Summer 2015

I use the term "summer" loosely.  This summer was quite cool in Denmark, with only a few days being over 75 degrees F (24 C).  Not much sun either.  It's your typical Seattle-like climate, a very coastal and sometimes very rainy place.  I don't really mind much when it isn't super warm, but the humidity can be trying at times.  I have the kind of hair that isn't quite curly and isn't quite straight so when it's humid it just goes....crazy.  Needless to say I have been donning a ponytail quite often lately.

This time of year (end of summer into fall) tends to be my favorite time of year when I'm back home in the midwest.  I especially love to ride along on the combine with my Dad and brother.  I love to gather up all the produce in my garden and start making pickles, salsa, jelly, etc. for the winter time.  After 3 summers of being overseas, my salsa supply has been completely depleted (I ate the last jar when I was home....nothing compares to homemade salsa).  I am itching to plant a garden next year when we move home.

We spent 7 weeks in the midwest visiting family this summer.  I love being back to enjoy a proper summer (aka, warm with thunderstorms) and of course visiting family is the #1 reason to go.

Amidst all of our time at home, we had some family visit us in Copenhagen.  We were able to go on some great sightseeing trips so I will include some pictures.

The pictures below are from the Frederiksborg Slot in Hillerød, Denmark.  It's absolutely amazing.  I take all of my guests here as it's one of the best castles I've seen in Denmark.  The inside is as good as the outside :)  http://www.frederiksborgslot.dk/dk/uk_info.htm

Frederiksborg Slot

One day we ventured to Roskilde, Denmark.  It's a 30 minute train ride from Copenhagen.  There we went to the Viking Museum (my toddler wasn't in the mood that day so it could've been better, lol).  We also went to the Roskilde Domkirke which is a World Heritage Site. I had never been before and was absolutely stunned by it.  It's the burial place of many Danish kings and queens.  Do check it out if you're in the area.  http://visit.roskildedomkirke.dk/

Viking Museum

Roskilde Domkirke

We also fit in a short weekend visit to Edinburgh, Scotland.  Scotland is one of my favorite places to visit.  We've been there 3 times now and I would go again.  Most of my pictures are from Edinburgh Castle.

Last but not least I just found some pictures from a very cool park here in Copenhagen.  It's a miniature "city" for kids on their bikes.  It has working stoplights, bike lanes, sidewalks, bus stops, etc.  They designed it to help kids learn how to bike in the city (if you haven't figured out by now, Danes love to bike....so much so that many don't have cars as it's faster to bike).  My daughter has a balance bike which hopefully will help her learn how to ride a regular bike faster.  I wish they made parks in the US as cool as the ones here.

This year I decided to put my daughter into Danish "preschool".  It's very normal for women to get a year's worth of paid maternity leave after having a baby.  After the year is up, I'd guess nearly 95% of women go back to work.  It's a rare thing to find a Danish stay-at-home mom.  They can be very judgmental about it as well.  I've had several comments from people about how my child should be in daycare and I should be working.  But I stuck with our plan and waited until she was 3 to begin school.  It's a tough process.  The tears at drop-off still get me and I'm on week 4 of school.  I find myself wearing sunglasses to hide the tears as I walk home.  But when I pick her up she's the happiest kid in the world.  I think she's secretly enjoying it but cries to make mommy feel needed in the mornings, lol!  We don't have a car here and it is 1.1 miles each way to the school so I am walking almost 4.5 miles a day to bring her to and from school.  I'm thinking we'll be taking the bus more in the winter.  It's a great workout plan, though.  I need to get back into biking shape and start biking her to school.  I'll include a picture of my super cool cargo bike for your viewing pleasure :)  This bike is a beast.  It has a weight limit of 100kg (220lbs) and it's as tall as my chest (I'm a mere 5'4").  It's a great bike but is a bit hard to pedal and catches a wind like a sail.

Summer is coming to an end, sadly.  Soon we will be plunged into the long, dark days that are normal in Scandinavia.  The sun comes up around 8:30am and goes down at 4pm.  I burn a lot of candles during the winter and I find it helps a bit.  For now, though, I'm doing my best to enjoy every nice day we have left.  Hope you had a great summer!!

Oh and if you're interested, here's the link to my other blog, which is all about crafts.  http://theinternationalcraftychick.blogspot.dk/

Summer 2014

Hi there!

I realize it has been a long time since I have blogged but life just gets in the way sometimes.  We have now been in Copenhagen for 18 months.  I am still getting used to it here but find myself liking some aspects of the culture here.  Recently we went back to visit family in the US and I found myself very annoyed with the cashiers at the store and their chattiness.  I just want you to scan my items and get a move on….stop with the idle chit chat!  I did find it nice to be able to understand the conversations going on around me but sometimes it is nice to just be completely alone in a crowd.  I do like how much healthier we eat here.  The supermarkets are much smaller and even the “large” ones don’t stock a large variety of things.  In the cereal aisle, there’s Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes, Cheerios and several kinds of granola.  That’s it.  I walk into a Walmart or Target nowadays and gasp.  No joke.  And the prices in the US are so much cheaper.  I’m totally OK with paying full price for anything in the US nowadays as it’s a huge difference in price from Copenhagen.  Things just aren’t always made with the same quality that I see here though.  

Anyway, I came back to summertime which averages about 75 degrees.  We don’t have air conditioning in our apartment so let’s hope it stays nice.  We just open the doors and windows and enjoy a nice sea breeze.  After the jet lag passes my daughter and I will try to take in more of the parks and the beach (if we can find a spot to sit) and ice cream….summer is fantastic!  Summertime brings the Koldskål back onto the store shelves here.  To see what this is, go to this link: http://mydanishkitchen.com/2010/06/25/koldskal/.  (By the way, this lady’s blog is awesome and has some really great recipes!  I must try them!)  We usually eat it with the kammerjunkers (cookies) that she mentions.  It is seriously one of the best things ever.  In my opinion I’d rather eat it than ice cream and that says a lot!  In Denmark the grocery stores have Koldskål in milk cartons in several brands and varieties so we have had our fun trying every one of them.  Another thing about the supermarkets here....everything comes in a one liter milk carton.  We get yogurt (yogurt is the one thing that has many varieties here), milk, buttermilk, etc.  Until you learn Danish it can be very confusing.

And of course there’s the Danish pastries.  I cannot say enough about them.  Someday I will try to take a picture and post it here.  

Above is a picture I found on the internet of my favorite Danish Smørrebrød (open faced sandwiches).  It is dark rye bread, with a deep fried fish fillet, shrimp and caviar.  And I think they use some mayonnaise in there too.  Delicious.  Are you hungry yet??  The Danes eat their share of gross things, too, of course.  Some of their open faced sandwiches have raw eggs on them.  They also eat tons of liver pate...yuck.

Summer is the season of half nakedness in Denmark.  Thank goodness it doesn't get any warmer than it does otherwise no one would ever wear clothes.  It amuses me and no longer really bothers me.  You won’t catch me doing it though! 

I really do miss living in the USA.  When we were visiting this last trip I realized that I am completely out of my comfort zone here.  I don’t look like the Danes, talk like them, have their society views, etc.  I can’t go to the grocery store in my PJs.  Not that I ever would.  But I just felt more like me in the US.  Sometimes it’s good to shake things up a bit I guess. 

We recently took a Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona to Naples (Italy), Rome (Italy), Pisa and Florence (Italy), Cannes (France), and Palma de Mallorca (Spain).  Talk about a fun trip.  I could’ve spent a week or more in Rome.  The history is outstanding there.  What a place.  I would highly recommend the Mediterranean.  Perhaps if I have time I will post more pictures.  Until next time….

Oslo, Norway

Hi everyone,

Just thought I'd post a few pictures of Oslo while I had the chance.  We took an overnight cruise from Copenhagen (they go every day back and forth) for a few days while my brother was here.  It was beautiful!  Enjoy!

 Sculpture park - it had LOTS of sculptures

 Oslo's Opera House - you could walk up the sides of it

 That's our little cruise boat (DFDS)

Picture off of the back of the boat back to Copenhagen

Catching Up

Hi everyone,

Well I obviously haven’t blogged in awhile because life has been quite hectic.  We now have a walking toddler so things have gotten to be very busy.  Hopefully I can update you on the things that have been going on in the recent past.  Here goes:

In June and July we went back to the US for a month to visit family and friends.  It was really nice to be home and to see everyone after being gone for so long!  It was also nice to get to enjoy the things we missed such as chocolate chips, flavored coffee creamers, affordable clothing and food, delicious restaurants, etc.  We spent most of the time running from place to place and didn’t get half of the things done that we wanted to.   We tried to get in a visit to everyone but we just plain old ran out of time.  Sorry to those who didn’t get to see us…we’ll catch you next time!  I also didn’t get a chance to stop by the airport and see my old flying buddies.  I really wanted to go flying but it just didn’t work out with our schedule. 

The summer in Denmark was amazing this year.  All of the Danes (I’d like to clarify by saying it’s the ones my husband works with…I still have yet to befriend a Danish person) said they’ve not had a summer quite like it in a long time.  It was sunny and 70-75 degrees F every day.  The warmest day I remember seeing was 84 degrees F which was a bit warm without air conditioning.  When your average summertime high is 70 degrees there’s not much of a need for AC when you live next to the ocean.  We lived with the doors and windows open until just recently.  We tried to get out and enjoy the weather as much as possible while we could.  Now the weather has turned cooler but it’s still not terrible.  The only bad part about living by the ocean is that it tends to be windy.  Wintertime isn’t really that cold here but the wind and dampness really gets to you.

As the weather has turned to fall I find myself really homesick.  We plan on being home for Christmas (and if we’re lucky Thanksgiving too!) and so I’m very excited to go see everyone.  This past month has been tough as we have all been sick.  These European germs are tough….we find that we are catching new germs that we haven’t been exposed to before and as an adult they’re much harder to deal with than for a child.  Our little one had hand, foot and mouth disease and (of course) passed it on to us.  As adults it just plain sucks.  My husband had to stay home from work and work from home for a week and a half because his boss ordered him not to come into work and pass it along.  So anyway, we all have cabin fever pretty badly.  We hope to get to the Dyrehavn (deer park) this weekend and see the fall colors before it’s too late.  If we get there we will post pictures. 

I have been busy joining new groups and getting to know some new people.  Some of the women in the playgroup I’m part of have started going out for drinks and/or dinner once a month.  I have gone once so far and it has been a lot of fun.  It’s just nice to get out and have some adult time J  We also have started our own book club.  We all take turns hosting and the hostess picks the book we will read.  Anyone have any suggestions?? 

Several weeks ago we were able to go see the Maersk ship that has just been built and put into service.  Maersk is a Danish shipping and oil company.  This new ship is the biggest ship in the world (http://www.discovery.ca/episodeList.aspx?sid=13057).  It’s insanely huge….I can’t even describe it!  It holds 18,000 20 foot cargo containers and is 16 stories to the main deck.  They gave out free tickets to 49,000 people but we weren’t able to get any L  We did go see it twice just for kicks.  We actually saw it pull into the harbor one evening and it was amazing. 

My husband has taken a few work trips recently and took us with him.  We went to Stevanger, Norway first for a long weekend.  We have been to both Oslo and Stevanger in Norway and both are stunning.  Stevanger is on the ocean but has some smaller mountains nearby.  We were able to go on a fjord cruise and see Preikestolen (Pulpit rock) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preikestolen).  It was a 3 hour cruise but was great for us with a little one in tow.  Stevanger is a great town to bum around in for a few days.  We got to see cruise ships come and go as well.  Norway reminds me of Alaska….it’s absolutely stunning.  Anyone with Norwegian heritage should definitely go see it.

Fjord Cruise 

 This boat pulled in and had a staff that was parking it....someone is rich!

 Fjord cruise

 View from our hotel

 Jellyfish....don't fall in!

 Old town Stevanger.  People still live here but must keep it "historical" looking

The second trip we took was to Esbjerg, Denmark.  It was a 3 hour train ride west of Copenhagen to the mainland of Denmark.  Esbjerg is a shipping/oil town so it was a bit like going to Williston for the week.  While we were there I had a horrible bout of food poisoning and so I wasn’t able to really enjoy it was much as I could have.  It did have a nice shopping street and a great playground that had chickens (yes, it had a chicken coop with a hen, rooster and some chicks….so cool!) for our little one to play in.  We also went to the ocean in Esbjerg.  The beach was gorgeous there and almost untouched.  We were able to pick up seashells and walk along the water.  It was very chilly but fun.  The statues were a nice touch, too!

Last month we had book club.  My friend (who lives a few buildings down) and I went together.  It’s nice to have someone to walk with….I realize Copenhagen is safe but it’s dark and I just wanted some company J  After book club, one of the ladies offered us a ride home.  As we were driving home, I realized that it was the first time I’d been in a car (other than a taxi) in Copenhagen since we moved here.  My friend also told me she had the same experience.  It’s so strange not having a car but in some ways it can be nice.

Also last month my friend had a girls’ night at her house.  She is a really good cook and is the type to have the correct wine (and goblet) for every course.  She had a 3 course meal prepared for us and it was all absolutely amazing.  Of course after 3+ glasses of wine, anything would taste great J  Thankfully I got a ride home that night, too. 

I got to thinking the other day and I think I may have met people here from many different places.  Here’s a short list of interesting places that people are from:  Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Israel, Norway, Finland, Russia, Latvia, the UK (Scotland, Ireland and England), Canada and Australia to name a few.  Sorry if I forgot you….

Well, I’m going to wrap this up for now.  Hope you are all well and please let me know if you have any questions about anything I wrote J 

Here’s a link to something interesting….food for thought perhaps J
http://www.cphpost.dk/commentary/cph-post-voices/christian-values-time-earn-your-foreigners-denmark