efterårsferien = autumn break

Historically the autumn break week off school was for school children to help with the potato harvest. It was really great this fall to enjoy "half-term" as it is called in the UK. We booked our flights relatively late (due to transatlantic relocation) so our choice of destination was determined by availability, and direct flights from Copenhagen .... so off to Rome we headed!

On arrival into Rome we drove southwards. The highlights were an afternoon at a relatively empty Herculaneum - the fishing village buried in mud during the eruption of Vesuvius AD 79 - and a long day at Pompeii - which had plenty of other tourists visitors - but is so vast they are still excavating part of the site.

HERCULANEUM

 

POMPEII

We were spoiled during our five day Italian trip: 24C (75F) sunshine, and crystal blue skies. It was such a joy to be able to take a short flight and be in a completely contrasting culture without changing time zones. To see our teenage children riding the Rome metro and negotiating that marvelously hectic and busy city so competently made us realize the extent of their new found city living confidence after barely three months in Denmark.

Copenhagen K

I have had several emails from friends in the US asking about the adjustment from living in a rural Colorado mountain community to a European capital. Honestly I think for my part it comes down to two things: firstly intrigue, the logistics of changing how you live, how you react to a new setting; and secondly challenge, how you cope, how you respond, how you can find humour even when tested to the limit. I would be seeing through "rose-tinted glasses" if I claimed that the adjustment process for our family had been easy or that it is a quick process!

Here are a selection of photos taken over since our arrival at the start of August from central section of the city: Copenhagen K - our neighborhood.

Brunch - Danish Style

The first time I lived in the USA, as an au-pair in Washington DC, way back when in 1984, I went to "brunch" at a small restaurant in Georgetown with the family. The whole concept of 'all-you-can-eat', or perhaps it should be more aptly termed 'eat what you choose' was new to me. Here were unfamiliar foods I could sample, without the stress of menu ordering. The leisurely pace and family-style dinning was a shock to an 18 year old Londoner just out of high school who had mainly only been to restaurants on special occasions like birthday dinners. Needless to say I was hooked ... brunch & breakfast are still my favourite meals to eat out after nearly two decades living in Colorado.
 

Fast forward to late summer 2012 Copenhagen. A few weeks after we moved, we were invited to join a colleague of B's from Maersk and his family for Sunday brunch in the Danish Film Institute building.The restaurant SULT, which means hunger, http://www.restaurantsult.dk/ offers brunch both weekend days. It is situated on the ground floor with two complete walls of glass windows, long cafeteria style tables with white linen table cloths, and in the area that was the former book shop these amazing lights. The round ones look like woven insect nests.

So a lovely environment to relax with friends and family. With teenage children who like to eat and then leave the table, brunch offers the opportunity to linger over a meal. As C & R grow older I have a new appreciation for 'family-style' dining. And so to the choice, time to let the photos do the talking!

 

Already on our family's Danish food hit list - local pancakes - they are like french crepes but made with a heavier flour, and no sugar. But fear not you are not being deprived of sweetness - there are a range of things to add on top of your pancake including chocolate creme, or chocolate mousse, or different jams .... hard to decide, so you might as well get at least two pancakes as a vehicle for your toppings!

Writing about this scrumptious food is making me hungry, so time to raid the kitchen in search of licorice (lakrids - which is a Danish specialty and I think will deserve a blog post all of its own!)

To scarf, or not to scarf, that is the question

The weather has really turned autumnal here during the past week. Chilly temperatures overnight, the leaves are starting to change, and conkers (buckeyes) are dropping from the horse chestnut trees in droves.

We have discovered that the heating in apartment buildings is generally not turned on until after October 1st. It is dependent on the date not the thermometer reading! As a result our spacious living room is currently not at all cosy in the evenings. The shift to autumn/fall has prompted to me to begin a new knitting project: a ribbed orange scarf [thanks go to Lisa C for the wonderful birthday gift of this glorious hand-dyed wool]

Stay tuned for a photo of this blog writer/knitter wearing above vibrant (& warm) scarf coiled several times around the neck to resemble a giant turtleneck. I will almost blend in except that my scarf will stand out in the sea of cream, grey, and black scarves on show.


Which in a rambling way brings me to the opening quote "To scarf, or not to scarf, that is the question". I can say in Denmark it is a definitive 'to scarf'. An informal visual survey on a ten minute walk home this afternoon gave me a 9/10 women wearing scarves, and about 3/10 men. Today the weather is not especially windy, if it was that would increase the number of male scarf wearers. 

Danes of all ages sport scarves, the current trend seems to be huge thick woolen circular scarves. Having noticed the scarf-ing style, I am now constantly observing the number of new ways I have seen scarves tied. As many of you know I have always had a 'thing' for scarves .... so living here I can indulge in wearing several different scarves for different outings all in one day! When I first emigrated to the US in the mid-90's I distinctly remember a comment from a co-worker at the Boulder Bookstore about how my scarf wearing was "so European".

A thank you to the Copenhageners who were unwitting models in my random photo shoot this afternoon on Oster Farimagsgade. Happy scarf wearing to you all....

To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep
No more; and by a sleep, to say we end
The heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks
That Flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished.

Hamlet's solioquy
from Hamlet by William Shakespeare

New city = New library

Where are the librarians and library assistants I wondered when I went to return books to my local library? I did locate an employee who directed me to the area for checking in - only reading a little Danish I would not have realized that the machines that looked like the ones you use to check in at the airport were infact for books. Barcode side down the book is scanned and whisked off by mini conveyor belt to be processed.

So in Danish libraries the patrons do all the check in and check out. They also pick up their book holds from these cool carousels which each have the date the hold was placed. Makes me realize how the new library building in Nederland, Colorado was designed around needing to having a large circulation desk. Clearly in this part of northern Europe that is no longer the case.

The KOBENHAVN HOVEDBIBLIOTEK is a bustling place - two comfy lounges look out onto the street, with displays of current magazines and cafe tables. The WiFi network must have a fast connection judging from all the students working away on laptops.

Here is the main lobby area which is so bright even on the greyest of days due to the glass 

ceiling over the atrium. I have only explored the ground floor and first floor so far. I was delighted to find an extensive selection of novels in English - divided interestingly into an English (ie British) authors section, and then a separate American English authors section.

So now the apartment is set up, our shipment unpacked there really is no excuse on the reading front. Honestly though surrounded by another language, and one that is entirely unfamiliar, and navigating daily where all the print you see in your visual environment is in Danish, not much novel reading has been happening! I have applied to start taking the Module 1 of beginner Danish and the course starts early November.

A friend overseas commented that I seemed quite "bike obsessed". And I agree that is my reality - when I went to the library there were so many bikes parked outside it was impossible to get though them, and I had to continue down the street and double back ...

tak for læsning (thank you for reading)

cykling i København

One of my favorite Copenhagen views is a row of parked bicycles, seen here outside the University Library on Fiolestraede. It is hard to wrap ones mind around the changes that occur when you move a family across the ocean to a new country, to relocate from a Colorado mountainside to urban Scandinavian living. This photo was taken the day we landed and were navigating our way along the downtown streets, finding the route between the temporary housing and the unfurnished nineteenth century apartment we had rented for the year.

Now a mere six weeks on, I barely blink at the sight of more bikes than people as I make my way around the city. For every one cyclist you see riding along the raised bike lanes there are countless rows of parked bikes within view. It is not hard to see why Copenhagen is referred to as the bicycle capital of the world.

I am in "love" with cargo bikes. They are used here to transport pretty much everyone and everything: children of all ages, dogs, luggage, shopping, girlfriends, boyfriends.... The beauty of a cargo bike is you can take someone out on a date, and they can enjoy a beer and check their cell phone while relaxing in the cargo cab en route!

So as far as bike style goes black is the default for most dansk cykel, after that the choices are around accessories: what type of basket - metal or woven cane; how vibrant a bike seat cover, to a) keep your bottom dry after rain, and b) help you find your black bike; and most importantly an additional lock, so that your bike remains where you parked it!

My new red "Holland-style" bike is aiding me daily - for exploring, food shopping, commuting and errands. I am starting to feel more like a local, as after a couple of weeks of practice riding during the quieter times of day I am now prepared to venture into the rush hour melee of throngs of cyclists. Still working on a speedy start when the bike lane traffic light changes, thirty seconds before the car traffic light and the masses start pedaling furiously.

  
Not everyone it seems wants to blend in - here surely is a bike to stand out in the crowds!