London Porter

Beer and a lake.

Today's (or rather yesterday's) sampling was the London Porter, clocking in at 6.8% a.b.v. This was definitely one of my favorites so far- very dark, with hints of chocolate and coffee. Yum! It reminded me a lot of Magic Hat's Ravell, if any of you are familiar with that delicious brew.
As an added helping of excitement yesterday, we witnessed an apartment fire, and the København Brandvæsen (Copenhagen Fire Department) in action. Don't as for a pronunciation guide on that, because i haven't the faintest idea how to say it.

Denmark, the only place where you can watch a conflagration with beer in hand. Adam is generously demonstrating this.

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Word of the Day:

Selv tak: You're welcome. Pronounced 'sell tock'.

I Want To Ride My Bicycle

Think of Copenhagen and chances are one of the first things that comes to mind is a load of bikes. Biking is by far the best way to get around the city, thanks to the bike lanes that are, well, everywhere. Knowing this, obviously the first thing I had figured out when I got here was a sweet ride. Seriously- that was the only permanent thing I had settled when I landed here.

This is not my bike. But that's how common they are here- they wind up tossed in lakes.

My bike and I have an interesting relationship. He (most definitely a male, though I have yet to decided on a name for him yet) has already tried to kill me twice, tipping over on me/with me on him in some rather unfortunate situations. But other than that, he's been a good and faithful steed, allowing me to transport all worldly goods to my new apartment in just 3 trips. Yes, I biked across the city with 50lb suitcases. Who needs a gym?
But that's not the point of this post. The point is, biking roadrage. Or rather, biking frustrations. 
I will be the first to admit that I haven't been biking here long. But there are rules to biking, and there is etiquette. And just as with driving, when people violate those two things, I become peeved. There are a lot of people on the roads, and these are the only things that keep them drivable.

Pictured: very light bike traffic on a summer afternoon.

The worst violations, in my opinion, are people walking in the bike lane, slow bikers diddling down the center of the lane or worse still, swanging side to side, and of course, people who don't signal. So basically all the worst annoyances of actual driving. But on a bike you can see the faces of the people around you, and they can see yours, so it is possible to pass someone disdainfully. And let me tell, you, that feels good.

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Word of the Day:

Bryst: Breast. Pronounced "broyst", but with a soft-sounding R. Yes, this an important word, and one we learned from watching real Danish TV. We still have no idea what the show was about, but this word kept turning up so much that eventually we had to Google it.

Pacific Pale Ale

Yum!

At 5.something% alcohol by volume, this was a much better beer than last week's, at least by my standards. It was much closer to an IPA than the Bombay Pale Ale- much hoppier. I was a huge fan. It also really hit the spot on what was the hottest day Copenhagen has seen in 37 years.

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Word of the Day:

Tak for det: Thanks (Literally translated it means 'thanks for that', but people usually just use it in place of 'thank you'.) Pronounced 'tock for day'

Classy Saturday

This Saturday we, by sheer dumb luck, ended up planning a pre-arrival day intern gathering in Kongens Have (Kings Gardens) on the same day as a pretty spectacular cultural event. The Danish Royal Orchestra, regarded as the oldest orchestra in the world, tracing it's origins back to 1448, as well as the Royal Opera and Ballet were performing some sneak previews of their upcoming season right in front of Rosenborg Slot (Rosenborg Palace). So we gathered our wine and cheese and joined the numerous cultured Danes who flocked to the park with us. 

Just look at this horde of cultured folk.

Let me tell you, Danes come prepared to picnic with class. There were quite a few groups who showed up with tables, tablecloths and massive spreads of food. We were happy just to relax on our beach towels and munch some gouda and pretzels. Nowhere but Copenhagen can you sit in the sun in front of a castle and get serenaded by world class singers and musicians while watching one of the best ballet companies in the world, all for free. 

Rosenborg Slot just pre-sunset.

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Word of the Day: 

Abe: Monkey or ape. It's the same for both. Pronounced 'abe (as in Honest Abe) - eh'. 

Things I See While Biking Home: Edition 1

Copenhagen is a cool city. And like any other city, every so often you see some really different or weird things. So from here on out, every time I see something particulary odd or interesting you'll be the first to hear about it. Cool right?
On Thursday, while biking home past the lakes I saw a line of nice, bright, yarnbombed trees, and a speed limit sign.

Snazzy.

So, ladies of the Fayson Lakes knitting club, get to work. You've got competition from overseas.

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Word of the Day:
Vi ses: See you. Pronounced 'vee seis (as in the Spanish word for 6)'. I know it's not techically a word, but it's a very useful phrase.

Bombay Pale Ale

There is a tradition among the interns at DIS of getting a membership at one of the local breweries (which shall remain nameless since we've all sworn to protect its identity from students). For an insanely low price, you get one free beer every Monday- a 59 dkk per week value! 

The two beers I've tried so far have been most satisfactory. So from here on out, you all get to look forward to a weekly review of the latest brew I've tried.

Behold: the Bombay Pale Ale

I expected this to be an IPA, but alas, it was not the least bit hoppy. Rather it was pretty mild and even a little bit sweet. It's also 6.5% abv, which according to the Danes, is a pretty important indicator of the quality of a beer. Allegedly, the higher the alcohol content, the better the beer. I'm not sure I believe this.

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Word of the Day

Rabbit: Kanin. Pronounced 'kah-neen'. We learned this while watching Wallace and Gomit and the Wererabbit. Or in Danish, Walter & Trofast: Det Store Grøntsagskup. No idea why they changed the names of Wallace and Gromit. Or what a Grøntsagskup is, other than that it has to do with vegetables.

Statens Museum for Kunst

On Saturday afternoon forayed to the Statens Museum for Kunst (State Art Museum). This is just one of many free museums in Copenhagen, so with our limited intern budgets, the price was just right. The building itself is pretty cool. The special, visiting gallery spaces are housed in the original building, and the free, permanent exhibit of predominantly Danish art is in a new addition.

The two structures are nicely joined by a glassed-in corridor.

Here's another shot of the joining of new and old.

Most of the art on display was kind of weird, but it was fun to check out. I got the feeling we may have been in the more modern section.

There was what appeared to be a hairy rock.

Some cool colored sculptures.

This was my favorite piece- slivers of mica scattered on panes of glass. It looked a lot better in person.

Apparently the strings inside the sphere are a three-dimensional recreation of a Black Widow web.

Aren't we cultured?

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And now, at the request of one of my most dedicated readers, your first Danish word of the day:

Ost: Cheese. It's pronounced like 'toast' without the first 'T'.