This week, I’ve discovered how much the Danes love Christmas. Back home in the States, many people firmly object to anything Christmas-related before our American holiday of Thanksgiving. Granted, Christmas still sneaks in a little early in the U.S., but it’s definitely met with more opposition. In contrast, as soon as it turns November 1 here, the Danes can – and do – immediately embrace the Christmas season (and I am not complaining)!
As soon as November rolls around, the sights and the feeling of Christmas in Copenhagen become obvious at every turn. Wreathes and twinkle lights go up in every storefront. Tivoli begins its magical transformation from Halloween to Christmas. Garlands and greenery decorate Strøget (the main shopping street), Nyhavn, and the bar- and bodega-fronts on Vestergade. Christmas markets pop up left and right, from Nytorv (new square) to Nyhavn. Warm gløgg and flavorful julebrygg offer a taste of the holidays (for more on those, check out my last post). Advent calendars appear in all shapes and sizes (from traditional chocolate calendars to candy to even makeup). Hope and I didn’t want to fall behind in the decorating craze, so we set out a little gnome I acquired from Norway along with a mini Christmas tree on our kitchen table (sorry to Casper our succulent, whom we had to relegate to the side table).
My theory is that all of this Christmas cosiness serves as a coping mechanism for the rapidly encroaching darkness and cold, and it’s a very smart coping mechanism at that. This is how the Danes withstand the long Scandinavian winters – with steaming warm drinks and hyggelig candlelit evenings surrounded by the smell of baked goods and cinnamon and the twinkle of Christmas decorations in the windows. Julehygge is in full swing. 🙂
Hope’s best friends from college (who are also studying abroad) visited Copenhagen this past weekend! Between classes on Friday, I spent the day in emmery’s, a organic coffee shop chain (newly decorated with Christmas twinkle lights and snowflakes) right by DIS. That evening, I met Hope and her friends for dinner at Gorm’s pizza on Nyhavn. Gorm’s had been on my list for a while – I got the Hawaiian pizza, and it was DELICIOUS (probably the best pizza I have ever had, right up there with mother in Vesterbro). It was such a cosy basement restaurant with greenery and twinkle lights decorating the quietly bustling Christmas-market-lined canal just outside.
I spent Saturday doing work in Alice, an artisanal ice cream and coffee shop only a short two-minute walk from my kollegium. I tried their homemade jersey milk ice cream, which tasted deliciously natural. That evening, Hope, her friends, Lauren, and I rented a hot tub for an hour at CopenHot, a SUPER cool new spot by Refshaleøen harbor (where Reffen is!). Their hot tubs are filled with filtered seawater from the canals and heated with wood-burning stoves – it was a really cosy spot with campfires burning all around. Afterward, we went to dinner at Hope’s favorite Indian food place (Deep) right by our kollegium (they know us there by now and greeted us with a “Welcome back!”). We ended the night with the perfect combination of Netflix, popcorn, and M&Ms.
On Sunday, I biked to Vesterbro (the meatpacking district AKA kødbyen) to check out Prolog coffee bar, Copenhagen’s official winner for “Byens Bedste” (city’s best) coffee in 2019. [I’ve eaten at a few other “Byens Bedste” places this semester, including Byens Bedste burger 2018 & 2019 (Gasoline Grill) and Byens Bedste bakery 2018 & 2019 (Juno the Bakery), both delicious]. I really liked Prolog, but it has more of a modern vibe than my favorite cosy & natural feeling. I spent the day there finishing up my Neuroscience of Fear essay about poverty’s effects on neurological processing of fear and stress.
That evening, I went to my host family’s house for a hyggelig Christmas dinner! In Denmark, they actually celebrate Christmas on December 24. Danes visit with family all day on Christmas Eve, enjoy dinner that evening, exchange presents after their meal, and share a yummy dessert. The hearty traditional dinner always consists of flæskesteg with crispy pork rinds, boiled potatoes, caramelized potatoes (yes, two types of potatoes – it’s Denmark), brown sauce (AKA gravy), and pickled red cabbage. YUM! Ris a l’amande is served for dessert, a cold and creamy (and delicious) almond & vanilla rice pudding. This Christmas dessert has a fun twist – the host hides a whole almond in the pudding, and whoever finds it in their serving receives a prize (Tilde got the almond and won some Santa-shaped chocolates)! Read more about Danish Christmas traditions here.
danish dictionary moment
flæskesteg: (n). the Danish version of roast pork; considered to be one of Denmark’s principal national dishes. Always prepared with crispy skin, it is a favorite for the Danish Christmas dinner served as the evening meal on 24 December.
Similar to last week, I spent most of this week working on final projects (LOTS of group work here at DIS), scholarship applications, and research meetings. On Tuesday, I went to my mom’s tennis partner’s cousin’s apartment for dinner (what a small world!). It was so nice of them to open their home to me and share a traditional Danish meal.
After a field-study-free day on Wednesday, Hope and I went to dinner at Cock’s and Cows, a burger chain in Copenhagen that’s also been on my list for a while. There, I had what I realized was only my second burger of the semester (the other was Gasoline Grill). It was delicious and, most importantly, a nice excuse not to cook that evening!
On Thursday, I had my usual tennis with the Danes. All four of us were here this week, so we enjoyed a real doubles match! I spent that afternoon catching up on work in Rist Kaffebar, a new top favorite of mine. That evening, Claire and I went to Gothersgade (the same street where we went to the Ice Bar last week) for a chill night at a local bar. We met some visiting London tourists and gave them some tips on the city!
Thanks for reading along this week for a taste of the beginning of Christmas season in Copenhagen! Tonight, I’m headed off for the weekend to Geneva, Switzerland, for a roomie travel trip with Hope (just when you thought the semester was winding down and I was done traveling 🙂 ). Stay tuned for Swiss updates! Hej hej for now.
copenAIDAN 