Greenland Passage

Around the corner from my Copenhagen flat may be found a number of local retail establishments: a small supermarket, a couple Danish equivalent of bodegas, restaurants from pizza-by-the-slice to the Michelin rated  Clou. But I hung out at Krut's Karport where I could sit outside with a drink and a cigar. I would have ordered aquavit, the indigenous Nordic spirit, but proprietor Peter Kjær offers what may be Copenhagen's most extensive collection of Scotch. I'm not fan of that whisky so instead I drank Dad's Hat rye, imported from Pennsylvania. Or coffee. Peter and his staff are gracious hosts and feature regular tastings of spirits. One night when I was there about a dozen folks fathered in the back room to sample gin.

Smørrebrød is simply buttered bread. But the Danes, not usually a people given to excess (except for weekend alcohol consumption) don't leave it at that. Instead, they create works of art you can eat. The toppings can be meat, fish, vegetable, whatever you like. Here it's herring from Bornholm, a Danish island closer to the Swedish, German and Polish coasts than Copenhagen. This version was served to me at Promenaden, one of the fancier eateries at Tivoli Gardens, operated by the local Nimb restaurant group. The bread must be the dense Danish rye found everywhere. Dark in color, tasted on its own or with just butter the bread is sour to the point of tartness, especially when sliced, baked to dry it out and served like a bagel chip with beer. But the bread finds its natural habitat topped with a generous smear of butter, and the fixings. The protein can be any form of meat or seafood imaginable, but some vegetable crunch, whether in the form of a little bit of onion or the ...

It's only natural that Tivoli Gardens, the old-fashioned amusement park located in the heart of downtown Copenhagen, would feature The Little Mermaid. The statue of H.C. Andersen's Little Mermaid is as much a part of the city as the Manneken Pis is to Brussels. But why does The Little Mermaid in Tivoli's daily 5 p.m. parade remind me more of Bette Midler's Dolores Del Lago than Ariel? Tivoli features all the entrapments for your dollars or kronor that any amusement park offers: thrill and kiddie rides, games of chance or skill, trinkets and souvenirs, and food for every taste and budget, including an American diner which only vaguely resembles one. But it also offers areas of respite, like this expansive corner of Tivoli across from Copenhagen's city hall (Rådhus) and its clock tower. This peaceful, pond-side retreat from the carnival features more than two dozen illuminated metal bowl foundations. I found it an enjoyable location for a respite from the cr...

For lunch before erev Yom Kippur I sinned by eating this sandwich. As noted earlier the Danes love porcine products and here is the ribbensteg sandwich: thick slices of fresh pork belly roasted then pan fried, topped with a mayo dressing, some pickle slices and cabbage. In restaurants the meat would be served with boiled potatoes. This sandwich (crispy, fatty meaty deliciousness) came from the same shop that supplied my rullepølse.

It's 4 p.m. in Copenhagen when this parking enforcement officer starts to enforce rush hour no parking along the local boulevard while I enjoy an afternoon snack at a cafe. Motorists hurried to their cars upon seeing him coming. The big difference between Philadelphia and Copenhagen: the motorists were polite. Along a side street, he kept snapping photos of cars; he'll be back.

My introduction to Danish culture began 30 years ago with r ullepølse , when Retta Johnson, Jean Sue's step-mom, served it to me at lunch. I was smitten. Hygge may be comforting, but nothing matches the cured meaty goodness of this cold cut. Retta served it to me in her Racine, Wisconsin, home, a community which once claimed to be the home of more Danes than any city in the world save Copenhagen. I doubt the veracity of that boosterism, but certainly Danish heritage is strong in that Lake Michigan city. Rullepølse is meat and tied tightly with seasonings, wet cured, simmered, then pressed into its traditional vaguely rectangular form. In Racine it is usually made from lamb breast, although one butcher in town uses pork which, it turns out, is much more traditional in the homeland where pigs reign. The pork version is what I purchased during my visit to Torvehallerne, Copenhagen's food hall with about 60 merchants, mostly serving lunch but plenty to bring home in the ...

Young Women, Emil Nolde, 1947 If you want to go to Greenland the easiest route is through Denmark, the Mother Country. I arrived here Saturday afternoon, but the welcoming committee (pictured at right) didn't organize until today, when I visited SMK, the National Gallery of Denmark, just across the street from my Copenhagen holiday flat. It takes five minutes at my incredible slow pace to walk from my front door to the museum. A normal walker would do it in three. Even closer is the Hirschsprungske museum which I plan to visit before flying to Greenland Saturday evening to begin a 17-day cruise to Halifax via Labrador, Newfoundland, France and Nova Scotia. Yes, France. More about that when I get there. But it will only be a day trip. My Home Away (like Air B 'n B) flat is in the heart of the museum, district. Other museums just a short walk away include Rosenborg Castle, the natural history museum, the David Collection (private Islamic and European collection ope...