'Twas the night BEFORE Christmas

My second visit to Copenhagen was much more relaxed than the first, which was just as I intended. It was Christmas, afterall. A lot more time was spent indoors, catching up, drinking coffee and/or tea, and watching movies. There was actually a leaky kitchen sink issue my first evening back, which resulted in the water to the kitchen being cut off for the duration of my visit (doing a week’s worth of dishes in a small bathroom with one washing, two drying and one “running” was definitely a unique experience). So we ate more take-out (pizza!), but still plenty of spinach salad. We did manage to make Danish candy, which is quite an art. A very delicious, and rewarding art, though one that will make you feel a bit ill when you eat too much marzipan and nougat.

The finished Danish candy.

The bathroom dishwash.

I had the chance to meet up with the three musketeers – two Icelandic girls and one Finnish – to see the screening of their interactive film and catch up afterwards with a few beers and some strong mojitos. I also had the chance to meet Cecilie – a very sweet Dane who studied at Deakin during the term after I left, and who therefore, has several of the same friends as I had during my Aussie studies. It was great to meet her, and we spent a really great afternoon at the Christiania Christmas market eating Mexican crepes, drinking Gløgg, and getting to know each other a little bit.

On the 21^st, Lasse and I caught a very early flight (in a propeller plane!) to Aalborg, where we hopped in his uncle’s car and headed to Tranum and the Bak family beach house. The drive there was snowy and flat, and made me feel very at home.

It was a proper winter paradise – peaceful, relaxing and beautiful. Just over the snow-covered sand dunes was the North Sea, where the beach afforded a beautiful vantage point for watching the sunset. We lazed through breakfasts and bundled up for walks in the snow. Lasse taught me to play rummy, and though he won most of the time, my wins were more spectacular. We watched movies, warmed up by the fire, wrapped Christmas presents, listened to North Pole radio, drank some bad red wine, and some really good.

Tranum

The beach along the North Sea.

The beach house.

Then on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, we headed to Aalborg to celebrate at his Aunt and Uncle’s house. After a flurry of introductions (where I was pleased to find everyone hugged hello, making me feel at ease due to my affection upbringing), we sat down for coffee, tea and cakes. The party consisted of Lasse’s parents, Margrete and Finn, brothers, Laurits and Anders, Uncle Uffe, Aunt Pia and Uncle Kristian, cousins Jakob and Morten, and Jakob’s Australian girlfriend, Stephanie. They were a wonderful and welcoming group and they certainly deserve a lot of credit in making me feel completely at home during my first Christmas away from Winnipeg.

Kristian is a doctor, and it had been arranged that all the “kids” (I use the term loosely, as I was the second youngest) would sleep on spare mattresses in the various clinic offices. Following tea, we all headed to the clinic to set up camp – A Christmas sleepover of sorts.

The big feast was on Christmas Eve. The big Danish feast. The beginning of the big Danish feast. We ate roast duck, caramelised boiled potatoes, plain boiled potatoes, gravy, red cabbage, and apple jelly. We drank Christmas beer, red wine, white wine, and a variety of liquors. Dessert was rice pudding with slivered almonds and blackberry sauce. As per Danish tradition, whosoever finds the whole almond in the pudding gets a present! Unfortunately, despite there being two almonds this year, I was unsuccessful. Lasse found one, and Finn found the other.

Next, the candles (yes, candles) on the tree were lit, a circle was formed around the tree, song books were distributed, hands were held, and everyone broke into song while circling the tree. Given my extreme beginner Danish language skills, I only managed to hum. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this tradition. Especially when Kristian broke the circle and led the whole parade throughout the house, singing all the way. A typically chaotic gift exchange followed the singing and dancing, and then tea, desserts and a word game followed the gifts. We made it back to the clinic around 3am – the latest I have ever stayed up on Christmas Eve.

We woke around 10:00 on Christmas Day – the latest I have ever woken on the 25^th – and made it back to Kristian and Pia’s around 11:00. Christmas lunch consisted of Danish rye bread, hard-boiled eggs, egg salad, homemade curry, pickled herring and warm beer. Yes – warm, very sweet, Christmas beer. Turns out I fit in quite well with the Danes and loved the herring. I even managed a glass of the beer. However, I missed the part where this was only the first round of Christmas lunch. So when I helped Pia carry out the lamb meatballs, spiced lamb, caramelized potatoes, creamed kale, red cabbage, hummus, tzatziki and salad, I was a little bit alarmed. It was all very delicious, but it was a bit of a stretch on the belly.

A break was taken to enjoy the lovely Christmas day weather with a walk – I was especially pleased that my white Christmas wish had come true – and then we all returned to cheeses, marmalades and more bread with tea and coffee (I thought my family ate a lot during the holidays, but this was a whole new level). The rest of the day was quite lazy, spent mostly on the couch, and then skyping with my family before joining in for one last meal of goulash, potatoes, and … more bread!

It was certainly a very special Christmas; one I will always remember with a smile.

The next morning, I hopped a train, then a ferry to Kristiansand, Norway, where my darling friend Ida and her darling dog Tinka picked me up to take me home to Grimstad. No offense to my favourite Euro boys, but it is certainly a treat to be staying in a girl’s apartment. I’ll be in Norway until January 8^th, so Happy New Year to everyone!

Sending love from Norway!

So Runs the World Away...

On his bedroom wall, Stefan has a collection of photos from his time in Australia. When I visited last week, he pointed to one and asked if I remembered the evening he took it: Last year, towards the end of our term in Melbourne, the two of us spent an evening wandering around Southbank and sitting alongside the Yarra River. We talked about our amazing group of friends, reflected on how our lives had been changed, and wondered what we’d all be doing in 3 months, 6 months, a year’s time and more. Of course, by now, that photo was taken over a year ago. On top of everything I’ve had the opportunity to see and experience in Europe so far, one of the neatest things has been having the chance to see my friends again and visit them in their homes. I feel very fortunate to have been made to feel at home so often throughout my travels.

The photo that spurred this reflection.

But enough sentimentality for now. 

Stefan hosted me in Marburg for 5 days and nights, and I had a most excellent time. It was snowing when we arrived (he picked me up from Frankfurt train station), and it snowed for about the next 48 hours straight. I know this sounds like a lot of snow, but given that the temperature hovered around freezing, it didn’t pile up the way it tends to in good ol' Winnipeg. However, there was still a fairly consistent blanket of snow most of the time I was there. I was especially excited the first morning I woke up to see everything had turned white – it just never gets old. Marburg looks like a fairytale town with its old German buildings, cobblestone roads, and a castle crowning the highest point. Of course, I enjoyed it all the more given the snow, the lights, and the Christmas markets serving Gluhwein (warm red wine and rum), crepes, and German sausages.

The view first thing in the morning!

Making our way up to the castle.

Looking down towards the city.

We drank gluhwein, we had snowball fights, we ate German food (best when prepared by Stefan himself), we hiked up to the castle twice, we went skating (where I met another Canadian with her red mittens - likely the only other Canadian in Marburg), we fed ducks, we played King’s Cup with Stef’s flatmates, we slept in and we ate the breakfast that I’d been so craving while in Spain and Portugal – where breakfast doesn’t play a very important role.

One of the Christmas markets

Ducks!

It was over all too soon, but Berlin was a must on my agenda. So Stefan helped me arrange a ride from Marburg to Berlin (road trip with a complete stranger: check). In Germany there’s an awesome carpool organization where you can book rides with people already making the trip and pay them some gas money. I would say it worked out quite nicely for me.

Berlin is a cool city; certainly packed with history, interesting architecture, and, well, graffiti all over the place. Two days was not really enough time there, but I did my best. I walked along the East Side Gallery – a memorial section of the Berlin Wall that was painted by artists from all over the world, and visited the Jewish Museum. I wandered through even More Christmas markets, taking in the delicious smells of roasted nuts and German sausage, and realizing I’ve developed a nose for the smell of gluhwein. I visited the Reichstag building (parliament) and the Holocaust Memorial, and went for a long walk through Tiergarten park enjoying the fresh snow and getting out of the wind. And to cap it all off, I visited the 1936 Olympic Stadium. Unfortunately, it was not as accessible as the Barcelona Stadium, but it was still really cool to see.

The Berlin Wall

The Holocaust Memorial

The Olympic Stadium

Now I’m back “home” in Copenhagen. I came “this close” to missing my flight after a delayed train debacle, and it was not a particularly nice experience. However, by some Christmas miracle, I made it. So I was even more excited to spend the day relaxing in a familiar place, and the evening listening to the Rolling Stones and Van Morrison, and eating vegetables as a part of dinner with homemade ice cream for dessert. It’s even snowing this morning, despite the forecast having been for rain. Happy holidays, indeed!

Sending love from Denmark!

There’s no way I’m forgetting this.

What I did not like about Portugal:

We ate out more often than I have throughout my travels so far. This was not a problem, since it was really quite cheap. The problem was that it is apparently very rare to have vegetables accompany your dinner in Portugal. They love fish, they love meat, and they love potatoes. But when it comes to salad – if you get a salad – they literally mean lettuce, and maybe a tomato. When I inquired about wanting to add some sort of vegetables – Broccoli? Peppers? Green beans? – The general reaction was puzzled: Why would you want vegetables? (kudos to Andrea, who lived there for an entire year as a vegetarian!)

The sidewalks in Lisbon are made of some sort of white, mosaic tile cobblestone. It’s beautiful, keeping the city very bright on sunny days, and light even on cloudy days – much like snow will brighten a city during winter. However, any rain makes for a very treacherous walk. Particularly the downhill walks home at the end of the night when you’d rather be warm in bed, than getting wet as you try to grip the sidewalk through your boots. On the bright side, the tile does look nice, and it is mild enough that you’re not too cold.

What I did like about Portugal:

Pretty much everything else.

The city of Lisbon is beautiful. It is vibrant with buildings painted every colour, or covered in multihued ceramic tiles. It is full of character with wall paintings, projects to renew older neighbourhoods, mournful sounding Fado music drifting from restaurants, bars and street vendors, and narrow, tangled streets.

Belem district

The Discovery Monument and the 25th of April Bridge.

Alfama district

Alfama district

The Bairro Alto district is full of bars of all sorts, but the part of the atmosphere I loved the most was the way people spilled onto the streets drifting from place to place. Of course, it rained both days we went out. So I imagine it is even more amazing on a dry/summer day, but it was really cool to see the mix of people. One night we bought half litre mojitos and enjoyed them from a lookout point over the city. The mojitos were delicious, the view was good, the rain stopped, the company was excellent, and there was absolutely no risk of a fine for public drinking.

Andrea and I with our new friend Eugene - who happens to hail from Melbourne.

We stayed with friends of Andrea’s throughout our visit, and all our hosts were so wonderful – welcoming in every sense of the word. We were joined by a group of friends – some of Andrea’s old friends, and some new friends – almost every evening for dinner, drinks, or partying. I was amazed and pleased to attend a party in a ground floor flat that was allowed to carry on with loud music, and people in the streets or playing the guitar and drums until all hours of the night. And amongst all the Portuguese and Italian guests, there were plenty of (friendly) queries as to how a solitary Canadian ended up in the mix.

The food (aside from the lack of veggies) was delish. There was, of course, an abundance of fresh fish to eat. Though my first time eating a whole fish from the bone was not exactly something I was excited about, I took it as part of the experience. And luckily, there were plenty of practiced Portuguese around to help me out. There were also plenty of delicious pastries to satisfy my ever-sweet tooth.  

Delicious pasteis de nata.

Andrea and I day-tripped to Sintra where we walked around the beautiful, green Quinta de Regaleira estate, exploring steep paths, caves, towers and a couple of wells. It rained steadily the entire time we were there, and yet it was the kind of place that took my breath away all the same. 

Sintra

The Well of Initiation

Exploring the Quinta de Regaleira Estate

All in all, I had an amazing time in Portugal. It was not originally a country I had on my “must-see” list, but I would definitely visit again. And now I’ve switched locales to snowy Germany where I’m visiting Stefan - so far having a fantastic time.

Sending love from Germany!

Gracias

Where in Barcelona I fell in love at first site, Madrid grew on me the more time I spent there. Sometimes it’s harder to enjoy a new city after leaving a place that I really liked, so I had to remind myself to keep an open mind. Madrid was colder (still speaking in relative terms, of course), rainier, and less obviously stunning. It was more of a city. However, though I never grew to love it, I really did like it a bit more each day.

I visited the squares Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol. They were filled with tons of people shopping, eating, taking photos, or simply hurrying from point A to point B. They were also home to many knock-off Disney mascots sculpting balloon animals (personally, I found the characters pretty creepy, as they were smaller and less chubby than normal, and the women inside kept lifting off their heads to make their balloon animals). I visited Almudena Cathedral and Palacio Real. I also learned that Palacio Real is the largest palace in Western Europe. So, though up until now each palace seems to have been more and more massive, apparently from here on they’ll only get “smaller”. I visited the sprawling and crowded el Rastro flea market while keeping my hands firmly planted in my front pockets to guard my money. I watched the sun set at the Gardens of the Egyptian Templo de Debod. I went out and drank my share of sangria, and danced my share of salsa. I tried churros and was disappointed to find that I found the look of them far more appealing than the taste (much too greasy). I watched a few good movies and a few bad movies with my hostel friends. And I saw my first snow of the year. In Madrid. In Spain! Or at least, it was snow from my second floor window. By the time it reached the ground, I’m fairly certain it was just rain. However, I never expected to see snow in Spain at all.

Palacio Real

Churros looking good.

Plaza Mayor at night.

New Canadian friends.

El Rastro flea market

Almudena Cathedral

Sunset from Templo del Debod

And then Andrea arrived from Bologna. We stayed with his friend Juanjo for three more nights while we continued to explore the city together. We slept in and had Spanish lunch as late as 4:30. We drank cups of Spanish hot chocolate, which are truly just cups of melted chocolate. We visited the Reina Sofia Museum of Contemporary Art and saw Picasso’s Guernica. We drank beer and sagria and ate tapas while sitting on stage at a great hole-in-the-wall bar. And I attempted to eat the most massive half a ham and cheese sandwich I’ve ever seen. It was as big as my face and gave me very strange dreams even though I could not finish it. Andrea stuck with the vegetarian friendly plate of delicious cheese and bread.

Picasso's Guernica

Happy with a glass of Sangria.

The terrifying ham sandwich.

Then on Thursday, we flew to Lisbon: another city that I have quickly fallen for. But that is a blog post for another day.

Sending love from Portugal!

I'm Walking on Sunshine

Last Wednesday, I parted ways with Dirk and Rotterdam and hopped on a train to Amsterdam. I made it to my hostel with no trouble and then went out for a walk to get my bearings. The city centre is over the top – what a sensory overload. Every window has sex, drugs or food. There is so much to look at that I felt I had to slow my pace to take it all in. However, it was very interesting, and it certainly did not fall short of what I had imagined. I made my way to the Jordaan district for an excellent vegan meal. The Jordaan district is much calmer, and more scenic with canals and crooked old houses.

The majority of my time in Amsterdam was spent walking around with Benji – a guy from Switzerland I met in the hostel – and later, his 5 friends who all arrived later on Thursday for the weekend. The day before I left for Spain, we all went on a walking tour with an elderly Dutch man named Jan. His stories were usually long and anticlimactic, and his walking pace matched. However, he was very sweet and the weather was beautiful.

On Thursday, I hopped a plane to Barcelona, where I am currently. And I am completely enamoured by the city. It’s colourful, and beautiful, and lively. It is busy, but not in the same hectic way as cities like London or Sydney. As a bonus, the weather has been absolutely perfect – clear and 16 degree highs. The hostel where I’m staying (Central Garden Hostel One) is the best one I’ve ever stayed at. The staff is amazing, and the hostel itself feels more like being in someone’s apartment, so it’s been a great place to meet people.

I spent Sunday and Monday sightseeing with a couple of girls – Melissa and Venus – from New York. We visited La Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell, Montjuic Castle and the Olympic Stadium, as well as a couple more of the Gaudi houses. Gaudi’s architecture is all over Barcelona, and I’m loving it. His designs are so functional, but very unusual and informal looking – like Dr. Suess buildings. On Sunday evening, the hostel hosted a pizza and sangria night, where I met a couple of guys who studied in Barcelona. Their grad was this past weekend, and they invited me out to “Nasty Mondays” at their favourite club. So after climbing into my bunk some time after the sun came up this morning, I had a lazier day today. I rounded out my sightseeing by visiting the Gothic Quarter, the Ports and La Rambla – where there are dozens of street performers of every shape, colour, and style.

Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia

Parc Guell

Barcelona Olympic Stadium

More Olympic Park

My personal favourite street performer on La Rambla

The rooftop terrace of Gaudi's Casa Batllo

Tomorrow is my last day in Barcelona. I plan to revisit La Sagrada Familia to look inside and hopefully go up Mount Tibidabo to see what I’ve been told is another excellent view. Then Thursday I move on to Madrid, where I will meet Andrea after the weekend.

Sending love from Spain!