Comfy? Ready to reminisce? Good - you're ready to read.
We have a little book from Eyewitness Travel entitled, Top 10 Copenhagen, and we looked in it for a recommendation for a place to have dinner. At spot #9 is a place we figured we'd be able to walk to from our hotel. It's called Salonen and is located at #20 St Peder's Stræde. Here's what the book had to say about this funky place:
"This wonderfully cosy café is a firm favorite with both international students and locals. The laid-back atmosphere makes Salonen a great place to lounge and relax with a large cup of coffee or tea. For those in need of greater sustenance, the friendly staff serve up hearty food from the fusion/crossover menu - prepared in a kitchen little bigger than a square metre."
We had no trouble finding its location and walked down the few steps into the basement cafe. There were several people already having coffee or tea or beer while sitting at tiny tables in tiny chairs. The walls were painted a dark blue, not a single chair matched another, but all held the people sitting in them without protest. There was no table bigger than about 4 square feet, but all were clean and had colorful table coverings. We asked about seating and were told to sit wherever we wanted to. We picked a table at the very back of the place, in between three young women who were engaged in quiet but intense discussions and a young man and woman who seemed to be just chatting. The woman of that pair had hair that a crayon company might describe as "Burnt Siena" or, as my Mail program from Apple might call "Cayenne." It was eye-catching. To accessorise her hair, she had piercings in her right eyebrow, her nasal septum and her upper lip. These two were cute, though, because, at one point, they both leaped up and asked if Ivan and I would "watch their stuff" because they were going outside for a cigarette. Being good Danish visitors, we said,"Of course!" So, Ivan and I sat, for quite awhile, with nothing to drink and no menu. Finally I went to the lone waitress and asked about the menu. She was very sweet, smiled and pointed to the wall where hung a large chalkboard menu. All choices had names referring to music - Ivan chose "LP" and I chose "HiFi." Since neither of us reads Danish, this was a trusting leap into the unknown! I chose mine because I recognised the word, "avocado" and I think Ivan's reasoning followed the same rigorous guidelines! Our friends next door finally returned and Ivan told them that we couldn't find anything of interest in their bags, hence the bags (and he & I) were still there. They laughed and said they thought we looked kind of shifty, but they decided to ask us to watch their stuff anyway. The waitress finally came with our food and, since mine had smoked salmon, Ivan, gentleman that he is, asked if I'd like to switch dinners and I, refined lady that I am, said yes! Ivan's choice was delicious and he enjoyed the dinner I had chosen. As we were finishing off our dinners, I thought I heard Leonard Cohen rasping a song. I jumped up, went to the front and asked what the name of the song was. I told the waitress that I knew it was Leonard Cohen but I didn't recognise the song. She regarded me with wide eyes and a big smile and showed me the computer program that was controlling the music. We found the name of the song - Urbanizer #1- and I thanked her. As I returned to our table and resumed eating, the soft guitar chords at the beginning of "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane began. I had to check my hair to see if it was down to the middle of my back once again! Ivan and I shared a memory-filled glance and finished eating while Grace Slick concluded her song. When we left, we thanked both the cook and the waitress for the meal and the memories. We walked back to our hotel talking quietly about how very lucky we are that we met when we did and are still enjoying the things that brought us together in the first place.
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