Following the footsteps of Samantha Brown

I don't have a lot of time left in Copenhagen so I need to make the most of it. I'm a huge fan of Samantha Brown and so I've been trying to do all of the things she did when she was in Copenhagen. I've been to the tourist office, Stroget, the Little Mermaid, and now I've been to the Laundromat cafe. She took her laundry here and ordered a coffee. I only did the latter part. I recognized it from the show and got too excited.

Here is a picture from the inside. Note my Blog is open on my laptop and that I spilled my coffee onto the saucer. I accidentally exclaimed Shit! and the couple next to me smiled at me. Not sure if it was a pity smile or sympathy smile.

Laundromat Cafe from the outside. It's in Norreboro. You can take the 5A bus or walk across the bridge from Norreport. It's on Elmegade 15. 

I didn't take this picture but this shows the colorful books. Around the corner is the laundry machines. They even have cool framed posters in there. 

It snowed. Shocker.

Shout out: Thanks Grandmama for the great package. I love you!

Story time!

I go in to the Lego store to buy a lego keychain. A guy aks if I need help in Danish, I say "I'm sorry?" and he switches to English. He's smiling and very friendly about trying to help me. I go to him to buy my Copenhagen lego man keychain. "Where are you from?" he asks. "America" I say, "you?" "Here" he says. I find out he's graduated from high school and working now to make money for college. We talk about how a lot of kids study in Denmark and how Danish is a hard language to learn. He tells me have a nice day and I leave. I walk back to DIS and think to myself, "Wow, he was really nice. And really cute. And I walked away from him. I should go back ask him out." So I confidently walk back into the lego store. "Hi again" he says. "Hi. Do you want to grab coffee sometime?" I ask. "Oh. I don't think my girlfriend would like that." D'oh! He said he thought I was really brave to do that and wished that I really have a good day. Great. 

Today's coffee review


Bagel shop by DIS: I don't know their name but I took a picture of the shop. I was excited to go here because it was a good location and hoped it might be a place I could frequent. Wrong. I open the door and immediately run into a guy who's sitting right by the door talking to the shop owner. I tell the man I want a small latte. He makes it. I pay. He watches me and waits for me to leave. There wasn't anyone except the shop owner and his friend in there. The coffee was okay because I added sugar. It was so small and overpriced. It's such a small shop, that you can't hangout there.

Coffee points: 4
Atmosphere points: 3

Deb Ponts: 2 

Today's restaurant review: 

I tried Sandwich Pigen today. Seemingly every DIS kid except me has been here. I wanted a salad for lunch and I saw online they had salads. When I walked in, there were two other DIS girls there ordering sandwiches. I knew one of the girls from class and chatted with her. I ordered the two meatball pasta salad. I ate it on the train. The meatballs were the size of my first. The pasta salad tasted very healthy. It even came with bread. It was a a huge portion and very filling. I'm not sure if I'll go back. 

IKEA

Me, my host mom and host sister went to Ikea this evening. My host sister is getting a new room with new wallpaper and furniture so she was picking out new bed sheets and new things. I enjoyed comparing the American Ikea to Denmark's Ikea. The furniture is somewhat different and there is less stuff to buy, probably because it's smaller. 

So many chairs and tables to choose from

A very cute dining table

Me working at my new desk. 

Ikea sign in Danish. 

I wish I had that bunk bed. 

Those bunk beds look so cool. 

Another sign in Danish. 

The downstairs of Ikea

Before you check out

You can eat a hamburger at Ikea if you want. 

More pictures!

Berta! Deep in thought. 

Berta smelling me.

Me and Berta, sharing a moment. 

Feels like Winds Day

Today was so cold and windy outside. I needed two coffees to get me through. This means, two coffee shop reviews!

3/18
Please Enjoy: I'm not sure what the actual name of this coffee shop is. My cup says Please Enjoy on it and has a picture of a cyclopse with a top hat and handlebar mustache. I took a picture of it for you. It's by DIS, it's underneath some scaffolding.  I went here before class because I heard from other DIS students that they had cheap coffee. Yes they do. Between 10am and noon, coffee is 15kr for students. Cannot beat that. The catch is that it's not a substantial amount or fantastic coffee. I got a latte and it felt like mostly foam and wasn't anything to write home about. I also didn't add sugar, like I normally do, so maybe that had something to do with my taste. The guy behind the counter was extremely friendly and nice. He poured more milk into it to try and fill it up and added chocolate sprinkles on top. The place itself is very small. There are just three tables and they didn't look vey comfortable, just minmal wooden tables. I think I might stop in again because of how cheap the coffee is and try a normal coffee rather than a latte. I don't think I would chill there.

Coffee points: 4
Atmosphere points: 4
Deb Points: 6


Riccos Kaffebar: I love this place! After class, I went out searching for a coffee shop to hangout in, do homework, and review. I easily stumbled upon Riccos. I ordered a chai latte and a chocolate chip cookie (only 16 kr). Both were scrumptious and heavenly. My cookie was soft and my chai was smooth, the way it should be. The girls behind the counter are friendly. I asked one if they had wi fi and she politely told me the password was on the wall. The atmosphere here is great. They have tables, couches, and window bar stools. A wide variety of places to sit. There is also a variety of people who come here. I saw a young family with a baby, teenage boys, a married couple, etc. The music they play is soft enough to not be distracting. It's chill and current music. I love Riccos!

Coffee points: 9
Atmosphere points: 10
Deb points: 10

About my day:

This morning, I tried taking the bus. My host family explained to me what to do the night before. The bus station is right outside their house so it seemed like an attractive alternative to biking or walking to the station. I took the bus to Humlebeck station but got off at the wrong side (so the train on my side of the tracks wasn't going to Copenhagen). I watched the train I wanted to be on go by me as I stood on the other side. To kill twenty minutes and to stay warm by moving around, I looked through the Humlebeck shopping center. The train came and all was fine.

I didn't end my adventurous commute there. I felt compelled to try out getting off at a different stop. I usually get off at Norreport but today I got off at the next station which is Kobenhaven Central station. This is a huge train station where a wide variety of trains come and go. When I walked out, I was a little turned around about which way to walk to DIS. I saw Tivoli and remembered that Tivoli was near a building that was by DIS. So I followed the gates around Tivoli and came to the intersection I recognized and found my way to class.

In creative travel writing, they reviewed my story in class today. I wrote about my relationship with Blake on our trip to Italy. I changed her name to Kate, to be polite in the story. Some feedback I got was that the story should be more 50% about me and 50% about her, I should elaborate on the scene where we miss our train stop, my voice as the narrator came off as annoying (what???), and that it was a unique way to think about travel writing because it was more about the act of traveling and not the destination. I thought it was a fantastic piece and was surprised everyone didn't start praising me as the next Hemingway. Just joking. I can never predict the feedback from writing workshops.

Ttyl

Coffeeshop Reviews

I've always really liked coffee shops. In Copenhagen I am thoroughly enjoying the plethora of choices. My new goal (just for fun)  is to sample as many coffee shops as I can and then write short personal reviews. I've gone through and reviewed the places I've been so far. On a scale of 1-10 I ranked how good their coffee was, how nice and comfortable the atmosphere was, and how much I personally liked it. I agree those are the three most important factors in a good coffee shop.

List of cafes and coffee shops I've been to in Copenhagen:

Living Room: This is a cool place because you can go downstairs and chill on the couches without buying anything. Heck I even ate my own sandwich there. The lighting is low and the couches are made of leather and quite large. One morning I bought a small coffee there for 20kr. I drank it black and it was actually great without sugar or cream. The best part was that it came with two chocolate covered coffee beans. I felt comfortable doing my reading sitting on a barstool facing the window. The woman behind the counter was friendly. Lots of Danes hang out here and it's always crowded.
Coffee points: 8
Atmosphere points: 9
Deb points: 8

Squeeze Me First: Like them on Facebook to get deals and specials. I went there and got a coffee, tomatoe soup and bread for something like 30kr. The soup was fantastic. The coffee was standard.The woman who works there is friendly to chat with It's a very small place and the chairs aren't comfy so it's better to take the food to go. Not many people know about this place so it is never crowded.
Coffee points: 6
Atmosphere points: 6
Deb points: 8

Baresso: The Starbucks of Denmark. I went here to study for an exam and that was a mistake. I spent ten minutes waiting in line for an overpriced small coffee and the Wi fi has a time limit. They are always crowded. The coffee was fine. They normally have two floors so there is plenty of space to chill, but there is a wide variety of people who come here; like from children to the elderly. You'll probably have to sit next to a screaming child. You can find better coffee shops with more personality. This is a last resort coffee shop.
Coffee points: 4
Atmosphere points: 3
Deb points: 4


Tea style: This is my most recent favorite. It's a tea shop rather than a coffee shop but I still want to talk about it. They didn't have a chai latte so I tried the original milky tea for 33kr because she said it was the most popular. It was delicious! It even came in a large glass. I wasn't mad that it didn't stay hot very long because even cold it tasted so sweet. Hands down the best part is the chairs. They hang from the cieling so you can bounce in them. Like a hammock. It's mostly an Asian hangout spot so it's great if you want cultural diversity.
Coffee points: 9
Atmosphere points: 9
Deb points: 9

Joe and the Juice: my host sister told me that in order to work at Joe and the Juice you need to be attractive. I had wondered why all of the baristas looked like male models. Their quite friendly to chat with. The atmosphere here is cool because the couches are comfy and they play music like R. Kelly. The juice is okay. It's like a homemade smoothie where there are seeds and chunks in it. I think it's overpriced.
Coffee points: 3
Atmosphere points: 7
Deb points: 6

Studenterhuset: No one can beat their ten kroner coffee and croissant deal. That's what I get. This is a great spot because you can hang out there and not buy anything. It's where a lot of Danes hang out. I think it's too crowded with DIS students sometimes.
Coffee points: 7
Atmosphere points: 8
Deb points: 7