Tuesday 17 July 2012

Vugesttuen Adventures

Events for settling into our new Danish life continue to happen thick and fast.  The latest achievement is Master T starting his new nursery (vugesttuen) which is great news.  I just need to have Miss R back in school come mid August and I am on the beach for the rest of the summer.  Assuming of course that summer actually decides to put in an appearance.

Getting Master T into nursery however, was not without its traumas....

On the face of it, the process for applying to nurseries here in Denmark, seemed very straightforward.  Once of course we'd had a bit of local language help to navigate the København Kommune website oh and of course getting our CPR numbers, the key to life in Denmark.  Not a difficult thing, just a bit of a long lead time with only one argument of what constituted a birth certificate for each of the children.

Quite simply, you look up the nurseries in your area and then select 2 based on your preferences of location, recommendation, waiting list and the other nebulous factors us parents use.  This choice is submitted online and a confirmation email sent - sounds all a bit like internet shopping.  Received wisdom also suggested that the average wait was around 6 maybe 8 weeks for a place.   So, 4 weeks after the application, with my thoughts slowly turning towards the prospect of paid employment sometime this year, and not having heard anything I thought I'd contact the Kommune to get an update. Imagine then my shock when the return email stated that with our chosen nurseries, we should expect to get a place in Spring 2013!  All of a sudden, the rumblings of a nursery place shortage coupled with living in Copenhagen's equivalent of nappy valley started to make a lot of sense.

What to do?  Clearly one option was to just sit it out.  I mean, it's  not like I'm not enjoying the time with Master T and Miss R.  However, for the sake of my sanity and probably Master T's future development I thought it prudent to try and do something about this.  There is of course the option of the alternative Danish nursery system where all they seem to do is take the kids to a forest and then let them hunt bears.  But, somehow I couldn't see Master T being up for this.  He will however be taking his daytime naps in a pram outside the nursery building which is a very Danish thing to do.  But, I'm feeling reassured that they'll bring them in if it gets too cold, which I believe means single degree Celsius rather than waiting till minus numbers appear...

Calling the Kommune was an interesting experience.  Apparently the problem was Master T's birthday being in January not to mention us seemingly choosing one of the most popular / apparently coolest places (it just happens to be 200 yards from our front door).  However, the helpful ladies at the Kommune sent some suggested alternatives with an indication that the wait lists were more reasonable.  So CoI (Captain of Industry for new readers) and I went to see them and made a revised short list.  Following up on this revised list, we were effectively told the same thing, albeit maybe autumn / winter of this year.  So cue another call to the Kommune - we couldn't be the only people in this situation.

This time, I mentioned we were not first language Danish speakers.  In reality, no Danish language ability speakers at all (if they hadn't twigged already) and all of a sudden light appeared at the end of the tunnel.  Apparently some nurseries have 'language places' which are reserved for people like us i.e. numpties when it comes to speaking Danish.  This can reduce the waiting time significantly, although "no guarantees" were given, and would mean Master T start a nursery sooner rather than later.

So once again, a revised selection sent with clear indication for the preference of a language place based on the suggestions from the Kommune.  This was acknowledged at approximately 14.00 on the relevant afternoon with a comment stating it would be likely we would have a "good chance" for a nursery place.  By 17.00 we had an offer sent through...hurrah!  

Looking back, I realise that the lady at the Kommune was trying to intimate without actually saying so that we should apply to nursery X because they had a language place available.  But clearly, moving to the end of the process without actually going through all the preceding steps wasn't possible.    I am appreciating Danish efficiency but there is still a certain amount of 'that's just the way it is' when trying to get things done.  Or maybe that's civil departments the world over.  

But no complaining, Master T is sorted and I'm now looking forward to some quality beach time once Miss R is also back at school.  (Did someone say "get a job!")

No gastronomy updates this time, but no fear, will rectify this soon enough.

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Gastronomics Anonymous

Good evening friends, it has been an awful long time since my last post.  Life in Copenhagen suddenly seems to have become very busy over the last few weeks, what with more visitors, R starting school and navigating some of the finer points of how to get a nursery place for T.  More on the latter in the next blog.


Today however is all about congratulating A&T and S&K (named in alphabetical order to show no favouritism) for being our first 'friend' visitors.  We also have A&T and S&K to thank for being a selection criteria for our place here.  When we were looking at places, we knew that 'the gang' had already booked their flights out, so consequently, we knew we had to try and find an suitable space which would not require sleeping bags on floors, or camping in gardens and other such indignities at everyone's advancing ages when everyone now expects levels of comfort approaching boutique hotel standards.


The activities of the week during the gang's stay focussed on avoiding the Golden Jubilee celebrations, taking in a bit of culture and doing a lot of gastro tourism.  


The highlight of the week must of course be dinner at Noma, the recognised 'best restaurant in the world.'  Getting there was in itself no small effort, as our excellent babysitter, having previously been booked well in advance and reminded several times, that if she wasn't able to do any other night of the week, 'Noma night' was the critical one.  Unfortunately she got a better paid job.  Fortunately, she had a friend who could step in at late notice, despite train cancellations to let us get to Noma just by the skin of our teeth for our reservation.

But the efforts were well worth it.  The food was absolutely out of this world with ingredients, textures and flavours that were quite mind boggling and things that you or I would never have thought about putting together on a plate following some very intricate culinary stuff.  Accompanied by the recommended flight of wines, it made for an amazingly indulgent evening.  

Would I recommend going again, I hear you ask.  Absolutely.  What I loved about Noma was the informal nature of the place and the genuine enthusiasm from the international chefs who clearly took great pride in their cooking.  There was no pretence and snootiness and in fact they assumed (in a nice way) you wouldn't know what had been put on the plate so it was all explained in a manner that really made you want to eat it.

So what did we eat - about 11 or 12 courses of food I think as the details started getting a bit hazy towards the end of the night.  Some of the things that really stood out for me, although it was hard to pick favourites were; Pork rind with blackcurrant leather, pickled quails egg on smoking hay (see picture below), raw razor clam with mussel nice and frozen horse radish, beef tartar with wood sorrel and dried juniper with a final dish of caramelised pear and pine parfait. The wines were a tour around some of the more unusual regions and specialities.  All together a fine meal and a fantastic experience of 2 starred Michelin dining...hopefully the first of more.


If I had to try and be critical of the restaurant, the pace of the food being presented was sometimes a little relentless.  But, it all worked and we all had a wonderful time.  I am sure we will return.  Although my recommendation is that it is a great place for social dining with friends and less for a romantic meal a deux.  

The rest of the week was taken up sampling things at the other end of the scale and everything in between.  On a trip to Helsingør to visit Hamlet's castle, we ended up in a real local's place - the Borgerkroen at Strandgade 75, where all that was on the menu was smorrebrød, which is jolly tasty and deceptively filling.  Not to mention of course the local pils.

At the middle of the scale, we managed to convene a session of the 'Friday Night Curry Club' although this time on a Monday night.  We tried out the Bindia Indian restaurant on the Trianglen.  Definitely not a flocked wall paper and chicken tikka massala joint this one.  Much more contemporary in look and feel - and to be honest something that instantly sets my alarm bells ringing.  However, on this occasion my fears were unwarranted as we were treated to an excellent selection of modern Indian cooking which left the taste buds tingling not to mention being grateful for the walk home to ease the digestion after the extremely generous portions.  The other middle of the scale visit was to Scarpetta in Nørrebro where Italian food is served in starter size portions, which after 7 courses of the taster menu was plenty. For a Copenhagen restaurant, the prices for food and wine are very reasonable, coupled with very informal service and of course excellent food.  Actually trying to think if we've had a bad meal out here yet.

We also took the opportunity to do some non food related things as well (we really did!) and actually get out and about to see some of the sights and sounds of Zeeland.  Helsingør castle was excellent and well worth a visit, Grandad T would have loved the maritime museum display.  Fredricksborg castle was grander still although the planned picnic in the picturesque grounds was prevented by torrential rain.  Which continues to be a theme here in Copenhagen.  

For the kids (and the children), the highlight was a trip to Bakken which is about an old fashioned a fairground you can go to complete with creaky roller coaster rides, dodge 'ems and a log flume from which there is no chance of emerging with any piece of clothing dry.  Something which I discovered after darling daughter R persuaded me to her on it....I don't know where she gets her charm and persuasive powers from....


Till next time, which will be quicker than this one...