even with the 22p credit card handling fee this was a bargain. Something worth noting for those of you travelling to Denmark: the banks there like to stick between 2% and 5% handling on any Visa/Mastercard transaction (lord only knows what the poor saps with Amex have to pay), so change a big bundle of cash before you travel.

What more can I say? We waddled out of Noma happily stuffed and settled for a stroll to “Christiana” which unlike similar alternative-lifestyle neighbourhoods around the world (I’m looking at you, Haight-Ashbury) has managed to resist trendiness and gentrification ever since it’s 1970’s inception. It’s still a grubby, tumbledown dump that reeks of marijuana and is full of cheerful non-conformists. So, respec’ to Christiana. It’s still not my kinda place. Especially not with our glad rags on from Noma. The police arresting a carload of dubious youths just outside the entrance was a nice touch.

After a break we managed an evening stroll, beginning at the Radhuspladsen (read: Leicester Square) and taking in the famous Stroget (read: Oxford Street) before ending up at the picturesque Nyhavn with all its cafes (read: Covent Garden). I’m finding my initial view reinforced; Copenhagen is a handsome city, easy to wander, without ever inspiring superlatives.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, April 7th, 2012 at 10:41 pm and is filed under Denmark. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.