Statens Museum for Kunst

It's Easter and people are flocking to the museums to hide away from the brutal truth that the weather sucks - way too cold for most people's liking. So what shall we do? Well, if in Copenhagen, the answer could be to head for Statens Museum for Kunst, where the entrance is free for the general exhibit, and the atmosphere is nice and calm. Their paintings are rather so-so, but the installation art is dreamy, y'all. And when it isn't dreamy, it's drastic, like metal hitting you right in the face. Example: below you will see a picture of a man (mannequin, don't worry, it's modern enough for real sick people) in a hospital bed. That's part of the installation pieces, where you walk straight into a hospital ward. Let me tell you; that shit's creepy if you're alone.

Ida Davidsen

Just got home from a good, old-fashioned, traditional Danish lunch. That's right, I'm talking 'bout those smørrebrød, those open sandwiches that foreigners flock to whenever they come around these parts. Now, like most modern Danes, I'm not a huge fan of this cuisine, but if I get invited somewhere, I have to be pretty ill not to accept. So I dragged myself to the busy part of Copenhagen and straight down to the basement, where the famous chef Ida Davidsen resides with her open sandwiches and whatnot. Ida was busy as always, and I got some sweet photographs for my equally sweet blog. You're welcome!

A little New York, a little Copenhagen

It's a disgrace how I've had some photos just lying around for a while without ever promoting the places they show. Time to make things right.

First of all, I've had these bad boys hiding on my harddrive for a very long time. They're from Freeman's, taken when I still used to live in New York. Now, you've no doubt heard about Freeman's before. It's the chic restaurant at the end of Freeman's alley (hence the name) at the Lower East Side. It's chic for a reason though, and I would suggest you to hurry, hurry, hurry ot get a bite to eat there. As a matter of fact, you should collect your friends to join you, because they only take reservation for 6+ people. And you need reservations, trust me.

No more New York. Time for Copenhagen. To put it more specifically: time for Amalies Kaffebar, a small, utterly cozy place in Nansensgade. Actually Nansengade seems to have a lot of things going for it. It's not the biggest street in the world (but then again, we're in Copenhagen, so what is?), but it has such distant charm somehow. Can't explain it. You just have to experience it, I guess. Also, the neighbors come in at all times, giving it a somewhat familiar atmosphere.

Finally, for all you yuppies out there, let me finish with Cafe Zeze, a coffee shop mainly inhabited by, yes, yuppies. For a semi-hipster like myself, it's always a good time watching yuppies, especially if you keep in mind Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho and the inane conversations in that book. Somehow that amuses me, even though I guess it shouldn't.

Tallinn!

There are a lot of places I wish I could tell you about. And I can. But, the thing is, well, I don't have any pictures to back it up. Now, I could explain to you the beauty of walking into Matilda, one of the many cozy cake/coffee shops in Tallinn, and eating a huge slice of cherry pie with some Earl Grey tea, but it's just not the same without the pictures. And I could try, try at least, to urge you to visit the many hat stores in town, but oh no, there's no pictures to fully prove this to you. This is why: as I was visiting Tallinn, I got so incredibly over-excited and over-happy and over-everything that I FORGOT to bring out my camera and snap those images that you are now so hungry for. I'm sorry.

However, I didn't always forget this. And now that you know that this blog post is about Estonia's dazzling capital, Tallinn, I know that there is really only one place you'd love to see: Olde Hansa. Isn't that right? Of course it is. Now, I'm not in the business of letting anyone down, so I will include this magical, medieval, strange place here. And if you're ever in Tallinn: book ahead. This is one popular joint.

Amazing place. It kept the medieval spirit all around, and even though that might not be for everyone, it should be. But okay, there are other places in Tallinn as well. Restaurants that serve you incredible food for alomst no money. Take Von Krahli Aed for instance. Slightly odd place that still puts all energy in the quality of the food. The oddness seems to just come with the place.

Finally, but def not least, let me tell you about Chocolats de Pierre. It's placed at Vene 6, in an alley you should visit anyway, and it's the kind of place where the witch coven meets up once a month. Dark, mysterious and stunning. Unfortunately, at the time I visited, there was a guy at a table across from me, who decided to voice his (unnecessarily strong) opinion on cameras in public places. Kind of took some of the good atmosphere. Too bad.

Aalborg

What's one of the best things ever, you ask? This: to go out into the world and realize that the place you always rolled your eyes at, is actually a kind of cool place. Like the small Danish town Aalborg. I mean, I'm a city girl. I grew up in Copenhagen, lived in Britain (okay, it wasn't London, but I found the big city spots), lived in New York and now I'm back in Copenhagen until, well, another big city perhaps? My point is that I have a lot of demands when it comes to what I like to call the Big City Rodeo standards. So over the weekend I went to visit a friend in Aalborg and, oh me, oh my, it was actually great.

For instance they had a second hand clothing store called Det Gyldne Dådyr (look it up) that looked like something out of a very pleasant dream:

But that's not the only treats I came across. My friend (okay, let's just call her Stine from now on, since that's her name) took me to a café that goes by the name of Penny Lane, where they know how to cozy it up and serve carrot pie at the same time.

 

Underneath are pictures of Styggekrumpen, a place where Stine and I ventured for brunch while being STARVED and ready to eat about anything. Pretty close to Aalborg's most obnoxious street, Jomfru Ane Gade (worse than Bourbon Street, I can assure the ladies and gentlemen reading this), but don't let that discourage you. The good people at Stygekrumpen are not that flexible when it comes to vegetarian options, but oh well, the interiour is dazzling and sometimes that's all you need:

See what I mean? Aalborg isn't bad at all. In the evening you can go for a glass of wine at Cafe Nordkraft, or go catch an art film at Biffen. The latter is fantastic by the way, and walking in there Sunday night with Stine to watch a Norwegian film that didn't quite live up to our expectations, I suddenly found that I was downright jealous of this place. Gorgeous, gorgeous cinema.

Dragør

That's right. I've been gone for a while. Did it make you miss me? I know it did.

Anyway, this time around we're somewhere complete different: Dragør. If you're not from Denmark, you may think "what in the world is Dragør?" Let me tell you with a few words: it's a magical place. Let me with a few pictures try to make you see why that is:

But wait! That's not what Big City Rodeo is about! No-no! It's about the lifestyle of every place, so let's get some of that. For instance: the place I love to go the most when I'm in Dragør (and I happened to be there a lot) is this coffee shop called Blink. Sure, I'm most def the youngest person around, but it's just so lovely to take a stroll at the good, ol' village of Dragør and finish it all with reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at Blink.

Yeah, yeah, whatevs, you might say now. Since I know there is almost no way of pleasing the fashionable readers of Big City Rodeo, I will try anyway. How about a little fancy shopping? You see, in Dragør, there's a shop called Laura Ella, and I think it may be filled with the purest magic. I mean, I took a picture inside and it came out like this:

To me that's a sign of magic. No more, no less. And yes, I can be gullible at times.