Shrimps à la Alabama

Today has been a long day out: walking, walking and again walking. The day couldn’t go on without refueling our bodies (mine and my wife’s one).

We didn’t choose any random place, but we considered some of the places we have had in plan to visit anyway. However, we decided to visit a place based on the pictures we saw on Instagram; it is Alabama Social.

As we found out ourselves, the restaurant is located in central Copenhagen, just over the most crowded bikes bridge in the world, in the direction Nørrebro.

There is a terrace, tables, chairs, people and good food. I can say this based on my visit.

I am not a big fun of lunch menus; I consider them very scarce in offerings; something like a second league in football comparing it with the first one. This experience didn’t contradict my opinion.

The lunch menu at Alabama Social has more or less six dishes and three desserts. Yet, two of the dishes captured our attention, and we went for them: chicken waffle and shrimp sandwich.

We received them quick, almost as quick as you continue reading from a paragraph to another in this post.

I had the sandwich; it looked good and big enough. Without tasting it I squizzed the lemon over it. Not a inspired moved, because the sandwich has already pickles in, and thus I turned it in a double sour sandwich. Yet, in some parts there were enough shrimps to overcome the sourness of my lemon.

While eating our main dish, I saw the waiter taking two jars with some very good looking  stuff in, to a table next to us. In his way back I asked what were those. I found out there were cheese cakes; and I ordered a jar instantly.

We had wine with our main dishes, but we ordered a bottle of water for the dessert, expecting get some very sweet cheese cakes.

The jars looked very appealing with the dessert in, arranged in layers: biscuits on top, blackberries in the middle and the cheesy-cream at the bottom. It was sweet but not as sweet as we expected, so the water was not really need it. However, it looked enough, and it proved to me much, since I barely eat it, and my wife had only half of it.

All in all: 2 mains x 2 desserts = 550 DKK…a fair price for a decent lunch.

Romanian food experiences disappointed me this time

In this post I am going to present shortly my culinary experiences I have had during my holiday in Romania. I will be talking solely about the experiences I had while eating out, not about the ones eaten home at my family.

My holiday lasted about one and a half weeks, time when I was road-tripping Romania, crossing 14 counties, traveling from Dambovita up to Maramures, and then down again to Dambovita (my home county) from which I went one more time up the country, this time in the eastern part of Romania, in Bacau County.

I traveled all these areas because there were many points of interest (tourism wise) for me, points I have never traveled so far, eg. to the Merry Cemetery, Timisoara, Corvinilor Castle etc. However, apart for this points of interest, food was another goal of my trip. I use to travel for food, and I am very interested in tasting local foods, or just eating out and trying the talent of different chefs or the level of service different places have to offer.

I am quite used with the local food in Romania, but I am still excited about eating out -in Romania- as often as I can, looking for exciting experiences both through the places and service, but also through the dishes.

This time I was pretty disappointed with most of the experiences I have had in Romania; and here starts my story:

Me together with my companions first ate out in Baile Herculane, a touristic destination in the western part of Romania (very popular not long time ago). There we had dinner at a place named Restaurant Pizzerie Cristal; a random place we discovered in the middle of the town. From the street the place looked clean and appealing, with plenty of guests inside, and a menu of interest for me (with grilled trout and the traditional papanasi).

The disappointment started here from the very first moment, with waiters being inattentive at us, letting us stand in the middle of the restaurant without welcoming us or having any kind of interaction with us. After some moments when we waited for their attention, we decided to go to them and ask them. Just then we got a table. That was also the moment when we began to discover more about the places. There was water on the floor but nobody cleaned it, or place a sign of slippery floor. The waiters seemed to be all very uninterested in their guests. Moreover, some of them just used our chairs to support themselves while discussing about their guests or arguing that some guests left the place without paying. Then some of them began a fight with another guest who apparently didn’t received its order for a long time. At a moment I received the food I ordered; grilled trout with boiled potatoes. If the fish was good, the potatoes were cold and not very well boiled. The first positive aspect from waiters’ side came only when my wife received hers papanasi, and the waiter decided to give us two spoons instead of one, since there was only one person who ordered it. At the end of the dinner, on one side, we paid a cheap price for a dinner, but on the other side the food and the service matched the price we paid; both being very low.

The next time we ate out properly was in Timisoara. This time we chose the place that was recommended to us from our hotel’s receptionist. The restaurant is named Casa Bunicii. It is located in downtown Timisoara, and it has a very lovely garden; a perfect place for a dinner in a nice summer evening. Although there were many guests, we managed to get a table without having a reservation. The waiters seemed to be guests-orientated, apart from one of them who seemed very uninterested in working there, waiter from who we had never received back any answer to our requests, so we had always to ask one more time another waiter. Yet, the food was delicious and comes in the right portions.

In Cluj -the next major city we stopped in- we asked the receptionist of our hotel for some recommendations of good restaurants, but we were not able to receive any hint; we were sent however to the historic center of the city, being told that there are plenty of restaurants. It is truth that there are many restaurants and eateries, and after a long walk around them we decided to eat at Bistro Vienna, a bistro with terrace and a menu close to the Austrian menus. However, from the first interaction with one of the waiters we faced the same problems: poor service and extremely long waiting time. The waiter was quite irritated by our questions related to the menu or availability, closing the discussion with a invitation to stay only if we want to wait about 45 minutes until we receive the order. We stayed! We chose a table for ourselves, order and then wait. The drinks came first, and the food came after a long waiting time. I got a portion of Bistro ribs; the food looked ok, but it tasted not very good. The ribs were kind of plain; the cabbage was fade, while the boiled corn was almost sour. Then, the waiter forgot about the portion of papanasi my girlfriend asked for, so I had to go and order it again. When it finally came the waiter realized he had never cleaned our table after we finished the main dish. In the end we paid about 40 euro, and left the place disappointed, wondering whether we’ll find a decent place with a good service or all the places have the same issues in Romania.

Next stop was at Spanata, in Maramures, a place very popular for the Merry Cemetery. After we visited this tourist attraction we head for lunch at Complex Pastravul, a place recommended to us by a local. Complex Pastravul is a guest house somewhere close to the nature. It looks very clean and well maintained with a terrace behind the building and two deer in a small garden in front of it.

The menu is quite exciting with many dishes representing Maramures’s region. I decided to go for a goulash soup, a portion of warm polenta with sheep cheese and scarps, and a lemonade. The excitement was very high, but it was cut off be the news that the waiting time for the food was of about 45 minutes; and it proved to be no more and no less than 45 minutes. The waitresses were running all the directions, but they seemed not to be enough. I saw guests disappointed and leaving, but me, together with all I traveled with, decided…again…to stay. In the end it was all worth it, because the food tasted very good. However, the disappointment remains for the lack of attention businesses pay to services.

One of the best experiences I had, was the coming morning, when I had breakfast in the restaurant of Maestro Hotel in Vatra Dornei. There I had for breakfast food most of you’ll like to have for lunch or dinner: fried chicken livers, and fried cheese. Here the place was clean, the menu was rich, the prices not bigger than other places I was eating before, but the service was very good -at least in comparison with the other places: the waiter was welcoming, polite and customer-minded. The food came in good time, but I have to mention there were not many guests either. However, this was the first place I left tips at a restaurant in Romania, after driving about 1000km and eating in many different restaurants; the tips was worth it.

The last part of my holiday in Romania I spent it in Bacau, my wife’s city. There I use to ate at my wife’s mom -who cooks very well- but it happened to eat out three times. First time I ate at Restaurant Manhattan. There I had a portion of lasagna and the Romanian traditional dessert profiterol. Beside I had a glass of fresh orange juice. The atmosphere was very decent, and the service as well. There was a waitress who behaved nicely, and the food came in good time, especially if compared with the other experiences I had in Romania before. The food was good, though the orange fresh juice tasted a bit “not fresh” and the profiterol was a bit different than what I knew it should be like; moreover, it was very big, more than enough for a hungry man.

The second place I ate in Bacau was Pizzeria Luca. Luca restaurants have spread around Bacau and now they can be found all around the city offering different goods: from pretzels to sandwiches and pizza. I discovered this place by driving by it and it caught my attention with the crowds present on its terrace, and through its appearance: made of wood and clean. The first impression on spot was still not satisfying: we entered the restaurant, passed by some waiters without being greeted or asked anything, reached a reception where the waiter in charge there didn’t even looked at us for about 2-3 minutes although we were just face-to-face. In the end, we were sent to a table, with a cold voice. The waitress who served us was quite professional though, and together with the quality of the pizza we had, we declared the dinner to be ok.

The last dinner out we had in Bacau was at restaurant Piazzetta, located on the way to the town Roman. The place serves as a restaurant and bed and breakfast. From the street it looks just like a big house, but after making few steps the footpath takes you to the entrance in the restaurant, terrace and parking lots. Here I first made a reservation for the dinner, and we arrived there at 19:30. The staff at a first impression was professional. Once we got at our table we had to wait about 40 minutes for the waitress to get our order; at that moment she said that it will take maximum 30 minutes to receive our dishes. In the end it was 2 hours of waiting for the food, and I am not exaggerating. It is the worst experience I have had. It is a pity for the food and the place which both deserve more.

My holiday in Romania ended with a coffee in Otopeni Airport, at a lounge which name I don’t recall. However, although the prices are high -as it usually happen on airports- the service satisfied me very much. The waiter was welcoming, helpful and prompt.

All in all, after all these experiences I had in Romania, I can say I was very disappointed and I believe all the businesses activating in the service and hospitality sector in Romania have to improve seriously if they want to attract more tourists to them. I was surprised unpleasantly by the lack of training of the staff in the restaurants I visited, the lack of personnel and the lack of quality and creativity when it comes to food, situation I met in most of the places I ate.

Next time I will travel to Romania I plan to try some of the restaurants in Bucharest, and I have already higher expectations; based on the experiences I had in Bucharest before leaving Romania to live abroad, but also on the fact that being a capital city there is a bigger diversity and more people with money willing to spend them on quality stuff, including here food as well; so where there is demand for a product or a service, I expect that there are also companies willing to bring that on market.

As soon as I’ll get to visit any of the restaurants in Bucharest I’ll write about it here!

Ven island – the perfect destination for a day trip

Ven is a tiny island in the Øresund stright, belonging to Sweden. Being an island it can be visited only by ferry, and there are three possible departing points towards Ven: Landskrona (in Sweden, with scheduled departures all year round), Helsingør in Denmark, and Copenhagen (only on summer time).

Me and my girlfriend took the ferry from Copenhagen. The tickets we booked online with only a couple of hours before the departure; then all we needed to do is to get ready and show up at the ferry a bit before its departure time. There is no check in or requirements regarding any arrival time prior boarding.

The ferry is not huge, but it has a sort of a restaurant and place for bicycles, if one wants to take the bike with him/her. However, there is a 90 Dkk fee for the bikes, the same fee one pays for renting a bike on the island of Ven.

I have not mentioned that the little island of Ven is a perfect destination for tour on bike. Thus there are many tourists who take their bikes with them or rent them on the island. We decided to rent bikes on the spot, so after a ride of about one and a half hour with the ferry we arrived on Ven. There we walk for about five minutes uphill until we arrived at the shop where the popular yellow bikes are rented. There is a huge parking lot full of all kiind of bikes (tandem; with support for kids; classic etc.).

The weather was not great but the enthusiasm was high; it was the first time when I was about to start a trip on bike. So we took a map of Ven from the bike shop and we were gone. There are many tourist on bikes, and very few cars. There is harmony and relaxation because no matter the way one take there is no risk of getting lost. There are few houses, many cafes and beautiful nature. Our first stop was a little harbour, just under the old church of Sankt Ibb. There are many little shops with ice-cream snacks and possibility for picnic. After an ice-cream, we head to the church from where we took a beautiful picture and stunning sight. Then we continued riding around the island, discovering many cozy places and beautiful nature. However, due to the weather we didn’t stop for picnic, but we stopped for lunch a Pumpkin Delicatessen and Cafe. It was a very good experience: I had a great pizza with goat cheese and many glasses of organic apple juice, one of the best I have ever drunk. After the lunch the sky broke and and we head back to the harbour, not before we returned the bikes.

The ferry from Copenhagen lives at 09:15 and returns at 16:30, so it is important not to miss it. If missed, there are many camping opportunities on Ven.

There are many positive aspects about Ven, and it might be worth it to visit it for more than one day, but we didn’t have more time; yet, we want to go back there one day.

Christchurch – a boring city for tourist!

This is the post ever with no featured picture! It is not a mistake, but it is the effect of my stop in Christchurch.

I knew and I acknowledge the difficult times a region or city has to recover after earthquakes – in this case the big ones from 2012, but the image of the city now, make me doubt about its offerings for tourists even before the earthquakes.

We stay at a hostel located at about 10 minutes walk from the center of the city, so we decided to walk around the center and enjoy the sights. However, from the moment we had a chat with the receptionist, I kinda had the feeling that there is not much to do here as a tourist; the receptionist started -when talking about the city- with the mall, restaurants, and ended with the cathedral; Nothing more. So, once outside the hostel, we headed to the city center. Seeing that nothing interesting appear, we got disappointed but hoped for the best the closer we got to the central area!

However, we got into the center, but there was nothing appealing. Even the streets alone are unappealing and ugly; there were not even as nice as the city centers of the small towns we had driven through down here. So disappointed, we turn back to our hostel, not before having something to eat on Victoria St.

We had planned to spend a bit more time tomorrow in Christchurch, but I have the feeling I have seen enough, so we will have a coffee and then we will hit further south.

Hope the next stop will be as exciting as the rest of the places we have visited in New Zealand before sopping in Christchurch.

From Taupo to Napier!

Rain and cloudy today! These have been the two major coordinates of today! Not my favorite ones! In this context we have had to find some stuff to do.

After a great morning running session along the Taupo Lake, we took off to the Wairakei Terraces and Thermal Health Spa. There we spent about three hours. Most of the time spent there was amazing, especially the pools and the massage; the walk around the so called geyser and vegetation is not worth, so save the money!

From the spa we went back to the Acacia Bay, but because of the weather we shot two pictures and then left to the central Taupo for lunch at Piccolo Restaurant.

After the lunch, with the clouds surveying the region we decided to head to Napier. As soon a we set the address on the GPS we learned that there are about 150 km between the two cities. Moreover, we understood that we will drive mainly through the nature since at the exit from Taupo there is a traffic sign indicating that the first petrol station will be after 130 km!!! Our thoughts proved to be true when we found ourselves driving around green surroundings, with interesting vegetation and many slopes and S curves. Even though there was an deserted area, we meet also a police car checking the traffic…to our big surprise.

After almost two hours we entered Napier. The city was threatened by dark and heavy clouds, but they got away with the time. The city is nice, having a special charm due to its architecture and proximity to the sea. We had a walk in the windy and chilly weather and then had dinner at Mister D Restaurant.

Tomorrow we plan to visit some of the attractions in Napier, afterward we’ll travel many km to Wellington. We are waiting forward to this trip.

From Coromandel Peninsula to Matamata, via Waitomo Caves!

Today has been the day when we left Coromandel Peninsula and headed south to Matamata as end destination. It is an 320 km driving distance according to our GPS. Yet we didn’t drive strait to the destination, but we stopped at the Waitomo Caves to explore some of them  and especially the Glowworms Cave.

Driving in the Coromandel Peninsula is fascinating: many beautiful views and a road with a lot of slopes and S turns; I loved it. Once one arrive at Thames. the road settles and becomes more “boring”, with flat roads only. However, the way our GPS chose for us to get to Waitomo Caves took us through a lot of secondary roads, I would say. There have been many roads where we drove alone, and there were many segments of road with very narrow roads.

It took us about three hours to get to the Waitomo Caves from Coromandel Town. At the caves we stopped with the thought of exploring all the three caves shown in most of the pictures with the caves. However, once in the tickets office we ended up buying a two hour tour with the tube in Glowworm Cave. It’s so because we are not very into all that theoretical part about caves, where one gets explanations about the history of the cave, creation etc. We wanted something more fun and interactive, and of course we wanted tese the Glowworm Cave, with those little worms lighting up the sky of the cave. There were two companies offering more or less a similar tour, but due to availability we had no choice but going into the caves with Footwhistle. It costs 139 NZD/person, for what they say it is a two hours tour, but it was actually about one and a half hour. The tour was fun and the cave they took us in was amazing too; we arrived at points where the water was 7 m high but we were actually 400 feet under the entrance level.

We were done with the visiting the caves at 5 PM, and because we still had about 100 km more to drive, we took of to our destination: Matamata. Driving there was more fun, that the previous segments, with some parts being quite similar with some from the Coromandel Peninsula. On the way there are not places worth visiting so there was not stop in our one and a half hour drive.

Matamata seem to be a tiny place, with everything they have run around the fame of The Hobbit. We visited the “central” part of the village, with the Broadway Street and stuff, and now we waiting forward to visiting the hobbit house tomorrow morning.

Keep tuned, I’ll be back with details.

 

Black thin tagliattele lobster, cheese, friends, and great memories….

In my opinion the Italian cuisine is one of the best in the whole world, if not the best one. Personally I love it so much that I would even travel for it. The captivating thing is that even though it looks so easy to cook Italian dishes, in fact it is very difficult to obtain the same delicious meal as an Italian does…repeat, this is only my opinion, and my recent trip to Italy cemented it even more. I traveled to Italy, particularly to the Piedmont region, to meet some friends, and even though I was there for them in the first place, I couldn’t resist the temptation to eat out as often as possible, looking to try out everything but especially the Italian food.

One of the places I enjoyed a lot was Ristorante PiQuadro, in Arona. Of course, I didn’t go there because I knew the place, but because my friends invited me and some other friends there, saying that the food is amazing. As I am always open to new experiences especially if they are linked to food, I was totally ok with this restaurant proposition.

As we arrived at the place, we could feel the buzz from outside, and once we entered –in the way to our table, I noticed that all the tables were taken at that hour -20:00, on a Saturday; not a really surprise given the time, but still a very nice atmosphere!

Another thing I noticed on the spot, was that Ristorante PiQaudro has a thematic design…music being the theme they chose to animate the delicious time guests spend there. There are everywhere links to music, even on the tables, where the plates with food are set on the classic CDs.

As soon as we took our seats, we decided “to do some business” and so we were ready to order, three courses each person. The first one was suggested and ordered by our friends for all of us. It was a plate with four different delicious little pieces of happiness…. Sardines, seafood, goat cheese and beef tartar. The enumeration I make here is accordingly to the order we were recommended to eat these small dishes. Because I love cheese so much, I liked the most the goat cheese; but all four dishes were delicious; even the beef tartar, which I usually don’t like it tasted great in that Saturday night…of course being pushed down my throat by some egg yolk and bread…it might sound a bit too much the combination, and I would say not very suitable: mixing beef tartar (which is however not easy to eat it unless you are a fan of it) with raw egg yolk which is also a big challenge for many, at least for the ones not used with it. I would say the tartar would go better with some lemon …but I ate it the way it was served, and now I am happy I accepted the challenge!

The food couldn’t taste good without some good red and white wines and sparkling and still water!

Second dish, actually the first course of the dinner was my own choice. After a thoroughly check of the menu, I settled my eyes on Black thin tagliattele lobster! I choose it not because it was the most expensive dish under the fisherman section (16 €), but because I had never tried the combination, especially the black tagliattele. The excitement was big and the patience very small, but I filled the time with a small chat so in no time my dish was on the table. It looked splendid and it tasted amazing. The soft taste of the lobster mixed with the tagliattele gave it a much flavored taste and made this dish memorable for me. The dish came in no time, and was gone in no time!

Not that I could even ate more, but because I love it and I wanted to try the cheese plate, I also ordered it as the closing dish of that superb night. The cheese plate arrived and its plating was fantastic, I like it even more than the plating of the Black thin tagliattele lobster. Of course the cheeses were Italian, and of course I wanted more details about them. Trying to obtain more info, I discovered that Ristorante PiQuadro has a waiter specialized in cheeses, so I got to talk directly to him about the great display I had got on my plate. From him I found out that he goes himself at least once a week and purchase the cheeses after his taste them at the places he visit. Then, based on his evaluation the cheeses are bought and served in the restaurant to the guests. Of course there are also indication about the way to enjoy them, namely from left to right, all this for a more intense and delightful experience. Once I finished them I could say this was the best cheese plate I had ever got in a restaurant, especially due to the fact it didn’t have blue or red cheese.

Although I said I thought of the cheese plate as being the closing of the night, an Italian dinner is not Italian unless you enjoy a coffee and a limoncello at the end of the dinner. I did so and then I found it so difficult to go home…luckily there were my friends, else I would have been there even now….!

Thank you Ristorante PiQuadro for this memorable experience, and I am looking forward for visiting you as soon as possible.

Home at one of the Queen(s) of the Sky: Jumbo Stay Stockholm!

You know those stories about the forbidden fruit and the obsession that one day, at least one day, you will manage to get it? Well, this is my story. I don’t love so many things in my life, but I don’t know for what reasons I love flying and I am fascinated about planes; even more, or maybe I sould say, worst, I like reading/researching airplane crashes. But enough with my obsession for planes, because I am sure now you can link the subject of this post with me!

So here’s my story:

About one year ago I read about a hotel built up in a plane. It is the project implemented in Sweden’s main airport, Arlanda, where a Swede came up with the creative business idea of turning a huge aircraft as a Boeing 747 which was retired from duty, and make out of it a famous attraction, namely Jumbo Stay Hostel, in Stockholm.

The Queen of the Sky as this type of plane is known as well, has become since then the Queen of the Ground, with many travelers going to stay there by curiosity and interest in experiences otherwise forbidden in normal conditions (fx. Sleep in cockpit), the same way tourists visit royal palaces to experience and admire the way royal families live.

To have the chance to sleep in a plane -more or less like those affording and willing to pay for a first class sleep, when hundred other struggle to sleep while almost standing- that was a big temptation. Moreover, there was the possibility to explore the plane in almost all its compartments, as close as one cannot dream to do in an airport or other environment, due to regulations.

However for me the excitement was high, and since I had first read about this hostel, I was looking forward to the first occasion I travel to Stockholm to book a night there.

According to the standards of a night in a hostel, and to the prices in hostels around the world, a night at Jumbo Stay Hostel can be considered costly. I paid 1194 SEK for one night in a private room for two (including breakfast), where I stayed together with my girlfriend. Yet, even though the price is a bit high, one loving planes or new experiences won’t run away seeing the price list; so didn’t I.

So, all packed for a sunny and nice city break in Stockholm, I arrived in Stockholm’s Airport, somewhere around 20:12. From there are shuttles going to the Jumbo Stay Hostel, of which I knew from home; but I also knew the hostel is only 15 minute walk away from the same airport. Willing to arrive as soon as possible I chose the shuttle, but it proved to be an uninspired idea because although the shuttles should run four times per hour, every 15 minutes, mine skipped the 20:15 time, and so I was waiting for more than those 15 minutes needed to reach the hostel on foot. However, I arrived at Jumbo Stay Hostel, and the way to it cannot be missed because it can be seen already from the bus stop. Push by the excitement I drop my baggage, and I started shooting photos like a soldier shots enemies. The view was nice, but because of my Samsung S3 and even iPad cameras, the pictures are not of high quality. From the shuttle stop to the entrance in the hostel…I mean, to the plane there is a short distance, so soon I was at the door. There an unexpected request welcomed me, and made me smile feeling well-entertained: all the guest are required to take off their shoes before they enter the hostel…like I said, it is an experience similar to those when visiting a queen; wherefrom my link: Queen of the sky – Royal queen. I took off my shoes, and although I could have left them next to the door in a space specially designed for shoes, I chose to take them with me in my room.

At the reception, which is very small and very close to the door, the receptionist welcomed us and gave me and my girlfriend some details about the place; however, my attention was disrupted by the restaurant, which is placed on the left side of the entrance, at the actually head of the plane. I found it very cozy and warm, with those orange chairs, small tables, TV and the customers talking with a low tone.

Like I said I booked a private room for two, with two single beds, on up and the other down. To get to it I had to walk down a hall which is almost identic with those in hotels. The room was small, but not that small not to have place to arrange my stuff for a night. Of course there is no place to dance, but there is plenty of place for the baggage, especially due to the spaces designed similar to the baggage spaces in planes, above the head.

Although it was said there are two single beds, we needed it only the one down, which is big enough for two persons. The room price covers the linens, pillows and blanket as well. One important thing, the mattress is very comfortable, so we enjoyed a lot the sleep. There is a TV as well, but who cared when I was in an ecstatic state just for being there. Still the Wi-Fi high speed connection was more appreciated and welcomed by the internet addict inside me.

This category of rooms comes with the breakfast included in the price; the other meals are not; and because we are talking about food, of course I wanted to try out whatever they had to eat; and what a better moment than the evening of our arrival when we were hungry after all the travelling time. However, when we asked about what we can eat there at that time -around 21:00- we were sent to pick up whatever we wanted from the two fridges they have there. But what could we choose? There were only few very small –on board plane-like sandwiches-, ice cream and some snacks, and of course drinks. However we bought a tiny sandwich and some nuts.

Following the natural way of doing things, after eating we needed to visit the facilities; in this way we discovered them as well. There are nice little spaces, and they come with a message just below the mirror, urging everyone to clean the sinks with their own towels, in order to show respect to the other customers. I found it funny and wise, apart for the part with “own towel”, because then who will how respect to my face and hands?

Beside the fact that I had one of my best ever sleep, I would add that once the sun raised up I was up as well, ready to go out, explore the place and take pictures…as many pictures as possible. Once out I noticed that beside the pictures with the hostel-plane there is a great spot for plane spotting, because just meters away the tail of Jumbo Stay there is a fence separating the airport area –and one of its runway- from the hostel area. In this way I got the chance to take pictures with aircrafts of KLM, Air France and Norwegian Airlines.

There is also possible to walk on the wing of the Boeing 747 hostel, but for this you have to pay, which I didn’t do it, although walking on the wing is a very tempting thing since there is forbidden, or better said almost impossible to do that on a plane.

I bet this hostel, Jumbo Stay, is an attraction of Stockholm in itself, and it worth booking a night there, especially if you arrive late or leave early, when anyhow you plan to find accommodation in airports’ hotels.

So, enjoy it!

Helsingborg for beginners!

Helsingborg is going to be my residence for the next six months. This is for sure now. In this context it is very important for me to get to know the city, since I haven’t been there so far, so everything is totally new.

However, before I have even start doing the research about the city by myself, the first opportunity to discover Helsingborg was given by the institution I will go there for, Lund University. They organized a city tour for all the new students in the city, including me of course. It was a tour lasting about two hours when we walked around the centrum of the city, including most of the basic information, not only for students, but also for everyone new in Helsingborg, or for any tourist coming here for a city break.

Here are some of the things I discovered:

There are projects to change the city plan. This wants to say that the city was developed in the middle of the 20th century, being designed for easy access, by cars, to the city centrum. Now, because the focus has changed towards a greener and more eco-friendly environment, with more walking and cycling, the plans are to take the main street and the train rails underground, leaving a more aired centrum, and an easy access, by foot and/or bike…at least in the southern part of the city, the one we began the tour with. For the moment there are tunnels for pedestrians to go under the rails and road to the other side.

Southern part of Helsingborg, called Söder, has not a very good reputation and it is not very attractive. It seems that here is the district where most of the immigrants and homeless people live. From my little experience with the city, I also consider the Northern part of Helsingborg a lot more beautiful and interesting than the southern part, with the beautiful seaside, the Sofiero Castle and the green forests, to mention just a few.

Want cheap food?…then visit Gustav Adolf Market. It is located in the same area, Söder, next to the church with the same name, Gustav Adolf Church. As I understood, the products here are cheaper than other places around the city, but in the same time you have to check them for the quality.

There are two main churches in Helsingborg: Gustav Adolf Church, in Söder, and Sankta Maria Church, in centrum of the city; churches that can be visited as well.

In Helsingborg lived Linda Nilsson. At Bruksgatan 5, in the central Helsingborg, lived Hida Nilsson, one of the famous angel makers in Sweden. She is believed to have killed eight babies before she was sentenced to death. The babies were given to her, by the mothers who got pregnant outside their marriages or before the marriage, in an era when this kind of behavior was harshly condemned (http://www.algonet.se/~hogman/angel_maker.htm).

Tura! Helsingborg is the closest Swedish point to Denmark. From here are only 20 minutes ride by ferry to the Danish city of Helsingør. Now, as it was told to us, Swedes have a funny tradition and enjoy taking the ferry between these two cities! Until here nothing funny or unusual; the funny thing is that they don’t get off on the Danish coast, but ride the ferry back to Sweden, and then again to Denmark, and so on!!!! This is because they use to enjoy the time on the ferry together with friends, drinking and eating, and only when they are full, they decide to get off the ferry, most likely in the Swedish port. This is because the drinks are cheaper on the ferry than in any of these cities. This kind of trip has even a name, which is Tura! So, whenever you are invited to a tura, you know what to expect.

Kärnan Tower, is the high tower oversees the city from its top. It is a symbol of the city, representing and lasting from the old times when it was used in defending Helsingborg from the enemies’ assaults, especial during the war with Denmark.

Kullagatan Street. It is the oldest shopping street in Sweden. Although not a very long street, it is very crowded with people looking to explore the multitude of shops. The street looks very nice especially due to the many flags hang up.

Fika! Not the last, I found out which is the most loved social activity in Helsingborg, and generally in Sweden; it’s called Fika, and it defines the moments when people use to sip a coffee and have a cinnamon cookie, but it also require that those having these two things engage in friendly discussions to each other.

These are the first things I learned during my first time exploring Helsingborg guided by the representative from Lund University. However, there remains many aspects to be discovered. For instance, just walking around the city –this time alone- I enjoyed a lot the view, from instance the one of the harbor, the city hall building, again the superb view given by the top of Kärnan Tower, the Dunker Culture House ( museum and art center designed by Kim Utzon, the son of Jørn Utzon, who designed Sydney Opera House) and Sofiero Castle and gardens (this place is a bit outside the city –only 5km away- but it worth any effort made to visit it. It is like a corner of heaven on earth: green, quiet, a lot of flowers, restaurant, forest, a lot of different plants which would make jealous almost any botanical garden etc.).

Sofiero Castle!

Helsingborg’s City Hall!

The entrance in Helsingborg’s harbor!

As a consequence I believe that Helsingborg has a lot of resources to make worth it a city break. I would live there more than that and for sure some of the sights will become no longer of interests, but I can already foresee that the overall beauty of the city will not stop delight and attract me.

PS. If possible, don’t miss this weekend in Helsingborg, ’cause this is when it takeS place Helsingborg’s Festival, and I heard it’s a pretty cool time to be there.

Definitely one of the best places for brunch in Copenhagen: Cafe Pixie!

Are you a tourist or a local looking for a great place to enjoy a brunch alone or together with someone else? I might have a place that you may like it! It is called Cafe Pixie (http://cafepixie.dk/), in Copenhagen.

I chose to eat in this place after I had seen that it is promoted not only by VisitCopenhagen (http://www.visitcopenhagen.dk/da/kobenhavn/gastronomi/top-10-brunch) but also by AOK (http://www.aok.dk/restaurant-og-cafe/de-5-laekre-brunch)  as one of the best places for brunch in Copenhagen, and now that I visited the place by myself I can definitely agree with these two Danish sources.

Cafe Pixie is located close to Nordhavn Station -it took me about eight minutes to get there by foot-, and so somehow away from the touristic areas of Copenhagen, which gives it the feeling of an authentic experience. Next to it is another cafe, Bopa Cafe, which seems to follow the same business plan. However, when I first had the two of them in sight, I could say that Cafe Pixie might offer something more exciting than their neighbors; its patio was bigger and full of people, while the other one had not so many customers at the time of my visit.

Like I said, when my girlfriend and I arrived at Cafe Pixie, almost all the tables were taken, but luckily we got a table, without having a reservation. Few seconds later our order was taken: two brunches and two big latte.

I’d read before my visit her some comments on TripAdvisor about this cafe, as it takes a long time to get the food; well, I cannot say whether that’s right or not. All I know is that in our case it took about 20 minutes to receive both the food and drinks; they were brought in the same time!

Once the food was on our table the feast started! The brunch looked fantastic and I kinda new from the very beginning that my stomach will have a hard time. But I didn’t care: I ate it all, this is how much I like it! Scrambled eggs, bacon, two pieces of grilled Merguez sausages, cantaloupe, grapes, cheese, yoghurt with muesli, salmon with cucumber, zucchini and mint, croissant, a little cake, Oland bread and of course the traditional and famous Danish rugbrød with butter….all of them very yummy, that I have their memory very fresh in my mind.

The atmosphere was also very nice: summertime weather , sun, and a lot of people at the tables around us…The service was very good as well; I will go as far as to say it was at a level one may expect only in high class restaurants.

At the end of this post, if it is to link this experience of mine with a famous TV commercial, it’d sound like this: distance to the cafe: 56 minutes; two brunches and two latte: 380 Danish Crowns (for two persons); my satisfaction: beyond words!

All in all I had a great time at Cafe Pixie, and I recommend it to everyone, tourists or locals, looking for a delicious and consistent brunch, in a pretty much authentic Danish atmosphere, and in a non-touristic area of Copenhagen.