A dancer overlooking the lake toward Dali in Yunnan Province, China. I was in Dali one afternoon when she and her friend spotted me. "You look lost," her friend said. I told her I wasn't sure. "Then you must have tea with us. We know where the best tea is." We had tea together, and it was the best, and two days later they took me to this resort on the far side of the lake with them for a private open-air party. The next morning I went with them to their friend's home nearby, a renowned architect, which had to have been one of the most beautiful homes I saw in China -- and a wildly tragic thing that I got no decent photos of it.

Breakfast at The Royal Cafe for Copenhagen's best smørrebrød, the long walk up and down Strøget, the world's longest pedestrian street, then lunch across the street by the fountain at Europa: lobster bisque and a glass of champagne.

The grassy lawn behind Statens Museum for Kunst, the national gallery. Copenhagen sports a grassy space like this almost around every corner and Danes love the sun. It's so refreshing. Copenhagen is simply the greenest city in the world. It's a comfortable 40 minutes around the placid lakes a few blocks away and the trails are popular. The major parks like Kongens Haven are large and full of nude or half-nude sunbathers, runners, cyclists, baby carriages (so many baby carriages I feel like I should get one just to fit in). On the streets army wagons circle for days filled with inebriated high schoolers wearing their studenterhue. According to the Google translated Danish wikipage, it's bad luck to wear your studenterhue (graduation cap) before your last exam, students write their last exam's grade on the lining and the student with the biggest or smallest head buys a round for their classmates. Skål.

Christian V drove Denmark's economy into the ground during the late 1670s trying to win back the parts of southern Sweden his father, Frederick III, had lost. He was widely considered an idiot whose only interests were hunting, sex and war. But he did plan Kongens Nytorv, or King's New Square, moving the center of Copenhagen from the muddy markets of Gammeltorv (Old Square) to the finely lined streets beside the Nyhavn waterfront. Then again, he appears to have stolen the idea from Paris. It's lovely there though and there are small stands selling beer with lounge chairs laid out on the cobbles.

The Bishops Arms on Ny Østergade 14 for a Gammel Dansk, bitters liquor made with nutmeg, anise, ginger, Seville orange, cinnamon and 24 other herbs, spices and flowers. Stiff stuff. I nursed it with a Bitburger then had the Aalborg Taffel Akvavit, or Rød Aalborg, a cumin schnapps older Danes drink with breakfast or on Christmas and Easter. It's meant to keep you fit, which I believe since it tastes like medicine.
Through the Botanisk Have every morning to Kongens Have and then the backstreets of Nørreport while I study German.
Le Quattro Stagioni on Sølvgade 90 has the best pizza I've ever had. Goat cheese, arugula, ventricina, sundried tomatoes and pesto for 67 DKK.

I passed this elegante cykel parked by a garden near the Botanisk Have: wooden box, matching handlebar grips and saddle.

Rugbrød, rye bread, and yogurt at Paludan's in Nørreport then a Gouden Carolus on a bench by the Nyhavn waterfront to watch drunken sailors from one of the café tables outside Hans Christian Andersen's old home. Pickled herring and smørrebrød with ale - Danish staples - and two small cups of brandevin: elderflower and apple. Schnaps, essentially.