For those of you who read the trials of my last blog around getting a mobile phone, you'll be pleased to know that I am now a proud and relieved owner of a new mobile phone. I chanced my arm one more time with 3 (other providers are available) at a different store and despite some early scepticism, which included examining my passport for some kind of Danish immigration stamp (I had to point out I was an EU citizen, full rights of entry / residence etc), we had success!
Another big development has been the purchase of our Christiania bike which I am starting to throughly enjoy and look forward to using a lot. Must be said, that the initial omens were not looking good. Taking the bike for a test spin on a windy and wet day, in what must be the only hilly region of Copenhagen, there were only 2 near crashes and 1 near rollover. However, R sitting in the cargo box was very reassuring and supportive despite describing my initial biking attempts as "wobbly" and our CoI further encouraging me with comments like "you look like a galleon darling"... This however was the least of my troubles.
Little did I realise that actually driving a 'Christiania' on the road with no weight i.e. children / cargo in the box actually makes the bike fiendishly difficult to manage, steer and generally keep on the straight and narrow. So a 10KM cycle to get the bike home, in the blustery wind and rain along the coast made for an interesting experience. Particularly the road by Charlottenlund Palace where the road undulates, zig zags and the camber on the cycleway does its best to drive you into the adjacent hedgerows.
However, a Sunday afternoon excursion the following day, complete with both children and no near misses suddenly makes the city feel a lot smaller and accessible, not to mention confidence in my abilities to drive one of these things at an acceptable level. All we need now is an industrial sized bike lock. Despite Denmark being a very low crime and pleasant country, apparently thefts of Christiania bikes are very common, with even gangs in vans driving round the city looking for them and then just lifting into the back.
The other big step forward this week was a night out for our CoI and me, all by ourselves with no small children. We seem to have struck pot luck by discovering an extremely local option for babysitting. Very child friendly and brilliantly flexible. In fact when we left on Friday night, R was trailing around after her new best girl friend for the evening. T was oblivious to it and probably best ignored what looked like a girlie evening starting to take shape.
Our evening out helped further our gastronomic adventures in the neighbourhood as we discovered Gustav's Bistro on Classensgade. A small wine shop with a lovely bistro attached run with a sense of humour. The food is influenced by French cuisine but with plenty of local Danish twists and ingredients. And the cassoulet we shared as our main course deserves a special mention. Another locale making it on to the 'must take friends to' list.
So fuelled by good food and an excellent bottle of Bourgeuil, we started making further plans for nights out exploring the abundance of eateries Copenhagen seems to have to take advantage of our newly discovered babysitting option. Not to mention preparing for our flurry of visitors that will start within a few days.
Till next time. Hopefully it'll have rained less in between blogs...
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