The Nordics - part två (or Snus-aluffagus)

If you remember, I was last tootling around in Skagen and Gothenburg (in the Nordics - part ett).  And if you guessed that I would have my toes nibbled by little fish - you would be right!

For my weekend in Copenhagen, I was actually going to be spending it with my friend Carol!  I got there the night before she did - and happened to have booked a really delightful hotel - though I have to admit I was slightly worried because before I saw the actual building I saw this sign on the corner.  I found some great places near the hotel, and had dinner and a cocktail at Kalaset.  I walked around the block after, but decided to call it an early night back at the hotel (but not after trying the "world's best gin and tonic" - well it was the largest at least...

The next morning I found another eccentric restaurant for brunch - Bankeråt Café.  And walked around looking at the sidewalk sale while I waited with baited breath for Carol's arrival.  The day turned out to be fairly lovely, and Carol took me on a walking tour all over the city (including Christiania, which does not allow pictures).

And that night, we found ourselves headed to the festival in Malmö - which was just across the sound.  We never did meet up with her friends, but we had a great time listening to music, trying snus (which was pretty hilarious and messy), and having a few beers before heading back to Denmark (much cooler going between Denmark and Sweden than crossing the border between the US and Canada).  Sunday morning, we took it easy and checked out the spa before parting ways - her back to Aarhus and me to Malmö for work the next week!

The Snusperience

Work was work, but the team was fun and we had some street food during the music festival.  I also had planned out which bands to see after work - and drug my German colleague along for most of them :).  The Avett Brothers put on another fantastic outdoor concert, I also got to see a couple Swedish bands - The Royal Concept and the Shout Out Louds, and a Welsh band, The Joy Formidable.  We also caught a bit of Flogging Molly!

My third and final Nordic country on this little excursion was Iceland (with a week of work in Paris in between - nothing super exciting happened other than getting a bit of food poisoning from the tap water...).  I met up with my friend Rick in Iceland over Labor Day weekend (he popped over from Boston, me from Paris - so worldly we are).  I pulled it together enough when we landed (as I'd gotten the tap-bug the night before...) and we went to a local pub for a beer and boy did I wish I felt better that evening (if ya catch my drift, *wink* *wink*).

pic courtesy of dishyblokes.tumblr

On Saturday, we mercifully had a lazy morning and slept in for forever.  Once we ventured out, we realized it would be more economical (and convenient) to rent a car.  So yeah, the girl without a legal driver's license drove in another country since her passenger couldn't drive a stick...not that he didn't try - sorry to that rental company!  I also learned that Blackberry maps do not recognize any roads in Iceland, so it was useless for directions (you know, cuz there are no roads in Iceland...but we did make it to the Blue Lagoon).  And we both got the upgraded packages - so you know, we could get the robes and extra face masks...We watched (and judged) lots of people, put crap all over our faces, made a new friend, and learned that Of Monsters and Men were playing that evening!  After a couple hours in the lagoon, we popped out to head to the show with our new friend in tow.  It was a BIT of a cold evening in the rain to watch a show, but it was a cool experience nevertheless.

L-Whale, C-Strawberry mousse, R-Atlantic Bass

On Sunday, we were lazy again and stuck around town - going to a local pool and The Icelandic Phallological Museum.  Which I'm not sure was worth the 1200 króna...but oh well. We met up with our new friend again for dinner that night, and Rick got his puffin (and whale, and horse - yup, we went fully Icelandic with our meal). Dinner was pretty great, and we split at that point - Rick went home and I hung out with the new friend for a couple drinks. 

I can't say that we never broke any washing machines, or yelled out car windows that we liked some guy's jumper. Nor did we see a Grindr meet up at the local pool, or put our shorts on inside out...it was such a well behaved man-hunt we were on :). I guess that's where I should continue my search for a husband (that is if I don't get enough bearded-hipsters Seattle).