Royal Copenhagen

My Mom has been a collector of the "blue plate" for as long as I can remember (really, I can't remember when all this started). These blue plates are collector's Christmas plates from a company called Royal Copenhagen, out of ... you guessed it!

The company has issued a plate each year commemorating the holiday, and my Mom and I have spent numerous pleasurable afternoons browsing various locations one might find such a plate ... delighting when we found one, snarling when the price was ridiculous or it was the all too prevalent palm trees (right, you see a lot of those in Denmark).

She has completed quite a collection over the years, and as a collector often does, come to the point where only the very special will have the privilege of being added to the collection hung around the soffit of the kitchen.

Myself, as I consider weekend getaways in the colder months, like to focus on city trips, where you wonder the stone streets, not taking concern of the chill because the crisp in the air and views are so sweet.

Nordic cities certainly fall into this genre, so I have been keeping my eye on Copenhagen because of its sentimental value, and closeness to the sea and Sweden.  I was considering a visit for the Christmas markets, but when I saw "Europe's largest flea market" I was booked in a heartbeat.  I decided to do a solo trip ... only Mom could truly have the endurance and enthusiasm to power through this like I wanted.

I took the after work flight Friday night and had enough time to drop off the bag and go grab the local Christmas beer, Tuborg Julebryg (interesting fact ... their marketing campaign is one of the oldest still utilized today .. cute!).

However, there was no time for play, as I needed to get off to bed to wake early, grab a coffee and an amazing cinnamon roll and get off to the Loppemarked (Danish for "huge room of amazing vintage goods!")

What can I say ... it was delightfully full of mod Danish furniture and kitchen bits, loaded with Royal Copenhagen, not only blue plates, but figurines and the like.  I picked up a few items, including a bag of licorice (and if I would have had the means would have picked up a lot more).  After four hours I wearily made my way back onto the Metro into town for the second half of the day exploring the city.

I went for a light lunch of Smorgasbord ... my first round of pickled herring, which given my DNA is a delight.  By that time it was already dark (like 4P) so I wondered the cobbled streets looking at shops, listening to street musicians, and passing by the mecca Royal Copenhagen flagship store.  {Don't worry Mom, noooothing to be seen there).  Did you know legos were invented in Denmark?  They were.

Went back to the hotel to get purty for my fancy dinner (which you can read about here), stopped to see some bad 80s music after , and then to bed again for Sunday was another big day!  Up early again to grab the canal boat tour for an hour before heading off on the metro again to see the food market and eat everything in sight!

I know I am all about food, pretty much all the time, but they had their herring served on the seagull plates from Royal Copenhagen.  Awwww!  And huge chunks of Danish blue cheese ... yeah, that came home with me along with a gorgeous piece of smoked salmon covered in dill.  And don't get me started about the sweet rolls with cardamom ...

Copenhagen is a beautiful little harbour city, where you can still see the life of old salty fisherman, yet experience the surge they had in the 70s specifically around architecture and design.  When I go up north I feel a sense of identity ... people are kind, clean, eat healthy  appreciate nature ... and are punctual!!  My flight boarded early both times on Scandinavia airlines!

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