it's always sunny in scandinavia, part one: copenhagen

i recently spent a day in copenhagen with my mother on the way to sweden for my cousin sarah’s wedding. we took a boat ride through the canals, meandered through the cobblestoned streets, and ate lots of  traditional danish cuisine, i.e. colorful things stacked atop one another often involving bread, a mayonnaise-y type of sauce and some form of seafood. don’t worry, it’s way more delicious than it sounds and often very aesthetically pleasing. this concoction is certainly unlike any other chicken and bacon sandwich i’ve ever seen.

copenhagen, didn’t you know that bacon sandwiches are supposed to be greasy artery-clogging messes and not bountiful gardens of vegetal delight? no seriously, i kid because i love you and your incredibly moist curried chicken.

i also love your brunch, which is essentially a complex arrangement of 2958347 different delicious items on one plate.  as you can see in front of my mom, my brunch included a blueberry smoothie surrounded by three types of bread, sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, a selection of grilled vegetables, three dips (cream cheese, hummous, and a tomato-based pesto-like sauce), a vegetable frittata, and more. i ate this for an early lunch and was so full i didn’t eat anything else all day.

this delicious meal came from a fantastic cafe called kalasat, recommended to me by friend/colleague/former copenhagen resident, alli. alli’s boyfriend ian, who i went to high school with, also used to live in copenhagen and worked at kalasat. they sent me to say hi to caroline, one of the super-nice owners standing in the doorway below.

kalasat has a great vibe,  with all sorts of different seating and vintage radios on the wall and lots of beautiful people lounging around inside and out. my favorite part was the chalkboard that allows you to buy a drink for a friend – purchase drink, write the name and item on the board, and the lucky recipient will find themselves presented with a free beverage the next time they come in! such a nice and potable way to spread the love.

alli sent me a great list of things to see in copenhagen, so i spent a few evening hours wandering around her old neighborhood of vesterbro. i passed by some fantastic looking restaurants and cafes,  beautiful old buildings, and some amazing street art.  if only all trash receptacles had this much character:

i also really like this little dude. hang in there, buddy.

i even managed to find alli and ian’s old apartment reflected behind me in this shiny silver sphere.

goodbye copenhagen, i’ll be back for more brunch! up next, sweden…