Malmo, Sweden. Plus Copenhagen, Denmark.

The national museum was good – tracing the history of Denmark from 60,000 years ago. Some of the artifacts were interesting – it’s amazing what can be preserved in a peat bog!

Most photos were on my DSLR, but have a selfie ( It was cold and raining):

I headed out of Copenhagen, towards the Arken Museam of Modern art.

Here I encountered a cow:

Spots, and a little canapé do for a group, inconveniently getting in the way of the Damien Hirst’s.

I encountered Grayson Perry for the first time, with an interesting tapestry

. A picture with the title : the day the sky became my ground

Made me think about death, especially given the shaven head, and thus perhaps cancer and perhaps the title implying heaven is the new place to exist potentially given the person’s position departing the living world. Or it could be day dream related…?

The gallery also had a really interesting exhibition by Gerda Wegener – made more famous though the film the Danish Girl, as the wife of Lili.

It was enjoyable to look at her paintings. A lot were never collected by the Danish state, so the exhibition came from private collections and the French state.

There was something though that I think wasn’t art, though it could have been…

That evening I went to Banana Joe’s for tea, recommend in multiple places as a cheap good place for food. I’d disagree. Joe was lovely, but the food wasn’t great.

The next day I went to Malmo – it’s less than an hour by train. There is also a famous bridge, over 6km.   Don’t go by train if you want to see the bridge…

We were below the main deck – drive or get the bus!

In Malmo I meandered about, looking at the famous squares, the art gallery, and ended up having some jolly good Pho – it truly is an obsession:

I had asked the tourist information lady where she ate and had suggested a local place or a burger place. Having eaten too many of those, I discounted it and looked for the local eatery. However the prices seemed excessive.

Wandering towards the museam, I found the Pho place, and decided to eat there as it was reasonable.

I ended up skipping the museam and found myself walking along the beach towards Ribersborgs Kallbadhus, a famous municipal spa, out in the bay.

Not thinking, I ended up paying to get in and, beyond the point of no return, realised that it was a segregated spa, and everybody was naked.  I thought it was segregated until an older lady popped into the steam spa, which was an added surprise.

I learnt two things: I’m too much of a wimp to cool down in the 0 degree sea, just being outside is fine, and the view out of the spa window was exceptional.

Reinvigorated, and clothed, I left. I snuck a picture of the spar building.

Apparently, the women had an identical set up on the right hand side. Walking back along the promenade deck, I noticed that the patrons of the Ribersborgs Kallbadhus were a variety of ages – younger, older  and roughly the same age as me.

There was also the tallest building in Scandinavia which looked fantastic:

Though this picture isn’t as good as teal life or the others I took with my DSLR.

When I got into Sweden, through the border controls,  I visited an ATM  ans withdrew 200 Swedish kroner. I left with 10 remaining – a success I feel.

For dinner that night I ended up passing the world famous

Before arriving at the Copenhagen Street food place. It was packed, and warm:

I saw something with gin and elderflower in it, which sounded great. It didn’t mention the bubbles or strawberry through!

I had a delicious open sandwich, a veal tacco, Duck fat fried chips and a light lemon cheesecake from various stalls:

All incredibly good, but a tad expensive… But it was my last night.

I ended up in the airport lounge, due to my credit card, a nice bonus when I had a lovely sandwich

The bread can be incredibly rich and tastey over here! There was a cool cheese cutter that you rotated

And the chairs were comfy:

The only problem was that it was Avery long way to the gate. But I made it, and am now writing this on the bus that’s stationary in Bristol’s crap traffic…

If you had read this far – well done and thank you for sticking with me. I’ve some photos and thoughts below that are random ish.

The loo I used in Sweden was nicely designed – it was not flush against the wall, in fact there was a gap, which I quite enjoyed.

Also to note in a design shop I saw this, how pretentious!

Trains have huge spaces for bikes:

There was a British shop in Malmo:

And I liked this table, and thought the candlestick holder was clever

Hanoi

So I’ve been in Vietnam for about 5 days now, and although it has been a bit wet at times, its been fun.

The first entertainment was getting to Hanoi – The hostel in Bangkok insisted that even at 4am, it would take 45min to get to the airport. It didn’t! it took 15 minutes… hey ho. Then while getting my visa in Hanoi I was surprised at how many people didn’t realise that although you pay a fee to get a visa on arrival, there is also a stamping fee of $45. And there are no cash machines pre-immigration. They were getting quite grumpy, as they had to wait around to be escorted to withdraw some cash, but I didn’t have too much sympathy.

Hanoi was crazy. The Old Quarter is very narrow and bustling with life. There are also numerous mopeds trying to take lives as there are no rules of the road. Just a lot of honking ( this was a shock, compared to the tranquility of Bangkok ) To cross a road, stick your hand out, and gingerly walk across, slowing down / speeding up as you weave through on coming traffic and they weave around you. Or honk very loudly. Also, pavements are not for walking on – oh no, they are for parking a bike or two and eating on…

I had some great street food in Hanoi – Pho Bo & other things. A broth with glass noodles, greens, herbs and meat. I ended up sitting next to an American couple on their honeymoon ( from Brooklyn ) who tipped the vendor…!!! Out and about you can also pick up a lovely steamed bread bun full of egg, mushroom and stuff. Very yummy. Left over from French rule is a fairly good baguette – it has been nice to eat eggs and bread for breakfast!

The hostel was good, but certainly attracting a particular crowd of people. I didn’t want to go on their castaway cruise due to alcohol centered fun and price, so I found a travel agency around the corner that quoted a good price for a night in Ha Long Bay. Which was impressive, even in the rather wet and miserable weather we have been having….

Click here for photos ( I don’t know why they didn’t upload initially )

The water was still warm. But it was interesting when we were near to the floating villages how much rubbish there was…. such a shame. I ate some great seafood – crab, clams, some untranslateable  fish – maybe related to Sea Bass, who knows and octopus salad ( a bit too rubbery tbh ). With our evening meal we had huge shrimps and some other bits and bobs. We tried Vietnamese wine. I think the French failed to impart enough information here ( slightly port like ). I met some interesting people, and we played Rummy / Irish snap to while away the evening – the drinks were very expensive – and were slowly going deaf from the singing.

Ha Long Bay probably would have been better in clearer weather, but I think over all it was a rather magical & awesome place. From up close and afar, they were magnificent.

Before I left Hanoi, I caught a Water Puppet show – Odd, but impressive. The water hides the arms controlling the puppets & the performers are behind a screen.

The trip up to SaPa was interesting. I was in a hard sleeper – it lived up to its name – and the train jolted frequently. On the minibus up, when the clouds broke, you could catch lovely views of the rice fields in the valleys below, in shades of green and brown. SaPa seems rather damp, but there is lots of cheap ‘North Face’ kit about. Am going on a trek tomorrow – I know I am going to get rather wet – and staying in a home stay with some minority Peoples, which should be good. Approx 10 km a day – so not too much!

On Friday I catch the sleeper back to Hanoi, getting in a 4am. Then I’m on the train to Dong Hoi ( 9hrs ! ) at 6.15am, where apparently they have a huge dry cave system near by and then after a day there to Hue, and hopefully far better weather!

W

Food, New York City & Wil

This blog will be devoted to my culinary adventures in New York. My thoughts on New York City can be found here. I have – on your behalf – sampled many Hot Dogs, found countless interesting eateries, traveled across town (and in the process nearly missed my bus to Philadelphia), and probably put on some weight*  to find the best food New York City has to offer at a reasonable price.

So on to the optimal Hot Dog. ( Savouring the best food til last :) ) Every New York City street corner with high footfall seems to be adorned with the same food cart – the one thing I think I have no proper picture of… see 2 photos below for a glimpse, –  or its older brother ( with the vendor inside, though there seems to be no room to swing a cat let alone cook… mind you it isn’t really ‘cooking’…). There must a cartel the food looks identical, the vans, and the vendors….

The only difference, occasionally, seems to be price. I’ve eaten $2 & $2.5 Hot Dogs. Paying any more isn’t worth it, and I’ve found the better the Hot Dog, the cheaper it is… Once you have found a reasonable price ( avoid museums, as they tend to be more expensive – though at snooty one, i.e Guggenheim, I don’t think street food is aimed at them…), it is time to select the sauces ‘Hot Sauce’ (mustard) is required. As is ‘Red’.

Now as the bun ,nor napkin given are adequate, you have to be careful – the sauces  are runny so can easily drip onto you….   Occasionally onions are offered. They are not the traditional British version, but in tomato sauce. They can clash wonderfully with the mustard sauce. But don’t have all three. It is a dreadful clash & the potential for spilling increases tenfold. The roll seems to just be a delivery vehicle for the Hot Dog, so don’t expect much.

Slightly larger trucks are a better bet:

, and you are more likely to get some vegetables or salad. I tried this chicken combo:

Which was rather enjoyable – chicken thigh with some sort of seasoning; middle eastern I think. With good basmati rice, chickpeas, salad & ‘white sauce’. They had a good trade of office workers & had apparently been featured in the New York Times or Post or both – I can’t remember. The food was reasonable priced at $5. However, I found at this truck the chicken had been kept warm with water in the pot so the flavour was diluted. On the whole, it was good for fueling the afternoon of a very busy day!

Near the Hostel there was a small Malaysian restaurant which did some dumplings:

They were nothing special, even though I had been told they were, which was a shame.

Standing in the line to see the taping of Letterman, two gentlemen behind me were raving about Stake & Shake. On my way out, I was feeling peckish and it was way past dinner time, so I popped in.  This is how fast food i.e Mac Donalds should be done – (the following description is in the context of fast food, not proper food!) the stake burger had a good amount of plastic cheese, salad, fat and gherkin. This combination came together wonderfully, almost melting into one.

The fries, once again, failed to impress. However the milkshake was swell. It was freshly made, ‘with real milk’  and was gloopy, and strawberry flavoured. Although it also contained yogurt I dread to think how many calories it had, especially with the fresh whipped cream and cherry on top… :

It was so much better than Mac Donalds version!

It was suggested to me that I should visit Carnegie Deli, so I did. It almost turned me veggie!
I had the pastrami sandwich to go, and I didn’t open it til I got to the High Line. It was huge:

It had about 2.5 inches of pastrami between two tiny pieces of bread – really an afterthought to be honest. Also, I was given some mustard, and a gherkin. The pastrami had lots of flavour, with good peppery notes, but was very very salty. There was too much meat – I guess they had to justify their $18. I would have been happy with only a few strips of pastrami and a significant reduction in price. The sandwich was an interesting experience, but there really was far too much meat & salt.

So onto my final notable meal in New York City. In Time Out, I think; or some other listing mag, there was a feature of a Texan / South Carolina joint focusing on BBQing. BBQ in America is essentially slow cooking with smoke, and using certain rubs & logs for the fire as opposed to the British obsession burning.
The place I was going to was way out of my day, but was worth it. I smelt the place before I saw it…! I was torn between brisket, pulled pork and ribs.

As the pulled pork had just come out, I plumped for that. Though if I had the time, money, and cholesterol beating body I would have savoured everything – the smell was making my taste buds go into overdrive, fantasizing. Some amazing looking pulled pork went into a brioche bun, and there was a side of salad ( a choice of vinegar or mayo dressing) I also chose the baked beans – nowhere near Heniz. This had the burnt scraps added and lots of other bits and bobs – a southern speciality.

The brilliant food:

So how was it? The slowly smoked pork was so flavoursome,  with lovely smokey notes (obviously!) that gave amazing depth. Take the delight that slow roast pork is normally, and quadruple it. I’d love to try different smokes. A slight down note, was that parts were slightly dry. However over all it was awesome. Though again the bun, this time brioche, was a bit of a let down – I think I’m too attuned to to sweetness! The salad was needed. I’m not sure I would have chosen the mayo dressing as the food needed some acid to cut through the meat & fat. The baked beans were moorish, and the smokey depth given by the burnt bits brilliant. However the oil collecting on the top was slightly off putting, and so I didn’t finish them – my veins are probably getting clogged up enough / I’m not gung-ho enough…

Combined, it was a sumptuous half hour and worth the race to get back up to the hostel, collect my bag & get to the bus station – that must have burnt some of the calories… Right?!

* I’m already planning on losing it, honest!