Denmark Adventures: Day 2

Day 2: Saturday, January 7, 2006

So this morning we wanted to wake up nice and early so we could get breakfast in our hotel. Fat chance. We ended up waking up after 1100. Breakfast ended at 1100. Not only were we frustrated that we missed the included breakfast, but there were only a few hours of daylight left. We had planned on going to the palace to see the changing of the guards at 1200, but again, we didn't make it in time.
Did I mention yesterday that it is cold here? If not, it’s REALLY cold. We decided to walk down the street to the main shopping street. It was really neat. Reminded me of a flea market, because the street narrowed, and was for pedestrians only. It definitely didn’t have flea market prices. So it was about a 15 minute walk to the street, and then maybe an hour or so walk through the street if you didn’t stop anywhere. So now imagine me, who is always cold, walking in the cold for a few hours. We stopped in a bunch of stores, had lunch, and took some pictures, so my toes were frozen. I brought a scarf, a hat, and a pair of gloves, but it didn’t keep me nearly warm enough. Think I’m just being a wimp? I will dare any New Yorker to come over here..I know you will be cold.
So back to the shopping. This street reminded Miguel and I of 5th Avenue in new York. A must see for a tourist, but you really don’t want to buy anything, because it is so expensive. For instance, I got so cold that I had to have something to warm my bones. We stopped in a coffee shop. Miguel and I each got a large hot chocolate. I’m thinking $6, maybe $8 at the most. Well, we paid approx. $12. Crazy! Granted, the chocolate was real chocolate that they actually melt in the cup, and the whipped cream was hand whipped, but $12? A bottle of water was approx. $3.50, for a 20 ounce. Wow!
So the all-American that I am, wanted some lunch. What do you think I had? I ate a an awesome “Hamburger Restaurant.” It’s called McDonald’s. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I’m eating McDonald’s while I am in Denmark. Miguel was less than thrilled with that, and I can’t say that I blame him. This is a once in a lifetime experience, and I’m eating McDonalds. They do call McDonald’s a “hamburger restaurant.” I don’t know about all that, folks. It tasted the same, except for the diet coke. In fact, they don’t have diet coke. Here they have coca-cola light. It has the same colors as diet coke, but it tastes much sweeter. It tastes too much like regular coke to me. It’s not great, but it’s doable. Miguel tried something new for lunch. I had a bite, and I must say that it was very different. He had a shawarma and fries. The shawarma reminded me of a gyro. It was the same kind of meat, in a pita pocket, with lettuce, tomato, and some sort of sauce. Not bad. Miguel liked it.
For dinner we met up with Chris Rice, Miguel’s co-worker, and decided to try something new. Obviously the decision was not left to me, or we would have eaten at Burger King or Domino’s Pizza. I’m glad that Miguel picked the location. The restaurant was right down the street from our hotel. It was a Turkish restaurant. The 3 of us go inside, sit down, and start looking at the menus. Again, everything was in Danish. So we called a waitress over who happily translated for us. All of a sudden during dinner, the music got really loud and a belly dancer came out and danced for a couple of songs. I’ve noticed that almost everything is expensive here, including food, but our dinner was reasonably priced. I would definitely eat there again.