“Hey, Dave,” people keep saying. “Why haven’t you created a video of some of the rides you saw in Tivoli last month?”
Stop pestering me. Here is it. Happy now?
I know this is a short post, but I think my magnum opus about food in London and Copenhagen makes up for it.
My cousins and I recently descended upon Chicago for our annual reunion. Between all the drinking, eating, drinking, and more drinking, we went on a boat tour of Chicago’s architectural landmarks and marvels. I got some great photos of the buildings, but I don’t recall all the facts, so I have just decided to type up a whole bunch of lies.1
First, the famous Wrigley Building:
The first Wrigley building was constructed entirely out of Wrigley Doublemint chewing gum, which proved disastrous. Six people died when the building collapsed. They weren’t crushed; they got stuck in the gum and died of mandibular trauma trying to chew their way out.
Construction on a new Wrigley building began in 1920. Realizing their mistake, builders chose the hardest, densest, toughest material available — something even more rigid than steel or concrete. That’s right: they used Bazooka Joe.
Now, let’s talk about the 98-story building that replaced the Chicago Sun-Times headquarters — the one to the left of the Wrigley Building in this photo:
When this riverfront office and hotel tower opened in 2009, it was considered the most beautiful building not just in Chicago, but in the entire Western Hemisphere. Upon seeing it, motorists would slam on their brakes to stare in awe, causing a 450% increase in traffic crashes. Pedestrians would stop and look up, causing a 680% increase in neck injuries. Sometimes, parents were so distracted by the building that they didn’t notice when vultures swooped in and carried away their young children.
Realizing the public hazard they had created, the owners looked for ways to modify the building so people wouldn’t want to look at it. That’s why they slapped the word Trump on the side. When Chicagoans see the building now, they’re disgusted and look away.
The towers of Marina City are two of the most distinctive landmarks on the Chicago River:
Marina City was opened in 1963 as a mixed-use complex with apartments, offices, stores, and a theater, but its odd design was so off-putting that the entire center was abandoned by the end of the decade. Hippies moved into the buildings in the early 1970s, renaming the complex Freetown Chicagiania and declaring it independent of the city, state, and federal government. The government of Chicago has never recognized Chicagiania, describing it as a “social experiment.” The residents of Chicagiania banned all hard drugs in the late 1980s, but cannabis is still sold and used openly, especially along Pusher Street. Even though crime rates are low, police will sometimes sweep the area. Today, about 600 people live in Chicagiania. The area is one of Chicago’s top tourist attractions, known for vibrant street art, live music, and creative frozen yogurt toppings.
150 North Riverside is remarkable not just for its design, but also for its handling of Chicago’s famous wind gusts.
Many buildings have wind dampening features, like slosh tanks, but 150 North Riverside has perhaps the most innovative method for handling wind. As you will note, the building tapers at the bottom. This base contains a hinge so that the building folds 90 degrees and lies flat when wind conditions are dangerous.
Because of this hinge system, all the furniture is bolted to the floor, and loose items, such as staplers and coffee mugs, are secured with magnets. Office workers get around by using a building-wide system of pulleys. These workers say they don’t mind when the building folds down, but it makes going to the bathroom somewhat difficult.
Now, let’s turn to Chicago’s tallest building:
Most people know this building as the Sears Tower, but it has changed names twice since then. In 2009, after Sears moved out, the building became Willis Tower. In 2017, Willis moved out, and the naming rights were bought by one of its newer tenants, which relocated from Cypress Creek. It is now the Globex Tower.
On the south side of the river, you’ll find the third-tallest building in Chicago, Vista Tower:
The most interesting thing about Vista Tower is that it’s really three interconnected towers. The shortest tower is a hotel, the middle tower is condominiums, and the tallest tower — at 101 floors — is overflow storage space for RuPaul’s wigs.2
And now, a bonus building that wasn’t on the boat tour! The John Hancock Tower, located on the famous Magnificent Mile, is Chicago’s fifth-tallest building:
This building is 1,128 feet tall, which makes it 1,121½ feet taller than the Complimentary Spouse. The observation deck closed in 2014 and was replaced by the nation’s least conveniently located Pep Boys.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this informative and completely accurate blog post. Please check out my other travel-related posts, many of which are more truthful than this one.
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1 Fabricating travelogues is my specialty. Remember my trip to Cave of the Winds?
2 The primary storage facility is, of course, the Knoxville Sunsphere.
“I’m going to eat well on this trip,” I promised myself as the Complimentary Spouse and I were packing for our vacation in London and Copenhagen. “Just three sensible meals a day. A dessert once or twice. No snacks.”
I broke that promise just a few hours after landing when I scarfed down a 99 Flake outside Lilliwhites in Piccadilly Circus.
Don’t judge me, Daily Dave fans. I had the best of intentions. But I also had the biggest of appetites.
Here’s what I ate in London and Copenhagen.
British food gets a bad rap. It doesn’t deserve it. High tea turns food into an event. The Brits have the world’s best chocolate and candy. Even pub food, done well, hit the spot.
While Britt and I have enjoyed tea in many places around London, we keep returning to the tea at the Great Court Restaurant in the British Museum. The quality is great, the prices are reasonable, and you’re not too far from 3,000-year-old mummified bodies! I mean, yum, right!?
Pub food has come a long way. At the Bear & Staff, I had a chicken and portobello mushroom pie:
Three nights later, at the Cambridge (a sister pub of the Bear & Staff), I had the steak and Nicholson’s pale ale pie.
My dad and Britt had both had the fish and chips.
On our way to Copenhagen, Britt and I had a fair bit of free time in Heathrow Terminal 3, so we found a pub called the Big Smoke Taphouse and Tavern. I helped myself to another steak and ale pie.
In the United States, people associate Danish food with pastry. There’s a good reason for that, I discovered — the Danes are wizards with pastry! Here’s a look at what Britt and I got for one morning at Lagkaghuset, right next to our hotel:
Of course, people in Denmark need more than pastry. That’s where smørrebrød comes in. These open-faced sandwiches on dark rye bread are something of a national dish. We tried the smørrebrød in the cafe of Magasin, a high-end department store.
I got the chicken salad sandwich:
Britt got the shrimp:
The smørrebrøds weren’t the only sandwiches we ate on our trip. In London, we made our usual visit to the Brass Rail in the Selfridges Food Court. As always, we split a salt beef sandwich slathered with English mustard, plus a gherkin.
In Copenhagen, I had one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had in my life. It was at a nondescript sandwich place called Smagsløset on Vesterbrogade, not far from our hotel. I ordered the turkey and Emmentaler sandwich.
That’s a picture of me scarfing down this sandwich at the top of this blog post. The bread was firm and had the ideal texture and consistency for a sandwich. Between the bread was the perfect ratio of cheese, turkey, barbecue sauce, onions, and lettuce. There was a hint of chili sauce and one other ingredient I couldn’t quite place — it was creamy, but I don’t think it was mayonnaise.
I only had one hamburger on my trip. It was the Nakskov burger at Halifax — Danish beef topped with fried onions, cheddar, bacon, mustard, pickles, and remoulade on a brioche bun. (Britt got the same thing, but with beets.)
While we didn’t stop in Paris, my brother did, so we had a French meal in London in his honor. At Brasserie Zédel on Sherwood Street (one of the many arteries flowing into Piccadilly Circus), I had the chicken sauteed in mushrooms and cream:
Britt, my dad, and I split two desserts. The first, a lemon meringue tart, was tasty but not remarkable.
The pièce de résistance was the île flottante, which is very hard to find outside France. It’s meringue floating in vanilla custard, and it’s delicious. The version at Zédel did not disappoint!
Of course there was pizza! Here’s the delightfully spicy Diavolo pie Britt and I split at the Pizza Express near Covent Garden:
In Copenhagen, Britt and I discovered an excellent Italian restaurant named C’ho Fame. It was next to the Halifax burger place. I played pizza roulette and got a basic sourdough pizza topped with large slices of thinly-sliced meat. It was delicious. I also played beer roulette and was delighted with the Birra Moretti.
What’s a vacation without a little alcohol! We weren’t in London for more than 24 hours before stopping in one of our favorite bars, an LGBTQ-friendly place called Common Counter at Glass House on Brick Lane.
The cocktail menu at Common Counter is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The combinations are inventive and imaginative. Here’s me drinking my Lady Ezulle, which contains rum, orange liqueur, rose peppercorn, lime, and bitters:
Here’s a better look at the drinks. Britt’s Wine of Ergl — apricot mead, gin, lemon, sparkling wine, and bitters — is on the right.
Of course, Britt and I had to stumble through some famous gay pubs in Soho — Admiral Duncan, Duke of Wellington, Comptons, and more. We downed a lot of pints of Camden Hells.
All of the gay pubs were decked out for the Platinum Jubilee. This sign at Compton’s was especially appropriate:
In Copenhagen, I discovered a great new soft drink: Faxe Kondi. It’s hard to pin down the taste, but it reminds me a bit of Inca Cola. A bottle is currently in my fridge, being saved for a special occasion.
Our favorite Portuguese treat in donut form? Yes, please! Britt and I discovered these pastas de nata donuts at a place called Santa Nata near Covent Garden:
There’s a cake place in Copenhagen appropriately named Cakenhagen. Britt and I split these two beauties at the location inside Tivoli. On the left is a Fatamorgana, a crème fraîche mousse with apricot filling on a biscuit base. On the right is a Det Gyldne Tärn, caramel mousse with passionfruit filling and a dark chocolate base.
These little cakes were just as pretty on the inside as they were on the outside:
Ice cream gets its own section because, one, it’s delicious, and, two, it’s my blog and how dare you question me.
If you recall, I said it was a 99 Flake soon after arrival that derailed all of my good intentions. A 99 Flake was one of my favorite childhood treats, even though the soft-serve ice cream actually tastes like cold whipped cream and has a little bit of a chalky mouthfeel. When I was a kid, a 99 Flake cost 99p. This one cost £6! Inflation, right?
Another childhood memory is getting ice cream at intermission during plays. Here’s the ice cream I got at the revival of The Glass Menagerie, starring Amy Adams.
On our last night in London, Britt and I found a gelato place called Amorino, known for its distinctive flower-shaped scoops. This cone — with hazelnut, chocolate hazelnut, and pistachio — didn’t last long. London was experiencing a heat wave, and you can see that the gelato had already started to melt a few seconds after it was served up.
After we ate our gelato, we discovered that Amorino was a chain with locations all over the U.K. Then we found out that they’re actually all over Europe. And, just a few days ago, we found a new location at the mall five miles from our house. So, I guess the place wasn’t as special as we thought.
I’ve saved the best for last. I discovered an ice cream treat in Chinatown that I’m still talking about. I speak of none other than fish ice cream!
No, it’s not what you’re thinking. What I’m calling fish ice cream is really called taiyaki, soft serve in a freshly made fish-shaped waffle. A quick Google search says that taiyaki originated in Japan. No matter where it came from, I can tell you where it ended up — in our bellies! I had fish ice cream twice, both times with vanilla soft serve. Britt had the vanilla-and-green-tea swirl, which he loved.
I have never liked fish until now. Just make sure it’s a fish in waffle form and filled with ice cream.
One of the first things I did after coming home is search Google for the nearest taiyaki place. It’s in New York. Britt, let’s start planning a trip!
The Complimentary Spouse and I went to the Cave of the Winds near Colorado Springs yesterday. I’m happy to report that we didn’t have to wear miners’ helmets or get muddy — it was a pretty tourist-friendly place.
As I don’t remember the names of any of the formations, I will just make up shit for the rest of this post.
Britt took the last photo. “It just appealed to me,” he says.
Here’s a little video my iPhone made from me. Enjoy these photos of golden hours from around the world — Madrid, Havana, Viña Del Mar, Sydney … but mostly right here in Tampa!
I had a few days in New York last week and made two videos. The first is from Central Park, where I didn’t get very far because it was below freezing. If you’re familiar with the park, you’ll note that all of these locations are south of 65th Street.
The second video is from Little Island, a new public space that juts out into the Hudson River. I’m eager to return when the weather is better.
I’ve written twice before about whimsy — once about Sarasota, and once about Havana — and now I have more whimsy to share. I saw these little figures in the 14th Street/8th Avenue Subway station in New York.
The bronze sculptures are part of a series called “Life Underground” by Tom Otterness. They are delightful.
When the Complimentary Spouse and I want a change of scenery and some delicious Greek food, we head to Tarpon Springs. This part of the Tampa Bay area was settled by Greek immigrants who worked as sponge divers, and they’ll still flying the Freak Greek flag today.
Head to Dodecanese Boulevard and you’ll find the sponge docks and lots of Greek restaurants, bakeries, and shops. For us, food is the main attraction. Today we started our meal at Hellas with saganaki, which combines two of my favorite things: cheese and fire.
By the way, don’t be surprised when you get a Greek salad in Tarpon Springs. Here in the Tampa Bay area, we put a scoop of potato salad on the bottom. Try it. You’ll love it. As far as I’m concerned, they’re making it wrong in Greece, not here.
Enjoy this video I made.
BuzzFeed recently asked people to share their favorite travel photos. Scrolling through the article, my immediate reaction was “I could do better.”
After that immediate reaction, my next reaction was “You’re such a snob, Dave.”
My third reaction was, “Hey, if you just share a bunch of your own travel photos, it would be a super-easy blog post.”
So here we are. Enjoy.
The hero image (at the top of the post) is Manhattan during Manhattanhenge.
When our MLK weekend plans fell through, the Complimentary Spouse and I called an audible and booked a last-minute trip to Philadelphia. Not only would it give us a chance to catch up with good friends, but also the opportunity to scarf down as many cheesesteaks as possible in 48 hours.
So, how many cheesesteaks did we eat? Three. I know you’re dying to know all about them, so keep reading.
On Saturday, we got together with our friends Chris and Ashley. We met them several years ago in, of all places, a microbrewery in Reykjavik and bonded immediately because Chris, Ashley, and Britt all come from Alabama.
After doing a few touristy things1 and catching up over (many) drinks, Chris and Ashley took us to Joe’s Steaks & Soda Shop in the Fishtown neighborhood. Britt and I shared a traditional cheesesteak with provolone. It was everything a cheesesteak should be: warm, melty, and comforting. The waitress brought some pickles to the table, so I tried a few on my cheesesteak for some zing and texture. I wasn’t disappointed.
We enjoyed our second cheesesteaks at lunch on Sunday. We went to a place called Carmen’s Famous Italian Hoagies & Cheesesteaks in Reading Terminal Market. Here’s a short video I made about the experience:
Britt ordered a regular cheesesteak, but I opted for a special called the Franklin which tweaks the traditional recipe by adding cream cheese. (I assume it’s Philadelphia cream cheese because, well, you know, it’s Philadelphia.) The cream cheese paired well with the provolone and provided a little extra zip and creaminess. Britt and I felt our cheesesteaks were worth the long wait in line and the hassle of finding seating.
We ate our third cheesesteak on Monday. We arrived at the airport a little early, and there was a place called Chickie’s & Pete’s near our gate. We saw cheesesteaks on the menu and decided to split one more on the way out of town.
Airport food is always a crapshoot, but this cheesesteak was pretty good. It ranked behind the other two we ate on our trip, but it was better than anything you’d find here in Florida. It ticked all the boxes: flavorful beef, melted provolone, soft bread that didn’t fall apart. I have no complaints.
Cheesesteaks in Philadelphia are a work of art. In other cities, cheesesteaks are hit and miss — sometimes you’ll find an OK one, but usually the meat-to-cheese ratio is off, or the bread falls apart, or the sandwich is too thick. In Philadelphia, they nail it every time. They take a few simple ingredients and transform them into comfort and delight. I get the feeling that making a cheesesteak in Philadelphia isn’t just a job — it’s a source of civic pride.
Philadelphia, keep your grills hot. We’ll be back soon and, when we do, we’ll be ready to eat every cheesesteak we see.
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1 Is there anything more touristy than this photo?
