The End of Summer

Worryingly the gap between my posts seems to be getting longer.  I'm sure as the nights start drawing in and there is less incentive to go outside, I'll have more time again to keep my one follower (I am flattered) and other regular readers (thanks for taking the time) updated.

It is the last weekend in September and this blog has been slowly composing (or is that decomposing) in my head since the first one.  Summer is definitely long gone, and when I sat at my desk earlier this week, with the rain lashing against the window it was very clear autumn had arrived.  The last few days of summer was not without its highlights though.

Miss R started her new year at school which was very exciting, for her as well as for us as it meant that all of a sudden we had opportunities to make some new friends as well as catch up with a few we made previously.  The benefits of having been at the school even for a few weeks was very obvious over the summer as it meant a regularish schedule of play dates and the odd trip here and there.

Before Miss R returned to school though, she and I had some quality time together as Master T started vuggestue (for the 2nd time).  Despite an initial start, it was the middle of the school holidays and as such, his 'stue' was shut and none of his pedagogues were there to give him cuddles.  So we decided to postpone until normal service was resumed and after a few small hiccups and him looking at me very balefully when I went to pick him up in the evening, pleased to report he is very well settled with his pedagogue, a lovely if slightly intimidating Icelandic lady, reporting his 'trainee viking' progress daily.

Anyway back to Miss R.  Fortunately our Master T less time coincided with some lovely weather and so we took advantage of our annual zoo passes, the proximity of Bakken - allegedly the oldest fairground (and rollercoaster, so rickety it can't be safe) in the world and of course not forgetting the beach.  

This father and daughter quality time soon ended though, although not without us remarking to each other daily just how quiet it was in the flat without Master T rampaging around it, and school started again.  The first few days were part time to ease them back in gently and then all of a sudden, I had whole days to myself stretching ahead of me.  Our CoI in the office, Miss R and Master T in school and nursery respectively.  Bliss.

Fortunately, I met another father at the school in the same predicament as me.  We took advantage of the situation to see how 'the other halves' spent their days.  Clearly this had to involve some coffee mornings and we explored "Books and Company" in Hellerup, who not only have a great selection of books they brew excellent coffee.  We also enjoyed impinging on what is clearly 'mom' territory (yes, deliberately written US style).  In the nicest possible way.

The one stroke of luck that we had was that the last week in August was Copenhagen Food Week.  As we were both on the run in to re-starting employment, we celebrated our last day of freedom and carefree days, at least between the hours of 08.45 and 14.50 with a slap up lunch.  I'm painfully aware that the gastronomy updates have been sadly lacking recently but I am pleased to say that I have not been slacking in this respect.  Our lunch was at an excellent bistro in Østerbro called Aaman's.  It's located in an area that has something to do with potatoes - I haven't got to the bottom of what that means yet, but I can report it was an excellent experience.  It's a very smart looking restaurant, with just the right balance of 'cool' and 'traditional' and the food is very traditional Danish fare.  By that I mean, there was herring with different dressings, tartare, roes, cheeses accompanied by a very tasty microbrew.  An excellent way to end the summer and fortunately, or not as the case may be, the need to pick children up from school and vuggestue meant we had to leave before ordering too many more glasses of the beer.

We also had a our last visitor of the summer.  My delightful and slightly eccentric cousin from the US.  She was a hit with Miss R in particular and we had a great afternoon exploring Christianshavn which included lunch at the Cafe Oven Vande with the young and funky crowd.  Perfect for Miss R and Auntie M, perhaps I was a bit conspicuous.  Their 'most of the day' breakfast platter is well worth a mention and with the sun shining a great spot to sit by the canal and people watch.

The evening treat with Auntie M was dinner at the Nimb Brasserie.  A very picturesque terrace with a very traditional bisto menu which was well cooked and presented, albeit the service took a little time to warm up.  One of my highlights was actually the pre-dinner Hendrick's Cucumber Sour.  Most recommended.  We also managed to time our trip for Tivoli's 115th (I think, memory's a bit hazy..!) birthday so our meal was finished off by a superb firework display.  Perfect location for our visitor.

And that, was pretty much the summer.  We're now settling into a much more visitor less routine.  I have finally landed some gainful employment, more on that next time.  Summer is feeling a long way behind us, not to mention a long way off with the Copenhagen Autumn and Winter stretching out in front of us.  Whenever I go past the local beach now, it's pretty deserted, cold and blustery although there always seems to be a naked man on it on Sunday mornings which is a little disconcerting.

The empty racks at Svanemøllen Strand.

Vi ses!

Retreat from the Danish Summer

Apparently, this summer in Copenhagen was unusually wet.  But, most people we've spoken to seemed to also say that last summer was the same, and the summer before that the same.  So, not sure if that is meant to be reassuring, or we just need to resign ourselves to a few years of cool, wet and very unpredictable weather.

So, despite having initially had very good intentions of exploring Denmark and some more further afield parts of Scandinavia, we plumped for the more guaranteed sunshine of the mediterranean in July.  That was the easy part.  The not so easy part was how to actually get there, especially seeing as it was a relatively last minute decision after our CoI got all the necessary permissions and exemptions.  

Flying would have seemed obvious, with some relatively good connections, but given the time between us deciding to go and the time we were about to travel, then flight availability seemed less than ideal with post midnight hire car pick ups followed by 2 / 3 hour autoroute driving not at all appealing.

Driving was the next obvious choice, but it would have been a good 1,800 KMs each way.  Probably achievable over 2 days, but quite a chunk out of our valuable time in the sun not to mention very likely to try the patience of a certain Master T.

What occurred to me eventually was a memory from my dim and distant younger days, reading about overnight party, I mean sleeper trains.  This option was duly investigated and we realised we could travel in relative comfort from Copenhagen Main Station all the way to Toulon, via Koeln and Bruxelles for changes.  We also thought it might be quite an adventure for the little people.

Master T and I managed to book tickets from a very helpful lady at Copenhagen Main Station, the process only disrupted by a very impatient Danish man shouting at our helpful lady as to "how long it was all going to take...been waiting ages...etc".  What I've realised now having been in Denmark a few months now, is that if someone is being a bit obnoxious and rude, the best approach seems to be blunt in return.  Of course, I could never be rude.  So I firmly told the very rude individual how busy I was too, wrangling a small child, and that there was another queue available.  That seemed to do the trick. So, tickets booked, we looked forward to our epic journey.  With perhaps a little trepidation.

Arriving at the Main Station for our Friday evening journey, I suddenly felt that we were going back to basics.  Master T was in a carry frame on my back, CoI was carrying a rucksack with clothes for the whole family and a trolley case of amusements for the children.  And, to ensure my balance, I had a rucksack of food strapped to front.  Most of the other travellers, seemed on average a good 20 years younger, not to mention a bit more smelly and they looked at us with a mixture of amusement and bewilderment.

When the "City Night Line" rolled in, I was at first a bit concerned at the slightly dishevelled looking nature of the train, but once we'd found our compartment and settled down for our journey everything was good.  Having read a few other posts about this journey, we'd packed a picnic for all, and once the children had been put to bed, CoI enjoyed a glass or two of a decent red, albeit standing in the corridor outside.  But it was a fun way to travel.  Sleep was easily achievable, lulled to sleep by the motion of the train.  And despite, the early start in Koeln for our connection to Bruxelles and the very long TGV ride down to Toulon, I would recommend it as a good way to get the family across Europe.  Just pack lots of DVDs for the children.  Which, we also found a good way to make friends, as the traveller sitting at our table on his way back home after some Death Metal music festival was busted by me as he was watching Peppa Pig over Miss R's shoulder!

After this experience of overnight train travel across Europe, I'm quite taken with the idea of visiting more places by train.  Looking at the City Night Line route, there are a lot of opportunities to get to Holland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland just to mention a few, plus of course the ability to connect to almost anywhere.  Standing in front of the departures board at Paris Gare du Nord, on the way back, I suddenly felt very nostalgic for good old fashioned espionage films where the plot flits across the major cities of Europe.

Next time, it's time to reflect on the remainder of "summer" as it is now officially over, not to mention normal life seems to be in the offing for all concerned.  Oh, and some gastronomy updates are overdue as well....