Imbibing through Europe again. Traveling Denmark and Germany and the drinks in between Part 5 of ?

Train station in Helsingør

The breakfast went down quick.  Everything though as expected went like clock work.  We ran down the street, bolted to a bus stop.  It was there on time.  Then the bus raced out as Friday morning commuters bustled in.  Speeding away, we were dropped at the Østerport station to figure out how to get tickets for the train to Helsingnør.

"Well that was easy", I remarked but my wife who was furiously looking at the time knew our train was coming shortly and we had to quickly get tickets.  We had maybe 10 minutes.

"Well that shouldn't be a problem.. let's go to the ticket office."

As always when traveling, you often rely on the friendly desk counter, a human interaction, the ability to meet your fellow human being face to face to give you the answer that you need.  A simple stroll to the front desk would do, and as we knew from experience being here for awhile everyone spoke English pretty well.  We find the ticket office... it's about 9 in the morning... and..

it's closed...

..

on a Friday morning... in a train station... with hours on the door that say it should be open like... what 8:30.

"what the hell?!?"

Katerine had mentioned later when I told her this story that one thing that had been cut in public areas were services.  I just figured that in a major train station on a Friday there might be just one... just ONE human being working there.  Hours on the door said the times they were open, which meant... right now... but as always in Europe like I've always said... opening hours are only a suggestion.

"Well it's time to play spin the wheel then on the kiosks... lets go!"  We hit the electronic machine and were trying to figure it out with maybe 5 minutes left before the train was to arrive.  It was like being on a game show,,, spin that wheel!  Ok English... YES that one.. ok first question easy!  Push that button!  3 minutes before your window closes... tick tock tick tock...

With a few backwards and forwards screen selections, our lucky new credit card for Europe at the ready, we got it done...  clock time...

1 minute...

RUN!!!!  and of course don't drop anything, get your receipts, and then figure out how much you paid later with the conversion... heck this short ride could have cost us $400 bucks... who knew?  (it of course didn't)..  but you can not keep a good plan down from us!

The train would head North from Østerport station, and arrive in Helsingnør where the plan was to visit a famous castle named Kronborg, or as it also known as Hamlet's Castle.  My wife had the idea for a small day trip, and then a museum later.  I was perfectly fine for this as another day of beer drinking/visiting could come later.  Some new scenery and some other interests was totally the right thing to partake in now.

We ran on to the platform... clocks everywhere I seemed to notice.  Very quiet strangely, a few people.  Everything in this country seemed to shuffle and work orderly, but sometimes it also appeared very empty.  I thought back to the kiosk how we could at least find any combination of times and schedule for the train we wanted, but had to navigate a certain way.

It was eerily quiet.  Where was the bustle?  The hustle? the noise even?  The excitement?  Is this Friday?

It occurred to me while I stood for only about 30 seconds before the train came that this country had an almost Orwellian like feel to it.  There were almost no surprises, or at least very few ones and they seemed like they could easily be explained.

The train pulled up, we got in, and headed to small town Denmark for some sight seeing.

The town of Helsingnør is tiny, but we wanted to explore the castle first.  The train station is small, and as soon as you get out, the Kronborg castle appears just to the North which you can see easily.  You certainly wont get lost, and you can't miss it. However, our first impression wasn't the castle from a distance, nor the water that separates Denmark from Sweden, but a piece of artwork that was hard to miss.

I quickly nicknamed it... the Frankenfish.

Sitting just outside was this statue of a fish made out of trash.  The trash was surprisingly colorful, and made me wonder if it were items that were recovered from the actual nearby waters.  It was really cool, I love public art things like this, I wish more cities had them.  This one was particularly creative, large, visually appealing up close and even from a distance.  Another passerby took a glance and seemed horrified, not sure what to think.

Kronborg castle known as Hamlet's castle is the main attraction and draw for the town.  Shakespeare referred to this famous castle as the setting for his play Hamlet, and for centuries one of the most famous plays still gets performed here.  The castle also has history going back to the 1400s, as a strategic location where for years the country collected taxes for any passing ships known as the Sound Dues, thus making the surrounding town a magnet for international shipping, and extremely wealthy.  Also every year actors perform Hamlet here on location, festivals are held, and many famous actors have graced its presence.

We worked our way into quite a cavernous tour.  They were broken into themes, One was about the early history of the castle, guided by a Swedish historian which we took.  Another was about the history of the play of Hamlet, accompanied by of course a tour guide draped in poofy pants and garb of the era.  Still on this somber rainy day, our enthusiasm remained, and there is lots to explore, including my favorite THE SLEEPING VIKING WARRIOR WHO WILL AWAKE SOME DAY AND KICK YOUR ASS!!  Otherwise known as Ogier the Dane.  So fucking metal....  \m/...

We had a blast.  It was also during times between tours in the courtyard I found a surprising rare animal.  A free Wi-Fi connection.  While we waited between tour times, my email and Untappd check-ins were coming in at a furious place about the Cantillon beer I had the previous day.

"I am so friggin jealous" one follower wrote, another wrote "HOW MUCH DOES IT COST!".  Beer fans can't keep boundaries and enthusiasm down, and rightly so I might add!

 The castle was poked and prodded from as many angles as we could, another rainy day, tankers coming through the old strait that separated us from the municipality of Helsingborg, only by an icy breaths touch.  Turns out there is a side that is appealing to Swedish citizens to Helsingnør that surprised me.  Katerine told me that many Swedes come to Helsingnør because the tax rate on alcohol is cheaper and flood the town to buy lots of cheap booze.

Really?!  As a good imbiber this had to be inspected and verified with a walk through the small town's shops.

We made a break from the castle to check out the small berg.  It was obvious that stores were advertising prominently in places for their alcohol selection.  However, compared to what I saw in Copenhagen the selection wasn't considerably different, or for that much fact, even cheaper from what I saw previously. What I will remember though is that for one fleeting glimpse the sun was breaking out.

Holy shit, it's the sun! What is this rare beast that I haven't seen in such long as it suddenly squeaked in between the small nooks and crannies of this small town?  It did seem like it was toying with us, but it made an unbelievable scene between the alley ways, colored painted walls, and wood angular frames of the houses nearby.  It made this place look beautiful. Then there was the hunt for lunch,

My god what was that glorious smell?  We were still taken back by the costs of food, and coveted our packed sandwiches still through small little quiet streets, and few citizens present.  There were though a few out, one who was also quite enthusiastic, but it was the memorable walk into what looked like a small market stall, filled with fresh baked bread and cheeses that took our breath away.  Oh my god the aroma that came from this place was indescribable.  Fresh baked bread and dough punctured the air, and the ripe smell of soft warm cheese and earth was smashing you straight in the face.  We still didn't purchase anything, once again... sticking with our grocery manufactured aluminum foil wraps of goodness to get us by.

We made our stamp of approval, and took our next adventure to one of the most impressive places I've ever visited.  I've been to many museums in my life but have never seen one as spectacular as Louisiana located in the area of Humlebæk.  A quick distance between Copenhagen and Helsingnør stands this incredible museum.  While I haven't been to many grand ones in my life, I have been to some spectacular ones, and this place by far, is just a mind blowing experience in it's design aspects, location, and presentation of art that I have ever seen.

A wonderful building nestled on the coast, it is full of sculptures, excellent paintings, hallways that cascade with light and wood beams that mimic the forest surroundings.  The location and rooms are in themselves works of art them selves, and provides a sensory melancholy viewing experience that just can't be duplicated.

Walking around outside and finding the numerous amount of sculptures and even hidden artworks is like a fine treasure hunt of modern weirdness, quirky, and wicked finds that you wont find anywhere else in the same way as your ordinary museum.  Exhibits of course come from time to time, and while we visited we got to see quite an interesting one.

We entered the exhibit, neutral white for the template of course then ready for the artists colors ready to put their stamp of approval on.  Or in this case, a chance for the artist to unload the dump-truck.

Situated in the museum, and cascading room to room, where piles of rocks and gravel.  It was an indoor expression I guess of "land art" perhaps, within the confined spaces of what should have been something very familiar.

Holy crap what is this?  The rooms were filled to the brim with gray stones and gravel, an almost lunar landscape and a cutting stream that ran between the exhibit punctuated the rooms from end to end.  It was very hard to figure how this was planned, but it obviously was in some fashion that seemed hard to fathom.

This was a piece called Riverbed, that was made by Olafur Eliasson.  A homemade inside outside version of a neighboring brook or perhaps desolate area, one that rips your eyes with it's whitewashed and bleached appearance, it breaks your ideas of normalcy, perception, and beauty.

It was also a complete blast to walk through.  Normal doors were crunched with 3 feet of gravel, forcing you to actually duck between rooms to see the continuing piece at times.

"Wow" I said to my wife, I can honestly say I have never seen anything like this before, and as a younger brother of an artist, having watched my sister go through art school, gone to numerous openings, I have seen lots of obscurities.

The museum as far as I am concerned is an absolute MUST see, if you are visiting the country.

*-*-*

We made it back to Copenhagen to spend one last night with Katerine and Magnus.  We had to take her out to dinner, there was no way we were not going to thank her for her hospitality and at least give her a break in the kitchen.

It was a little later that we set out, I forget why, perhaps because we were packing, but we ended up searching quite a bit for a restaurant, Magnus in his pram ride in tow. our stomachs ready.

We found a good busy place nearby (Cafe Bopa), lots of outside tables, very busy, which were good for Katerine to sit aside with her pram, and an unforgettable experience involving Magnus that I must retell here in its full glory.

Magnus was a little restless, he was out running around a bit, and playing with two other slightly older kids with a soccer ball.  This sort of had me nervous, since it was dark out, and I felt we were loosing sight of him at times.  Still it was a good way for him to burn off energy, and give Katerine a break.  This way at least he would get good and tired, after all we all love our kids but you just want them to sleep so we can have some quiet adult time.

My wife and I looked over the menu, noticed it was filled with a kind of French bistro like items, Cassoulet, Steak and fries and so forth.  I nestled a Bohemian Pilsner, but she wanted wine and couldn't figure out which one to order per glass.  The great waitress we had, actually came out with a few ounces of each three in tumblers for her to try on the house.  Excellent above the call service, especially for Europe might I add...

While we had an appetizer of sorts, and waited for our mains, Magnus came running back to the table. Without missing a beat, he grabbed one of the white wine tumblers, probably thinking it was apple juice while Katerine was distracted, and took a big two handed gulp.

These are the moments that you know in life you will never experience again, so you dare not miss  them.

It wasn't long until we realized what was happening, and that meant we were too slow and powerless to stop it before it started.

A clunk hit the table as Magnus clumsily put the glass back down. No! Katerine said, but it was too late.

The look on his FACE.. after that sip was unforgettable.  His eyes literally BULGED out.  He stood there completely motionless, in utter confusion, as if paralyzed by a combination of stupid and just out right fear.  All that energy and fidgityness suddenly evaporated as he stood completely motionless like a frozen statue for once, in a state I have never seen before.

My wife and I just burst out laughing really hard.  I can only imagine what must be going through that kids head right now.

"Well someone I think is going to sleep well tonight!"

"Yup sorry kid that is not apple juice!"

I am sure this is going to be a story Magnus is going to here later in life, over and over again from his elders.  That story... remember way back when... sort of thing.  I guess we got him started off young like a true Dane you could say.

It was our last time in the country, and we were getting on a train to Germany tomorrow.  The forecast actually called for once a clear sunny day, but we would not get to experience a full one in the country anymore.  After tonight the journey and good drinks were going to be held elsewhere, but sorry Magnus..., you wont be coming.

Imbibing through Europe again. Traveling Denmark and Germany and the drinks in between Part 4 of ?

Cantillon Blåbær Lambic at Ølbutikken

I awake once again,  It's the morning and the jet lag is at this point gone with the trials and pains subsided of sleep deprivation, but I feel my place of time is lost.  I look outside.  The sky is gray... the pavement is ... gray... the rain comes down again.. it is... gray... the colors are.... gray... where in the HELL is the sun I ask myself in this country?  I turn to my wife... "are we in Seattle or something?"

"What are you doing in bed?!  Get UP!  We have plans to take care of!" she said to me.

Ah yes I said to myself, for today was the day I almost forgot.  Today was the day to go search for that elusive beer, the one that is seemingly on the mind of many beer fans. One that is quite obscure and one that deserves special attention, sold only once a year in Copenhagen, from Belgian brewery Cantillon.  It is simply... Blåbær.

"Yes today we go get Blåbær!"  I said with big satisfaction. "It was like I dreamt of it!" I remarked with a shit eating grin bigger than a Chesire cat.

"No actually you didn't dream of it" my wife said with an annoying look, hands on her hips and poised as to why I still hadn't gotten out of bed.

"What? What do you mean I didn't dream of it?  I had dreamed I tasted it, then we went to some other places like Mikkeller along the way too, and it was great!"

"Yeah you did that yesterday remember?!" at this point she was getting frustrated.

"I did?! you mean this was real?!"  I sat up in bed stunned while Magnus flummoxed his lego pieces and tossed them around with reckless abandon.  "Oh my god this really happened!".

It turns out, when I sat up I realized I had already slayed the dragon the previous night.  In between times, we managed to make our way down to Ølbutikken and also the passing Mikkeller bar to partake in the glorious beer suds that this city and country offered.

"You were right!  Absolutely right! Wow I remember the journey like it was yesterday."

* - *- *

Somewhere between our cavorting and travelling we made an effort to make our way down to Ølbutikken where Cantillon Blåbær was to be sold.  There were a few things that were also on the radar though that got taken care of first.

"Where's the licorice!?" I said to myself.  It was a food item I really wanted to explore here while we visited.

I remember reading about how there were really good licorice shops and that it was very popular in Denmark.  A quick Google search popped up one maker who had a series of shops of what one might even call "artisan" crafted licorice.  His name was Johan Bulow and he makes a product simply called Lakrids.

We set out to try and find his store, and discovered after getting easily lost that we had to actually go underground, into a basement department area to find it.

The result was incredibly satisfying, if not a big hit on the wallet.  Licorice here is not what you think it is back in the United States.  Forget about Twizzlers and ropes of over sweet plastic.  The items here are of a completely different vein.  Chocolate coated, numerous fruit flavors, dustings with other sweet confections, and of course an old classic that is quite jarring to many North Americans which he made that I fell in love with, simply black and salted.

Licorice seemed to be everywhere we looked as well and we picked up several different makers.  So far after having tried many others in various price ranges, the Johan Bulow items were becoming favorites of ours but they were all really good. We did seem to prefer them over the other cheaper brands.

Licorice didn't just seem to be candy, it was also in other products and most surprisingly, it was in beer.

I found quite a few local breweries, and lots of beer that had licorice as an ingredient.  Most of them were stouts, and to some extent darker beers such as brown ales.

You can actually see me review a licorice beer here along with some Blåbær and Copenhagen highlights below.

Getting back on course though was needed.  The plan of attack was set in motion.  We headed to the Vesterbro neighborhood which was also home to the Mikkeller bar.  The path to be traveled would take us past Mikkeller but we would definitely have to go to find Blåbær first.  There was one address though on Vesterbrogade street which was along the way for Mikkeller that had me a little confused.  They do have a bottle shop in Norrbero, but this address was not the bar on Viktoriagade.  I wondered if this might be another bottle shop and it could be worth checking out some goodies.

I arrived in a staircase apartment like entrance completely confused after I got buzzed in.  Still I figured I was here so I might as well check it out.  I opened a door to what was obviously an office situated in a loft, beer posters on the wall, benched tables, and lots of neck bearded workers sitting behind laptops.

It was one of those situations of awkwardness, the one where you think you are making probably the wrong decision, but think that a slim chance is worth checking out.  Then you open the door, and you have the error of your ways staring you back in your face, and then you have to explain yourself.

"Can I help you?"  a nice gentlemen said in very good English.

"Uh... hey... I was looking for a possible Mikkeller bottle shop?"  in which I knew I was already at the wrong place and interrupting a bunch of people who had work to do, than to deal with some beer guy who at times wasn't aware of how to get around Copenhagen sometimes.  

I had actually stumbled upon what appeared to be one of the companies corporate offices.  The staff was actually very nice, and they mentioned that there was no beer here to be sold, but that the bar was just around the corner.  Uh I knew that.... just not and smile I said to myself,,,

"Oh thanks!  I'll be on my way, I'll probably see you there too!", to which they replied with much thanks.  Turns out I would run into these group of merry workers again, but more on that story later.  The hunt for Cantillon Blåbær would now continue.

The store that sells it is not far from the Mikkeller bar, but the plan now was a full on hit for the bottle shop Ølbutikken where the item is sold.  One thing I had to keep myself aware of was there was a "very" good chance though, that the beer may not even be there.

The beer is released once a year at the shop, and sold as a special release with lots of demand for beer fans.  That release happened about 2-3 months before I had arrived.  I had sent a couple of emails to the store owner before the trip, and was told that he did keep some bottles for future customers who could not attend the release in person and take a bottle home.  There was though some very important stipulations about purchasing this beer from the store.  First, only one bottle could be sold to a customer, and secondly, the bottle had to be consumed on the premises when you bought it. You were not allowed to leave the store with a full bottle.

I had no issue with this at all, in fact it's a great way to make sure that the beer is available to more people who want it.

Finally, the destination was staring me in the face.  A giant black letter sign lead me to the basement of a store, with a nice thick wooden bench and rows of bottles on shelves and coolers sitting around.  Inside I was already loving the variety and the availability of beers I normally can't get my hands on.  Still I had to stay focused... FOCUS ... look for Cantillon!

A cooler off to the corner contained some decent Belgian beers, and there was a particular top shelf filled with various Cantillon bottles.  Classic Gueuze, Kriek, Brucosella, Iris, and a few others.

But I didn't see any Blåbær.

So damn close I thought.  But I wasn't going to give up so easily.  It was time to introduce myself to the shop owner and inquire about this mysterious beast.  I spoke with the proprietor of the store, a younger guy who seemed like a very enthusiastic beer fan.  We had chatted a few times in email, but he said he actually had some problems setting up email and his Internet connection in the store.  "You're actually lucky I just got this setup today! It's actually working!!"  he said with a huge excitement under his breath.

"Well that's great, but do you have any Blåbær?"  I nervously asked.

"Of course it's in the cooler over there!"

"Huh?!"  I swear I looked it up and down, but then he pointed to the bottom far right corner of the rectangular door, the spot where discerning beer hunting eyes often fail to look over and over again, the place that disappears often in the recesses of the mind of a beer shopper like me, barely lurching over the tips of your feet where your eyes don't reach.

There it was.  In the corner were about a dozen maybe 16-18 bottles.  Their dark blue and almost gray like appearance almost made them invisible, and they were not close to the glass.  It was almost as if they were hiding from me.  The beer came in two sizes, a large 750ml and a smaller 375ml.  This was a great option, I would have killed a larger bottle but I knew it would cost more and I had more beer to drink at the Mikkeller bar I wanted to check out as well.

When beer hunting and slaying, know your plans, and stick to your guns.

My wife is also a big Belgian lambic fan.  She is often not a fan of beer in general but really likes these styles of beers having spent a semester in Brussels during college.  To her the beer doesn't taste like regular "beer-beer" as she likes to refer to it.  I would buy a small bottle and we would share it.  It would allow me enough to judge it, and leave room for more beer to consume down the street at Mikkeller, and save a little bit more money as the bigger bottle was more expensive.

Speaking of price, this was not cheap either.  Once again things in Copenhagen were not just an easy pinching, and this 375ml beer cost me with conversion rate close to $28 US dollars.

The sale was rung and it was going to happen.  Two glasses were given, the proprietor popped the cork, a perfect sound not excessive, and no gushing, a great start.  I slowly carried everything, sat myself at the table and readied myself to document the experience.  Before I even tasted this beer, first giving it a look and examining it's bouquet, I realized I probably made my first mistake.

I should have bought the bigger bottle....

One sip confirmed it...

I REALLLLLY... should have bought the bigger bottle...

People like to hype up rare beers, and to some extent it is justified and other times it isn't.  This of course also had me concerned about whether this beer would live up to expectations.  Still I've had several of Cantillon's products luckily and they are wonderful brews, so I was looking for some of that magic, but had also read that other people didn't care for this beer either.  

Even with all these thoughts in my mind, I always go into a new beer with no expectations.  It could be amazing, or it could be ordinary, or it could be downright terrible.  Luckily for me, the experience was the former.

The first thing that struck me about the beer was it's appearance.  A slow decant and simple pour showed off one of the most impressive colors on any lambic I've seen.  It was a perfect ruby gem red.  Shiny.  Virtually no hues and just a little bit of pink fizzy head that dissolved to of course nothing, to let the beauty of this color shine.  It literally looks like you are cradling a ruby gem in your hands.

The aroma and bouquet provides a plethora of fruit experiences.  Classic earth funky tones come with blueberry, cherries, raspberries, even a peach like fuzz note on the nose.  

Then there is the taste.  Drizzled lightly sweet balsamic vinegar over fresh fruit in a glass, poured over peaches and blueberries, with big earthy notes of fresh tiled soil and almost fungus mushroom quality.  Great sweet acidic like tones, complex flavors but wonderfully balanced.  Light mouthfeel with some playful carbonation.

It's easily the best blueberry beer I've ever had to date.  

My wife who grew up in Maine around wild blueberries was enjoying herself as well.  She really enjoyed it too, as she got caught up on the free WiFi in the store over her email.

It was at this point I wish I could drink more of this, but the die was cast.  The hardest part about drinking a brew that is amazing is the experience comes to an end.  There is a pathos knowing that this experience will never again happen, amongst the joy of having an amazing drink.

We then made our way to the Mikkeller bar down the street.  A fantastic spot, with a downstairs like entrance, subway tiles that cling to the wall, and a giant chalk board with the latest menu beer items ready to be slayed.

Mikkeller - AK Alive

Oh yes this is going to be good.  Interesting saisons and wilds given were ripe for the taking, and then they even serve beers from 3 Floyds here.  Dear lord this is like nirvana.  There was even more than just that, as I glanced over a bunch of silver dollar sized rye bread pieces for sale, their green watercress tops licking at my face and attention.  "Hello there!" said a young familiar Dane, a guy who I had already met earlier who finally got away from his desk, and was now off his shift.  "Yeah this guy came in earlier!  Hope he likes the beers!"  Guess I was making a name for myself already, as a big tattooed bloke poured me a saison.  I didn't take long while glancing around that the ambience here was different from many of the other spots we had visited in Copenhagen,

This place is filled with Americans.  It was hard not to notice.  So this is where they all end up huh?  Why can't I escape these people when I travel?  But then it again it was a fun familiarity as well all recounted our trial and tribulations adjusting to a new place.  "I can't figure out how much money I took out of the ATM!"  bellowed this hilarious guy from Kentucky, wads of Krone bursting from his hands eager to be spent.  Another bearded young bloke, who wouldn't be out of place at any craft beer bar, neck beard included then asked me, "HEY have you ever had any Two Hearted!?"

why yes young man... yes I have.... oh boy have I ever had lots of that excellent brew.

This was all taken in as the staff free of charge poured us a bottle of AK Alive, suds and brett funk enveloping the room in a hazy cloud, passed hand in hand, glasses clink at the ready, merriment unleashed.

Another great treat about this bar is the giant chemistry flask the size of a watermelon, filled with a cherry like wine, that was cheap, simple, and easily devour-able..  one that my wife enjoyed and partook in while the conversation ebbed and flowed all late afternoon, Danes still stuck at work... us tourists drinking and plundering their wares...

This ... is ... so awesome...

"Yeah that was really cool! wasn't it!?"  I remarked to my wife who was probably wondering about my sanity at this point.

"And oh yeah we also went to that really cool bar, ya know!  The oldest one in the country!"  Katrine had taken us their as I recalled with much vigor.  Founded in 1723, it's interior is warm, inviting, filled with love and stories that I wish the walls could tell us.  The beer selection though was rather pedestrian, but was served with care, and what did look like locals who were very old who had been coming here for ages.  Simple Tuborg Classic was offered, it might have been even from a beer engine (cask), and simply hit the spot.  Even Katrine's pram fit in the place, with Magnus fitting in well.  

"That was so AWESOME!! when we did that too!!"

By this point my wife had that look on her face, the one that was hovering over me as I was still nestled between the sheets in rapture of beer and drink bliss.

"Can I ask you a question?" she said matter of factly...

"Why yes darling... say... anything..."

"ARE YOU STILL FUCKING DRUNK?!  Cause we went to that bar on the FIRST day we arrived DON'T YOU REMEMBER ANYTHING THAT HAPPENS?!?"

Oh.... .. I guess when you put it that way... I uh... kinda remember it a little differently.

It's one thing when memory is so detailed... but the days go by and times seem to be a blur...

She was right though.  Cantillon and Mikkeller was the previous night.  Our first evening we arrived, Katerine took us to a real cool bar spot, and there I was awake, luckily with no hangover, but with a sense of completeness, and heavenly in rapture of the memories while still nestled and nuzzling the bed sheets.

"Yup that was great".

"Good I am glad you enjoyed it."  At this point my wife seemed at least content with my memories.  But before I could hit the pillow and take in another great morning of coffee and tasty wares, she had one more thing to belt out.

"Now get your ass out of bed we got 15 minutes to catch the train to go to Helsingnør!"

....

fuck...

* - * - *

POST NOTE:  The above events did occur, but not in the exact times as the blog chronicled (which is mentioned).  Also my wife didn't really yell at me... but believe me she can...  also we really were late for that dam train...  more on that later...

Imbibing through Europe again. Traveling Denmark and Germany and the drinks in between Part 1 of ?

On the hunt

One thing I've always loved about finding good drink and mostly beer of late, is how the ability to travel can put you into some great opportunities.  I have always wanted to go to Germany, but aside from planning my own excursions and an excuse to go I needed a reason other than to just maybe slam beers in Bamberg, or the Franconia/Bavaria regions.  And oh yeah... someday.. I am going to do that...

Enter family.  A member of my family who is an artist, was offered a space at the well known Bauhaus Archive to show her work.  My entire family was going to be there for the show, so what a perfect excuse to show up.  I always wanted to go to Germany since I was the only member my my family who before this trip, had never been there.  My mother was born there, then later moved to live in the United States shortly after World War II.  My sister, had been several times, my Dad tagged along with my Mom in retirement to other areas to see some obscure family members.

But not me.

Thoughts of grabbing and experiencing some of the culture of my family's heritage got me excited. There was going to be much language practice, I was going to finally have real German food in it's right place (which I found eating here growing up in North America ok, but not really exciting and sometimes downright awful), and more importantly... boy was I going to drink a lot of beer.  The time I was to be there ironically, was the period of Oktoberfest.

THIS VACATION IS GOING TO KICK ASS!!!  I screamed from the heavens!

However, with all things that involve travel you have to make plans. Time was booked off for both me and my wife, cat sitters were found (luckily), and then the reality sets in.  This costs money.

Enter opportunity once again.

While figuring out when and where and how long to stay, my wife noticed that flying into Copenhagen was cheaper than Berlin.  What a minute I said.. Isn't that Denmark?  We found out we could take the train from there to Berlin as well, something my wife and I have done in Europe often and love.  There is no better way and enjoyable experience, than riding trains through Europe as we have in the past.  But where would we stay?

My wife remarked, that she had an old college friend, a Dane who always wanted to see us if we came to visit.  I thought FREE ROOM in Copenhagen!!  THIS WE MUST DO!!

In my excitement of visiting someplace I never had before, once again the beer hunting and fooding took over.  Denmark... my fingers tapped furiously into the Google search engine, beer, then to dining... We honestly and seriously thought about making a reservation at NOMA, then it occurred to me that we probably need a time machine to make a reservation, and also thought spending another entire plane ticket flight just to eat there couldn't be justified.

Wait a minute... Denmark has beer!  Denmark has beer that I have never drank before!  It has great bars and beers shops!

I hit up a common grocery store chain in Denmark and looked up many delights and made notes, then it hit me, once I was done planning my thorough attack at killing Copenhagen's beer scene down to a "T", I was going to hit... the motherload of all beers.  There was the Mikkeller bars, the foreign shops.. then it dawned on me, while my wife came up to me explaining what we were possibly in for.

"I just wanted to let you know, that Katrine said we can stay with her", said my wife.

"Did you know the Mikkeller bars server Three Floyd's beers over there!"  I said.

"Her place is really small.." as my wife said realizing my mind was elsewhere.

"Holy crap look at this taplist they have here!"

"It might a bit cramped".

"That's ok, we can handle it, hey man look at these licorice stores they got here."

"She has a 2 and a half year old son...."

"BUT I CAN GET A BOTTLE OF CANTILLON BLÅBÆR FOR SALE THERE!!!"

"Are you even LISTENING TO ME...?!?!"

This is what I got really excited about.  Cantillon releases a blueberry lambic known as blåbær, once a year.  There is only one place in the world you can get this incredibly rare, and highly sought after beer.

It's in Copenhagen at a store called Ølbutikken.  The beer was going to be shortly released there just before I was to arrive.  Coincidence.. no this was DESTINY.

I was going to slay this dragon come hell or high water.

I returned back to my wife's semi furious gaze and let the reality set in.  One thing I have learned is that often your life partner doesn't share the same passions you have, but that's ok.  More importantly they understand things that make others happy.  We do have great enjoyment in same things, but when we travel it's for me food and drink, for her its sights, museums, and the like.

A small apartment, a 2 year old, and the sounds of Copenhagen rustling, the bike paths, the canal, it all seemed to wash away into a fog.

Yup this was going to be an adventure.  We booked it, and we got excited.

I thought I'd write about this travel experience for it was the most interesting and fascinating and some degree most frustrating trips I had ever been on.  There was alot I learned about my family, and also about myself in doing so, and of course, there was an incredible amount of good drink.

I'll be updating this blog with the day to day excursions of how the trip panned out.  It was without question an experience I'll never forget.  And of course I made sure to tell me wife...

and no I am not going to go see that dumb fucking statue.

The Journey Continues... Click here for Part 2.