Flying in western Europe is comfortable. You are never in the plane long enough to get uncomfortable. 2 hours later, from Arlanda, I’m in Heathrow. The airport is bigger than I last remembered. Took a good while to walk to the baggage claim.

London cabs suck. Need to catch up with the modern world. The one I took to the hotel did not accept credit cards. Naturally, he left the meter running while I went to the reception desk to change some bills … twice … cause the meter moves that quickly. Pretty expensive short hop from the airport to the airport hotel.

The Heathrow Marriott. For a hotel that looks to be staffed predominantly by Indians, you would think that the room service Chicken Tikka Masala item would be pretty darn good. I was sorely disappointed. Even the frozen indian chicken curry from Marks & Spencer is much better than the flavorless crap they served.

Standard Marriott, showing signs of age, lots of wear and tear. The fitness center is a public gym as well, severely under-equipped with very old equipment. Only stay here if you must – and I had to.

The one saving grace was the Tuscan restaurant in the hotel. Wow! simply amazing. Great food, the chefs really know how to work it. The seafood risotto is excellent. The king prawn appetizer was quite well done. A pleasant surprise that I only discovered on my last night there.

Heathrow is nowhere close to the city center. An hour ride, even with the Heathrow Express to get you to Paddington. Ugh. I did go in to catch Quantum of Solace. Review coming up soon. Oh yeah, the Underground pretty much stops around midnight, not good for late long movies.

Flew back to Seattle via Copenhagen on SAS in business class. I must say, it is a comfy ride, reclining seats. Am not entirely sure why I couldn’t pick a warm dinner entree on the later breakfast meal (not a fan of cold meats). Some excuse about the food going bad. Heh, it’s only been 6-7 hours between meals, I’m sure it’s fine.

Arrived in Stockholm on a Sunday afternoon – snow flurries. Hmmmm, didn’t expect that. Rode a Prius taxi to the hotel. First time in a Prius, didn’t think much of it, a car that evokes a “bleh”.

The Hilton in Slussen is located well, the downside is the lack of space. My hotel room made me claustrophobic, approx 8×8. The bathroom is in the shape of a quarter circle. The good points is that there’s a full-service gym that is also open to public membership. The hotel also has a decent restaurant called Eken Matsal. Running an Argentinian theme for the month, I did have dinner there one night. Picked the veal and it was excellent. I was preoccupied with the damn Blackberry to notice much else.

After a decent workout that first night, I felt like having some Thai and hit up Koh Phangan. From the reviews I read, it’s supposed to be good. I dunno, it came off as fairly average. The restaurant is decorated like tiki huts, with funky music. Interesting but I was there for the supposedly authentic food. Perhaps Blue Elephant raised my standards. Ordered a bowl of soup and the stir-fried beef with lime something something. Having it spicy does not mean it’s authentic thai. The soup tasted like the instant noodle thai flavor sachets. The beef, while sufficiently spicy, lacked anything else other than the tangy lime. After that, it was a brisk walk back to the hotel in freezing, windy temperatures (according to the cab driver, it would be quicker than getting another taxi back).

A couple days later, had dinner at MÃ¥rten Trotzig with a colleague. Wonderful restaurant in the old part of the city. Holding up well and service was excellent. Picked a french riesling (I think, could be german), turned out to be better than I expected.  Started out with this reindeer mousse appetizer that was a little on the salty side. Had an elk steak, cooked medium. I could get used to this, elk is very tasty. Ended the night with a fruity pannocotta. I’d need to come back to this restaurant again!

Stockholm Arlanda airport seems to be in a state of renovation. And the roads were salted and graveled as well. Didn’t make for a pleasant entry/exit experience. The full-service restaurant in the terminal was nice, gave me a place to sit and relax for a few hours. Had ostrich cutlets for lunch. Again, it was far better than the usual chicken/pork/beef fare.

Next stop … London.

Arrived in Copenhagen for a week long business trip.

It rained, drizzled, showered in Copenhagen during the entire week I was there, except the last couple days. Miserable. Naturally, it was colder too, I didn’t pack a decent jacket. So… spent an hour at the local mall to find a winter jacket. These things are way more pricey here than back in Seattle. Did find a pretty good jacket for about $100 after a 40% discount. Came with a 2 year store warranty – great, I’ll have to get back to Copenhagen if I have any issues with the jacket in the future.

The flight over with SAS was aromatically interesting. Took the empty row behind me, more space, great! yes! … and no … the guy sitting across the aisle, turned out to be a non-shaving non-bathing of scandinavian descent (he’s taller than me). I quickly discovered that if he doesn’t move much, the offending wafts of body odor are minimized. However, I was not this lucky, big-smelly-man has small bladder syndrome.

I like Europe. Immigration / Passport control is a breeze, they don’t even bat an eyelid.

Apparently there’s only 1 Marriott hotel in Copenhagen, according to my cab driver. BTW, most taxis in Copenhagen are Benz’s (more variety in Stockholm, a large portion are Volvos). It’s great! plus taxis in Scandinavia accept credit cards as the norm.

The Marriott is right next to the water, a very large canal. 10 mins walk away from a large shopping mall (Fisketorvet). Once I could see the area during the daytime, the location is quite central to the city center. I kept taking taxis everywhere as I couldn’t see where I was in the evenings (sunset @ 4.15pm).

The hotel was quite decent – service and food-wise. Great morning breakfast buffet. They know how to cook a steak.

Taxis here are fantastic. Mostly current-model Mercedes Benz cars and they all accept credit cards! The downside? After lodging, my next highest expense was cab fare. It’s astronomical.

Found lists of recommended restaurants in Copenhagen. There’s nothing cheap here, just affordably expensive or more expensive.

Had dinner at the RiceMarket. Small corner asian (mainly thai influences) restaurant. Cozy. Places here put a lot of value into presentation (decor, atmosphere etc). Rather than pick an entree, I went with a sampling of 4 appetizers (chicken wings, tom yam soup and others). I had a side order called fried egg with chilli. Sounds deceptively simple and piqued my interest. Lo and behold! It really was a fried egg with the thai-style chili sauce over it. I got robbed of $3 for that dish!

Another time, I went to Saa Hvidt and they were closed for a private function. Grrr… then I remembered that there’s a Blue Elephant Thai restaurant here. It was an amazing meal in Brussels, figured it would be worth a shot. I wasn’t disappointed. What an incredible meal – they seriously know how to cook Thai food. I picked a duck curry with a helping of their fried rice. It was rich, creamy, spicy and filling. My mouth is drooling just thinking back about it. Ended with a mange sticky rice dessert. Mmmm authentic! This meal was the most expensive of my entire stay, however.

Randomly walking about the Tivoli Gardens area, I had a bite to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe. What a forgettable experience. Never will I go for “American” food in foreign places again. People ate burgers with a knife and fork. The horror!

In the same area, I chanced upon a restaurant called Flora at Copenhagen Plaza, a hotel.  Another small, corner, cozy place. Looked a bit too mature for my tastes (I was the youngest there) but I was hungry and tired of walking – Hard Rock Cafe across the street was not an option again. Interesting restaurant, small kitchen, limited menu and only 1 wine selection. BUT! it was all excellent. Wasn’t too fond of the foie gras cold appetizer. The rack of lamb entree made up for it. Great serving portions, not too much. Capped it off with a chocolate dessert mix.

Managed to get everything done work-wise by the end of Friday. Absolutely amazing, I had given up hope. Woke up in time on Sat, my only free day in Copenhagen, to take a short bus tour of the city. Watched the changing of the palace guards. Saw parts of town, finally understood where everything is and how they are connected – I walked back from the middle of town where the tour ended. But not before I stopped at a Indonesian restaurant called Bali, for lunch. I’d give it an average, not bad but not great either, expected better. Large servings however, I picked the Mee Goreng combo. Good thing I decided to walk back, needed the hike.

Not sure if I like traveling so far away, end up working days and nights. It’s hectic and the only time to somewhat relax is during dinner, after that, back to the hotel and the daily grind.