Reality bites and it rains a lot...

So, it feels like the honeymoon period is over.  

Our CoI is fully back into the routine of work with a vengeance.  I am fully understanding the meaning of being a stay at home dad with 2 small children.  One of whom has decided that teething involves all sorts of histrionics and drama.  The other one fortunately is somewhat less dramatic and it is possible to have a rationale conversation with her.  Or at least as rationale as it gets with a 4 and half (very important the half) year old child.

On the upside, it means we are doing lots of things that involve exploring the neighbourhood to keep ourselves busy and out of trouble.

The highlights of discovery since the last blog have been the Fælledparken and the Østerbro Svømmehal.  The former is a large expanse of park, with multiple sports pitches, walking and running tracks and most importantly a fabulous children's playground where the kids can occupy themselves for hours.  Now that the weather is also improving this is becoming a regular excursion.  The latter is an imposing structure modelled along the lines of ancient Roman baths complete with statues of faux gods.  It has a great kids' swimming pool, which is perfect for me and 5m and 10m diving platforms which is perfect for the kids.  This is starting to look like a banker for rainy days.  Of which there are many it seems.

Now that things are starting to become normal again, the time for gastronomic exploration has been limited.  Although, I did try the Maharaja Indian restaurant a few blocks away the other night for a 'treat for self', which whilst a little on the pricey side did a very passable lamb korai with good naan.  So for you members of the FNCC, a perfectly good venue to reconvene when you make it out here.  Kingfisher and a decent wine list also available.

Things we have learnt since the last blog:

1.  Denmark has a supremely well integrated set of government departments - with one number we now exist and every department can help us at the drop of a hat.
2.  The most 'modern' radio station I have discovered, seems stuck somewhere between the mid 80s and mid 90s, with the odd foray into the 2000s or beyond.
3.  Security guards in Copenhagen are as unhelpfully obtuse as in London.
4.  Opening a bank account with our CoI was a wonderful experience involving pleasant one on one meetings in plush offices.  As opposed to the spotty trainee in an open plan station on the high street.
5.  Danes are sticklers for the rules, right down to the feedback on how I should shower when I took the kids swimming (slightly unnerving).
6.  Surprisingly, recycling seems a lot less structured than back home, or at least we were used to in London.  Plastics, tetra paks, food waste all goes into the landfill bin.  And, I have yet to find out where to recycle tins.
7.  The beer is good - current favourite is the Tuborg Grøn pilsner.
8.  The daily weather forecast usually includes; cloudy with some rain, cloudy with a little rain, sunny spells with some rain etc. 

The Big Move - Phase 2 (Our new home at last)

So finally, after a week in our digs in Christianshavn, the day arrived to make the final leg of our move into our apartment.  It's a lovely place in Østerbrø - for you London residents you'll know what I mean when I say the main drag feels a bit like Northcote Road.  But with a few more useful shops and a bit less self consciousness.  Approximately the same number of babies, small children and sunglasses though.

We love our new apartment and R & T have been hooning around all the space like crazy, the one aspect that dawned on us very quickly, is that living on the 4th floor without a lift, requires good cardio vascular fitness, strong thighs (to carry T and a buggy) and supreme organisation to make sure nothing is forgotten either at the top or the bottom.  We have only had one instance of "daddy, can you get my special toy from the car..."

Fortunately to help us move in, we had the assistance of movers who have clearly done this before and weren't too phased.  Although as our CoI commented as she popped off to work, she passed a man on each landing in various stages of looking a broken sweaty mess.

But, we've been in 5 days now and the 250+ boxes transported from the UK have been reduced to about 20, but that doesn't include the ones we put in our cellar.  If we can't see them, they don't exist.  The flat is taking shape and we are looking forward to visitors soon.

Local eateries we have explored include Joe & the Juice where looking painfully cool is de rigeur and a local pizza takeout, most of which are apparently run by Bulgarians (interesting).  

Things I have learnt about Denmark this week:

1.  An unfurnished apartment includes no lights (hence early trip to Ikea for some)
2.  Ikea in Denmark is similarly hellish to the UK
3.  It takes a lot of research to find a decent supermarket but finally a Super Bruggsen round the corner is likely to do the business
4.  Pack for all weathers - we went out on bright sunshine for a canal tour only to have snow arrive as we were about to step on the boat
5.  Parking charges are fiendishly complicated with 3 different zones in the city and 3 different tariffs during a 24 hour period
6.  A UK TV will need re-tuning to pick up the Danish TV signals
7.  The Danes really love their design, we saw an Arne Jacoben designed petrol station yesterday!

Finally, our highlight of the week was a trip up the coast to the top of Zeeland (didn't take long!) and a stop for a splendid lunch with views at the Strandmøllekroen restaurant in Klampenborg.  Maybe this blog is starting to take a gastronomic slant...

D-day: The Big Move Phase 1 (The day we caught the plane)

So, hello Copenhagen.  After a month of organising followed by a 2 day maelstrom of packing and final house snag list reduction, we have made it to Copenhagen with the contents of our house packed into 180 boxes on to a 40 foot trailer currently somewhere between our home (in England) and our new home (in Denmark).  Somewhat eerie seeing the house emptied of all its contents, however it has never looked better.  A new carpet was even laid the morning of leaving!

The trip over was pleasantly uneventful apart from T being the wriggliest 1 year old in history in between charming the stewardesses.  No aborted plane landings unlike the last time we all flew into Kastrup.  The taxi driver at the airport looked a little apprehensive at first at the amount of luggage that needed transporting but tetris like we squeezed it all in.

Whilst we wait for our own beds to arrive, we are in an apartment in Christianshavn.  A very 'edgy' neighbourhood bordering on Christiania where there are no laws.  I think we are exploring it tomorrow, any trouble and we will set T on them for whom wrestling is a newly found pleasure.

As Copenhagen shuts down from tomorrow for Easter, a quick trip to the local shops was required for supplies.  The supermarkets experienced so far in Copenhagen seem far from super but maybe it's just the unfamiliarity.  Irma for the more upmarket experience, Super Brygssen for the everyday essentials.

On our visit to this area in February, we discovered the 'Spicy Kitchen' restaurant and takeaway on Torvegade, run by some very friendly Afghans and serving some very passable Indian like (Afghan?) fair.  So what better way to settle into our new city than with a curry.  Welcome to Copenhagen!