Hoping to Return to Vienna Someday Soon!

My last day was a busy day! There was so much to do and so very little time left... I guess that means I will be returning to Vienna. Vienna is definitely on my list of places that I would go back to over and over.

My day started out early with me returning to the Stephansdom cathedral. I took the tiny elevator up the north tower to see the city and the beautiful tiled room. The cathedral while beautiful was by far the most expensive church of cathedral I've visited so I skipped on the tour of the cathedral, the catacombs, the south tower, and the treasury (which would have cost €24!)

One thing I realized on this trip as I climbed outside stairs to the spire of Our Saviour Church, rode in a wobbly cabin at the Prater ferris wheel, climbed scaffolding to the top of the dome at Karlskirche, and walked grate pathways on top the north tower at Stephensdome, I am certainly not afraid of heights!

Just outside Stephansdom is one of the main shopping areas in Vienna. So, I was shoe shopping once again. I swear this is the land of sensible shoes... I'm not sure if I was just looking in the wrong places but seriously it's shoe upon shoe of low heel black pumps! But I found a rebel store... Well a store that and a section at the back of great shoes so I got a great pair of beige, brown and gold wonder shoes! They are from England but they will still be my Austria shoes. I also got Smith some super cute outfits; he is going to be Euro styling for sure!

After a quick stop back at my hotel to drop off my packages I was off to Naschmarkt for lunch. I thought it would be far more "market" but sadly it turned out to be more restaurants than anything... At the very end there were some market stalls which were quite neat. One thing I noticed is that there are a lot of different cuisines in Vienna so I've been trying a bit of each and at the market I decided to try a Shwarma. So first off they don't use the pita we know they use a focaccia like bread that is cut in half and then filled with Shwarama items. But no garlic! I know, I made the same face! Instead of garlic they put yogurt and chili flakes, still very good but I missed the garlic! Should be interesting to compare the Shwarma in Jordan when I go next month.

I ate and walked to MUMOK, the modern art museums in the museum quarter. Unfortunately the permanent exhibits were closed as they were changing them. So for a reduced price I was able to see the lower floors which were... well... Interesting. I'm not a huge fan of video art (and there was a lot) overall I would love to go back and see it all. I think the most interesting was a video of an artist that repainted a room everyday going through the colours of the rainbow.

I then jumped on the subway, then a bus and headed to outskirts of the city where grapes for wine are grown. I visited this great Heurigen (wine tavern) where I had a great glass of red wine (Blauburgunder 2009) and fabulous autumn pumpkin soup. Not bad selections for someone who couldn't read the German menu!

I hurried back to get ready for the opera! I saw Elektra at the Staatsoper; it was amazing! And most interesting one of my fellow box viewers was not 30+ years my senior. We got to talking and he's from Toronto. Overlooking the fact that he's a TML fan, we went for a slice of Sachetorte and some delicious Austrian dessert wine. The cake was very good (but not as good as my mom's!)

Then it was back to my hotel to pack and sleep. I've now waiting at the airport for my journey home to begin. This vacation went by way too fast!

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Klimt and a Ferris Wheel

I slept in this morning; it was great! After a surprisingly great breakfast at my hotel I headed off to see the Karlskirche and got off at the Karlsplatz station. The station is two Otto Wagner designed pavilions. On the tour yesterday we drove by several of Otto Wagner At Nouveau buildings, very beautiful. I can't imagine getting off at an Wagner designed "stop" everyday!

I then headed to the Karlskirche which is baroque church which was commissioned after Vienna has been hit by the plague twice in 20 years. I was disappointed to see that after I paid my entry fee, that the dome was under major restoration. But I soon learned that although there was serious scaffolding up, they had also installed a elevator and were allowing visitors to take the elevator up and see the frescos up close! I went all the all the way up into the top of the doom where I was able to see some truly breath taking views of the city.

After the church, I walked to the Belvedere. I skipped on the Lower Belvedere and headed right to the Belvedere Gardens. Just like the gardens yesterday, the gardens were stunning but the Belvedere gardens have several intricate fountains which made for a great walk. In the Upper Belvedere there is an entire section devoted to Gustav Klimt. While The Kiss was breathtaking, I think my favourite was Judith I. The rest of the three-story museum that has some great pieces and was well worth the visit.

I was going to continue to another museum (seriously, they are endless here!) but I hit the museum wall. So forget it all, and I headed for Wiener Prater which is the world's oldest amusement park. It was really quiet, well it was 2:30 on a Tuesday! I didn't go on any of the rides but it was fun to look around. Well, that's not entirely true as I went on the Riesenrad which is Vienna's ferris wheel. It was slow moving but has some great views of the city and the rest of the amusement park.

I then headed to Stephansdom, the iconic Viennese cathedral but I arrived a bit too early (or late) as they were about to serve mass. Looks like I will have to go back tomorrow.

I think did some shopping but sadly, no shoes. I'm not sure what's with this place but Vienna must be know for its sensible shoes because I can't seem to find any awesome shoes... But tomorrow is a new day ;)

Dinner was great, I went to a place close to my hotel called Oswald and Kalb. I had wiener schnitzel with the traditional warm potato and butter lettuce salad and a glass of grüner veltliner wine. Very tasty!

 

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Sleepy in Vienna

Yesterday was a crazy morning... I don't know why I do it but I decided to take a 6am flight from Copenhagen to Vienna. So I woke up at 3:45 headed to the airport, and even with the delays, arrived in Vienna at 8:30. While I was hoping to crash right away once I got home, my room was not yet available so I dropped my luggage and headed out. I decided the best thing to do was to go on a bus tour so I could just relax and not worry about where I am and how to get someplace. It was a really great introduction to the city.

At the end of the second tour one-hour tour I got off at the Schönbrunn Palace, the summer palace for the Habsburg family. It was very cool. I very much loved the yellow it's painted (apparently it's called Schönbrunn Yellow). Also very cool was the way the palace was heated. It's large stoves but because they were royalty, e stoves were fed wood (the coal) from inside the walls so there would be very little soot in the rooms and the royals would not be disturbed when it was time to add more fuel. The gardens around the palace are very beautiful.

After the palace I headed back to my hotel for some rest but it was soon time to head out for the opera. I decided to try a traditional sausage from one of the street vendors near my hotel. It wasn't bad but I think it was because the one I picked from the window had cheese.

The opera was good but I have to admit the opera house is not in the ideal locations as surfing quieter points in the opera you could hear the subway going by. I think it was a great start but I really can't wait for the the one at the in Staatsoper tomorrow.

 

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Two Days Behind in my Blog!

So I'm about two days behind in my blog so this post will cover the last to days. So Saturday was my birthday! Anna prepared this awesome traditional Danish breakfast including Danish flags, candles, and chocolate snails (think flaky cinnamon buns cooked on a cross between a sugar cookie and pie crust and drizzled with the chocolate for chocolate dipped donuts.

So due to the rainy and cold day and a email warning from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to avoid downtown due to a planned strike, we set off for the Louisiana Modern Art Museum. The grounds are beautiful, you can even see Sweden from the garden. We went to see one exhibit which was an exhibit of self portraits from a large number of famous artists. I had so many favourites but I really liked Picasso and Basquiat. They also had some neat photos which is usually not my thing.

We then risked it and took the train a little further to Helsingør where the Hamlet castle is located. I should probably mention at this point it's FREEZING and the wind is whipping and it's raining. On the way we came across a little mermaid but it was a man and it was crazy shiny... Very interesting. So we grabbed some coffees to warm our hands and set off along the path to the castle. It was deserted so we got some great photos but we realized only after getting all the way to the outside moat of the castle that it was closed. So we didn't see inside but we got some great pics from outside.

We grabbed the train back ordered some Thai food and watched a movie.

Yesterday we woke up and had breakfast out (so we could get the Noma photos off my phone using Wi-Fi!) we were then off to the Church of Our Saviour which is really neat as you can climb to the top of the spire and the last third you climb on the outside! It's very beautiful with its gold leaf.

Last time I was in Copenhagen I wanted to visit Tivoli but it was closed; but yesterday was the last day it was open! So we walked around checking out the bands and ride. In the end we only went on one ride, Demonen a very large very fast steel roller coaster. It was super fun! We had a fruit and chocolate kabob before we left.

We the stopped at Israels Plads Market for a very late lunch. We decided to split the sandwich voted the best sandwich on Copenhagen - a Duck Confit Sandwich. We both decided that it wasn't the best particularly because I found a few bones! We then had some Spanish tapas, in fact the same type of peppers, in honour of our trip to Spain.

We came home and hung out and had a late dinner of pizza and salad. We then headed off to a awesome Mike Anderson concert. Awesome jazz singer! Have no idea what he was saying between songs but the songs were awesome! I even got a cd... Not sure when the last time I bought a cd was!

Before bed we decided to try the chocolates we bought at Israels Plads Market. So we split each one to taste them. The crazy flavours included Tomato Basil, Tomato and Bacon, Goat cheese and thyme, pineapple and Roquefort cheese, and raspberry and fois gras. The best was the pineapple and Roquefort hands down, very tasty! The tomato ones tasted artificial, the goat cheese one was okay but thyme really should not be in chocolate and I'm pretty sure they forgot to put the flavouring in the fois gras and raspberry one because it didn't taste at all.

 

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I don't think anything can beat this... but we are still young (Noma, Part 2)

So for the rest of courses... these were slower coming courses.  First up was the cooked fava beans with beach herbs.  It had warm buttermilk like sauce and heart shaped herbs.  In Anna’s words “I didn’t know I like lima beans!”  Neither did I!  This came with a very nice wine a 2011 Nature Domaine Jilien Meyer Nothalten-Alace.  The “Bread Trap” also came out with the course.  The bread was baked fresh in house and included virgin sour butter and pork fat solidified with bacon and potato crumb. Ridiculous!  Best bread trap I’ve ever fell into!

Next course was locally picked berries (in fact the chef who brought us this meal told us he was leaving in 45 minutes to pick the mulberries near by) and burnt baby cucumbers.  It has a chamomile “sauce” that was quite thin.  The cucumbers were so “young” that they didn’t even have seeds yet.  It was unbelievably good (okay, I’m going on record, because I’m honesty sounding like a broken record, everything was unbelievably good... even the stuff we weren’t fans of was unbelievably good!!!)

With the next course came a new wine, 2008 Riesling “Buntsandstien” Weingut Odinstal Wachenheim-Pfalz.  The arrived with a Brown crab with tea soaked egg yolk and herbs (including beach plants) with a Norwegian ice-filtered seaweed broth.  In my opinion easily the most beautiful dish all night and with was very tasty too!

The 16^th course was scallops sliced remarkably thin and dehydrated over night.  Between two they made little grain and watercress sandwiches with squid ink sauce.  The scallops where very thin and crispy but still very much tasted of scallops.  The grains chewy and the squid ink was both beautiful and added a little something. 

The next course was another one of our very favourites.  I was caramelized cauliflower infused with pine.  They were nice enough to let us know the pine was only for decoration and not to be eaten!  They included cream made of whey that was infused with horseradish.  Seriously Boom goes the dynamite awesome!  Truly outstanding!

Next course came with a new wine which I honestly believe tasted like licking a school house... so not a fan!  Of course I’ve mixed up the wines and I would hate to bash one of the good wines so I will list them at the end and then sort it out later.

This came with a new course Pike Perch with is a fresh water fish and it came wrapped in cabbage with elderberries.  The first of the “actual” proteins, it was cooked PERFECTLY.  Anna asked about how they get their fish and they had this great story about a local supplier.

Next was a new wine a sparkling wine (awesome) and it came with the most interactive course!  So they brought you a hot skillet on a bed of hay so by the time it gets to your table is starts to smell like roasting hay (awesome!) and then they put oil in your skillet and you crack the egg in the dish!  They set a timer for 1 min 20 seconds and then you met some pepper butter in the top of the skillet and sauté some greens.  They give you salt to add and then they come by with a parsley sauce.  There is a deep-fried potato chip swirl in the hay that you eat with it.  Best egg I ever cooked!

Next course was another new wine.  This one more fruity, with it came the Sweetbreads course.  They were cooked sous-vide and then grilled hard on one side (the best side!) and with it came a mushroom broth, bitter greens, and celeriac.  It also has elderberry, leeks young pine, and hazelnuts.  SO YUMMY!

So let the dessert course begin! The first one was a blueberry “ice cream sandwich” and greens that had crushed ants in them.  They we were very tasty and we later leaned that the greens on their own are very peppery.  The ants really mellowed the flavour (now, that is a sentence I never thought I would ever say!)

The last course was “The Pear Tree” (that also came with a new wine) which had a Danish baby pear that had been prepared with aquavit and included lemon and thyme.  It also came with a pine parfait (which was like a mouse only lighter and really cold) and has a pear puree.  It was the perfect ending!

BUT THERE WAS MORE!  They then brought us treats!  Three little packages of crazy awesome.  The first present was a set of bones that had been hollowed our and then filled with caramel.  The caramel had a camp-fire smoky taste with a side of burn marshmallow.   The second package was chocolate covered potato chips.  They had a licorice like flavour.  Very very good!  The last package were two perfect Flødebollers (one of my favourite Danish treats) but instead of marzipan they had put a savoury cookie and the usual marshmallow like topping was this heavenly light fluffy (we later learned made from whey) and covered with milk chocolate.

BUT THERE WAS MORE!  Because we were some of the last diners they invited us to see the kitchen!!! The pastry chef took us through the hot and cold passes and into the prep area (where they store the bones), out back where they keep a lot of the vegetables when it’s cooler, the grills/smokers (they have two green eggs!) and dehydrators.  She then took upstairs to the experimental kitchen!  They had a whole white board of ideas!  They also have a very large area for all their herbs growing under the lights.

There is so much more (plus two full days of activities but I have to leave on a plane to Vienna in three hours so you are just going to have to wait :)

Before I forget the rest of the wines where:

• 2008 Saint Péray Blanc, Domaine de la Grande Colline, Saint Péray-Rhone-Nord
• 2006 Ex vero II, Weingut Werlitsch, Glanz-Sudsteiermark
• SA "Phil ' en bulle", Philippe Tessier, Cheverny-Loire
• 2008 "Le Ginglet", Philippe Bornard, Pupillin-Arbois
• 2001 "a ' Siassa" Franz Strohmeier, St. Stephan-Weststeiermark
• 2001 Riesling Spatlese Madonna, Rita & Rufolf Trossen, Kinheim-Kindel-Mosel

Food will never be the same; Life will never be the same (Part 1)

By the time we got to Noma and it was dark and around the restaurant was dead quiet.  There was a lit up Noma sign and two tiki-like torches.  We were taking photos of ourselves outside with the Noma sign as we were easily 20 minutes early.   All the way there we were equally parts nervous and excited.  With this much hype and expectation we were doing our best not to be setting ourselves up for disappointment.  Oh, how wrong we would be!

Then all of a sudden one of the wait staff came out to get us.  After they questioned us about having a reservation they welcomed us to our table.  I think we were the last table to arrive in a room with only 11 tables! 

Our waiter then explained to us the process of the meal.  No menus where brought, they just asked if we had any allergies to which we said no.  They then explained the menu, the first half of the courses, the courses would come fast and furious and then the second half would go slower. 

When they said fast and furious, they were not kidding they came faster than we could photograph, take notes, and then eat (they did slow it down a bit after we told them we were a bit overwhelmed.)

The waiter then slammed down the dried flowered centerpiece and said “this is your first course”.  He then motioned to two twigs pointing out.  They totally looked like tree branches but on closer inspection you could see that they had bubbles.  They tasted very good.  The menu (that we only got at the end) lists the course as Malt flatbread and juniper.  They also gave us crème fraiche to dip.  This is also the only course where I didn’t get a photo.  I was just so overwhelmed... although I did get a photo of the flowers after.

For the first 12 courses we enjoyed this fabulous champagne, which was not part of the wine menu so I’m not able to tell you much about it besides it was very good.

Second course was reindeer moss and cep... we were very appreciative of them letting us know what we could eat and was decoration because there were several things that look like you could eat but we weren’t sure.    The moss was crispy and kinda brittle and very tasty almost airy.  Surprisingly, exactly how I would expect moss to taste.

Next up was the crispy pork skin with black currant leather.  This was incredibly interesting as the pork skin was somewhat reminiscent of those puffy pork rinds and the black current leather was like fruit roll-up but that description makes it sounds absolutely disgusting... let me assure it was amazing, the smoky, salty crispy of the pork with the sweet, chewy, tart of the black currant made it absolutely divine!

Course number 4 has us baffled until at least course 15 when we actually asked one of the chefs about it.   They brought us an entire tray of open empty blue mussels and two closed mussels.  The instructions were to take of the top off the closed mussel and eat the whole thing.  We actually asked are you sure about eating the whole thing (were they actually asking us to eat shell?!) and the chef (by the way various chefs bring out each course and explain the course as they arrive) responded with a very calm “Yes, I’m sure”.  It was very nice tasting, the shell was very crunchy and the celery added a nice touch.   We later found out they make the shells from a dough and the shape comes from pressing the dough between two of the mussel shells.  At this point you just assume if they put it in front of you, you can eat it.

Course five was two types of Swedish cheese one was melted in a sort of dough that formed like a cracker.  They then put very finely chopped arugula and another fine dusting of the second cheese.  The cheese was creamy and crispy and the arugula added spiciness.  Awesome!

Next course was potato threads that were deep fried into little 2” pucks.  These pucks were then “glued” together with duck liver.  The richness of the liver with the crispy deep-fried awesomeness of the potato was very very good.  Heavenly, really.

Course 7 was easily top two for both of us.  It’s simplicity is scary, the taste was incredibly ridiculous!  It’s a dehydrated carrot that is dehydrated in carrot juice.  The carrots (we got one each) are placed on hay ash meaning they burn hay collect the ash and then put it through a sieve to be then put on the plate.   It came with a sorrel dip, which was this intensely green dip.  Seriously it’s a carrot but really it’s the best carrot I’ve ever had!  OMG, blow my mind crazy!

Course 8 I think was the bottom of the pack for us.  It was certainly neat but it was a tad too intense.   So they took milk and boiled it until all the sugars in the milk caramelized and then they dehydrated it to create crackers.  On top of the crackers they put shaved cod liver and kemp.  It was served intensely cold and we were told to eat is as soon as possible.  It was very fishy tasting and I found I couldn’t really taste the milk crust.  But it was certainly interesting... just not a favourite.

Next one was not a fav on my list, it was a quail egg that has been very lightly cooked, then pickled and then smoked.  It was intensely flavourful and you could really taste the pickling and the smoking.  I was not a fan of the cold raw egg inside that waited to explode in your mouth (you couldn’t eat it in more than one bite.)  Awesome, just I would not go back for seconds!

Course 10 was a potted plant.  A baby carrot and a baby radish each, they were “potted” in “soil” made of barley and “grass” made of actual grass (I’m sure there was much more in the soil and grass but that is all we caught.  It was very tasty and absolutely fun digging in the grass and dirt to eat the very tasty carrots and radishes with extra dirt and grass.  We even at the carrot and radish tops.

Course 11 was one of my absolute favourites.  It was just grilled baby corn but it was so well done with the smoky grill and the sweet corn.    

Course 12 was sorrel leaves stuffed with beets and ground crickets (yup, that’s right we ate Jiminy) and it came in an ice tray with green snow.  The snow was made of Nasturtium which is kind of watercress.  It was very good as snow and really made for a great end dish before the “main” dishes began.

That is the end of the fast and furious menu.  There are still 10 more awesome courses but you are just going to have to wait.  Plus the photos are locked on my iPhone. 

Fish Kiss

I can’t believe I forgot to talk about the fish spa yesterday!  Could have been that I blocked it out...

So last year in Greece, Anna wanted to go on a catamaran so not being a seafaring person, I took it for the team, loaded up on Gravol, and we hit the water.  Don’t get me wrong, it was an amazing experience just now, the next crazy experience I want to try, Anna will take it for the team and join me.  I really wanted to check out a fish spa in Greece.  Sadly there was only one place and they were all booked up.  As luck would have it Anna found a place in Copenhagen!   

After a list of questions from when was  the last time you put on nail polish to do you have diabetes we passed on to the locker room.  Interestingly enough all the questions had nothing to do with our health or safely and everything to do with the fish’s health and safety!

Next stop was rolling up our pant legs and scrubbing our feet and legs.  Then off to meet our fishes.  All the tanks in the calm, dim, spa-like basement were taken or the fish has recently been fed so we got the tanks up on the main level with windows for all to see.

You slowly lower your feet into the tank and the feeding frenzy begins.  These fish eat the dead skin off your feet.  Ick, no!?  It is the craziest feeling and remarkably hard to describe... like tickling, tiny bits, and scratchy cat tongues.  Anna agrees with this but added “but like thousands of them at the same time!”  I found it hard not to laugh hysterically.  It was interesting to watch Anna’s fish, I swear she had way more fish.  We were both very thankful that we only paid for 15 minutes because my feet began to itch. 

Did it make a difference... um... I don’t think so, maybe a bit softer but they claim it’s only after 30 minutes does it really make a difference.

All I can say is pass the pumice. 

Noma Coma

Today started our brilliantly!  I got to sleep in and then Anna prepared a traditional Danish breakfast with bread and cheese and thin wafers of chocolate.  There was also fabulous coffee.  A great way to start the day!

First order of business was to visit the Danish Resistance Museum, which was free (yeah!) and very interesting.  The exhibits included letters and items from the Nazi occupation and the sabotage tactics as well as some post war stuff.  One of the more interesting parts was how Denmark worked to move the Danish Jewish people out of Denmark and over to Sweden to keep them away from the Nazis and the concentration camps.  A very interesting and moving museum.

It was then time for shopping.  I got a few things to take back to Canada but one of the more interesting things was when we stopped for lunch.  I had this very tasty organic hot dog and this very yummy juice that was strawberries, apple, and ginger. 

We then went to Torvehallerne which was kind of a cross between a market with fish, meats, cheese, and bread for sale and small restaurants serving tapas size dishes, everything from sushi to chocolate imitating sushi.  We purchased some very interesting chocolates I think one of the most interesting is goat cheese and thyme.  More tomorrow once we try them!

I’m just back now from Noma and I would love to share my thoughts, experience and heartfelt love for this place but really I have no words right now.  I really just want to be.  Seriously speechless... we are calling it a Noma Coma. 

If I just leave the ridiculously awesome food and wine to the side for the moment, the wait staff was amazing and the fact that we got a tour of the entire kitchen and how the creative geniuses come up with up with the food... I am in awe, and know I will never have better meal... unless I am back to Noma again.

More to come include a plate by plate (and wine by wine) recap including photos is coming tomorrow.

Rum is the New Black

Whippin’ into the Copenhagen airport, Anna was waiting at the gate with a Canadian and Danish flag waving!  It was so awesome to finally make it!

We both realized that I was the first person to visit Anna in her new Danish home three years ago when she first moved here and I’m likely to be the last person before she moves on to her new home in Hawaii.  So I have ‘opened’ and ‘closed’ Denmark.  Interestingly enough if everything goes according to plan for my trip to Hawaii in January / February, I am likely to ‘open’ Hawaii as well.

We had a great day even if I did sleep some of it away… I took a 2 hour nap after having a Starbucks at the airport so without a doubt I was tired for sure!  Before the nap Anna prepared the fabulous lunch of lentil soup, salad and fresh bread from the corner store.  There are so many bakeries in her neighbourhood I don’t know how she does it.  We had this great pumpkin seed bread.  Very delish!

After the nap we did some shopping and came to the realization after seeing several shops of all black shoes that unless I want sensible black shoes I’m going to have to look elsewhere for this year’s shoe purchase!

I did get neat silicon tea ball (Lynn, it’s super neat… Danes have some wicked design concepts) and fun orange dress shirt.  Nothing like seeing it in the window, loving it, trying it on, and it fits!

After dropping off our purchases it was off for an early dinner.  At Ni-9 (which literally means 9-9 in Danish), which was a running sushi restaurant so, all he sushi comes by on a conveyor belt.  There was one for hot and one for cold.  So very tasty!  It was my first time trying out one of these places but the best part was there was only one item per plate so you could try so many things!  We agreed our absolute favourite was like a summer roll but had crispy shrimp, spicy and sweet sauce with shredded lettuce.  A very close second was this sautéed shrimp. SO GOOD!

Then we met up with some of Anna’s friends for drinks at a Tiki bar called the Brass Monkey for drinks.  Anna and I both The Zombie with five types of rum and absinthe and some fruit juices blended on site.   Considering a amount of rum in the drink it was very tasty!  Oh yes, it also came on fire and in served in a zombie monkey head!   Anna super raved about the Pina Coladas at this place and although it wasn’t on the menu it was the special that day and I kid you not, the BEST Pina Colada’s I’ve ever tasted!  AMAZING!!!

And now it’s NOMA day!  I’m so excited after two months of waiting it’s finally here!  I’ve heard various things... like I will be served shrimp to eat that is still alive or ants that taste like lemon.  Whatever comes it’s going to be exciting and I’m sure, delicious!

The Travel Plan - Copenhagen and Vienna

So I'm off... Well sort of, I'm at the Ottawa airport early (special thanks to Chris and Smith for the ride!) and now I'm relaxing before the journey begins. This flight will be kind of  anti-climatic because I'm only heading to Toronto for a three hour lay-over before I take off for Copenhagen.

Sadly I left my usual image that breaks down my trip at home so everyone will have to made do with my text description until I get back (and then I'll post for both trips :)

So here goes, I will land in Copenhagen tomorrow at 10:30 am for four fun filled days of awesomeness with my BFF including a much anticipated dinner at Noma Friday night.  

I'm then off first thing Sunday morning for Vienna.  Over the three days I'm there I have tickets for two operas - Electra and Salome.  Interestingly enough both are by Richard Strauss.