Month: January 2016

Throw Back…Tuesday? Christmas in Copenhagen

‘Twas the day after my birthday
And all ’round the land,
The snow was falling right there in my hand.
The children (okay, me) nestled all snug in an air mattress
With visions of hot cocoa and marshmallows, no less

Okay, none of that happened. Except for the air mattress; that definitely happened. But if years of Hallmark television has taught me anything about the Christmas season, it was that there had to be snow and mugs full of steaming hot cocoa and crackling fireplaces. Madrid had definitely gotten the memo about Christmas lights. Be on the lookout for that post! But snow, hot cocoa, roaring fires? Not really possible when it’s a balmy 18 degrees (Celsius, that is). Where could I find Christmas cheer and the weather to match? Why Copenhagen, of course! So I packed my things and touched down in the happiest country in all of the land.

That's quite the welcome at the airport
That’s quite the welcome at the airport

From there, it was the perfect night to go for a walk and get the lay of the land. A couple of Christmas trees later and after an Irish pub sighting or two, it was time to call it a day. The next day would be a busy one.

First on the agenda, breakfast and coffee. The most important meals of the day. I had heard of this place that made amazing porridge (believe me, I was just as surprised to hear that porridge could be amazing) and it did not disappoint. Plus the place was rather charming with an adorable window peeking out into the world. The coffee shop was literally a room with a La Marzocco machine staring at you as you walked in. I probably could have watched her make five lattes and still not know how to use that thing, but it was cool to see.

I took the rest of the day to meander around the river and the cute side streets of the city. Somehow the architecture and the doors really spoke to me, oddly enough. So let me take you on a stroll…

The rest of the day was spent at the Kastellet, a 17th Century fortress, complete with its own windmill. If you look at it from above its’s actually shaped like a star! On the way back I visited the little mermaid statue. This status was based on the Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Little Mermaid and was presented to the city in 1913 by brewer Carl Jacobsen (son of the founder of Carlsberg). Jacobsen loved the character so much that he hired sculptor Edvard Erikson to sculpt the mermaid. Erikson’s wife, Eline, actually posed for the statue!

I really love breakfast so I did plenty of research on where to have breakfast. Møller’s Kaffee & Køkken was by far my favorite while I was there. It was bright and cheery and downright delicious.

And it gave me the fuel I needed to tackle the Nyhavn canal district and Christmas market for the rest of the day.

The next day was the big day. I visited the castle and had afternoon tea at the Parliament building, which I rather enjoyed. I think that should be incorporated into my daily life from now on.

But the highlight and the whole point of the trip: Tivoli Gardens. Tivoli is an amusement park right in the middle of the city. Founded in 1843, the gardens often played host to Hans Christian Andersen and Walt Disney himself. During Christmas, the gardens are decked out in Christmas trees and Christmas lights and glogg abounds! How about you just see for yourself…

Heaven am I right?

Oh and for the record, glogg is mulled wine with cinnamon, raisins, almonds and rum. Aebelskivers are a cross between a pancake and a popover and are dipped in or filled with jam, usually strawberry, blackberry or raspberry. Yum.

The last day was a little out of the ordinary for me: Freetown Christiania. Christiania is a self-proclaimed autonomous neighborhood located within Copenhagen. They even have their own currency and flag. The area was originally created as military barracks; however, they were subsequently taken over by squatters in 1971. The area is known for its non-traditional lifestyle, most notably the ability to freely purchase marijuana; however, it is also chock full of all kinds of artwork. For a while the authorities in Copenhagen pretty much let them be; however, they are now requiring that the residents pay for the land if they want to stay there. They made their first payment in July of 2012.

Pretty neat, huh? That tree painted on the side of the building might be one of my favorite things ever. And it’s just there…in the middle of the city. No wonder they are the world’s happiest country. Alright, Carlsberg, I’ll give you some credit too. Skål!

 

Mountains and Coastlines and Villages, Oh My: Exploring the Welsh Countryside

I suppose I should start with introductions.

Everyone this is Wally; Wally, everyone. Wally was my companion on the rolling hills and gentle coasts of the Welsh countryside. And after witnessing my first car accident literally within 2 minutes of picking up my buddy here (key word here is “witnessing”. Don’t worry, Wally kept me very safe) and some arguments over the navigation system we got along swimmingly. So, fueled with coffee, I headed off on the open road.

Originally I was going to head through the gut of Snowdonia National Park; however, after a brief study of the map, I decided it made more sense to tackle the coastline first and hit Snowdonia on my way back. It turns out that Snowdonia is rather big so I crisscrossed in and out of it for much of my journey to Aberystwyth, my destination for the day. Anyway, first stop of the drive was Mumbles Pier because how could I not stop at a place called Mumbles Pier? I found the first of many houses that I could see myself living in, a nice boat to sail around the ocean blue and a lighthouse to always lead me home. What more could I ask for?

As for the rest of the drive, I’ll just let the pictures do the talking.

I made it into town just in time to see the castle (well castle ruins) against the nighttime sky. The castle was nice and all but it was the the view from the castle and the way that the color of the sky played off of the ocean that really caught me.

It was my goal to have some fresh seafood while I was on the coast and boy was that the right call. I popped in to Gwesty Cymru (google translate tells me that that means Hotel Wales) and had the sea bream. I don’t know what sea bream is, but it was absolutely delightful.

New day, new destination. Which means more time with my good friend Wally. My final stop was to be in Bethesda/Bangor but there were many stops to make along the way, to admire small towns, rolling waves and snow-capped mountains.

One such small town was the seaside village of Portmeirion. Architect Clough Williams-Ellis purchased it in 1925 and spent the next 50 years developing it. His intent was to show how a beautiful site could be developed without spoiling it. The resulting village looks like a little slice of Italy right there in the middle of Wales, overlooking the Traeth Bach tidal estuary and surrounded by a sub-tropical forest called Y Gwyllt. It may have taken him 50 years to develop but I think the final result was well worth the wait.

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I’m actually jumping in this picture although it looks like I’m summoning the heavens. It rained the entire next day. I can only blame myself…

After a pint at the very cosy, first licensed pub in Wales, I finally made it to my lodging which for the first (and only) time on this trip was an Airbnb. The lack of wifi was rather disappointing but holy cow did the view make up for it.

 

I had a long day ahead of me and coffee was a necessity so I stopped in at The Alpine Coffee Shop and made friends with a gorilla. It probably helped that he wasn’t real because monkeys aren’t usually my thing. But something about this shop converted me into such a softie that I wanted to go up and give that fake monkey a hug. Must have been something in the latte. Continue reading Mountains and Coastlines and Villages, Oh My: Exploring the Welsh Countryside

Cardiff, Wales

Remember in my last post I said that my feet weren’t surrounded by snow? Well, I was aching for snow (because I am almost always aching for snow) so I decided to change that. I realize this post is coming days before the east coast is going to be slammed by a nor’easter and I feel for you, I really do. Once I became an adult and lost the reality of snow days, I learned that less is more in the snow department. That said I would love to see how the madrileños would react to a foot and a half of snow. The coldest it has been since I arrived here is the mid-40s and you would think it was Antarctica. So anyway, I took off in search of snow. I didn’t go to the Alps or the Pyrenees or the Urals, I went to Wales. I wanted to see the land of my people. Well, my other people. But apparently my other people are rather popular…

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Or maybe they’re so unpopular that they don’t care enough to restock? At least I got to see one of them…

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Hello Eli

Wales is a beautiful country and I got a little camera happy so I may have to break this into a couple of posts. I’m thinking one of city living, full of history, castles and pubs; and one of the countryside, full of majestic mountains, smooth coastlines and snow, glorious snow.

I started in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales since 1955 which is surprisingly recent if you ask me. And like any good tourist, I went straight to Cardiff Castle. The site originally contained a Roman fort that was later abandoned in the fifth century, when the Romans had to get out of Dodge. The Normans constructed the current castle in 1091. It still stands today; however, through the years modifications have been made to suit the tastes of its many owners.

For me, the most interesting part was the blackout shelter that had been constructed within the walls. In 1939, Lord Bute allowed these walls to be breached with new entrances so that they could become public air raid shelters. Up to 1800 people could seek refuge within these walls and some even slept here. The walls are now full of propaganda posters, one of which contains a casserole dish that bears a remarkable resemblance to Winston Churchill. For a casserole dish.

From there I was finally on to the Keep. Originally it had been constructed out of wood, but was reconstructed out of stone. When I first got there at 9:30, it was closed due to icing but they were able to open it by the time I got around and, one hundred stairs later, I got to be the very first person to go up for the day. The views were well worth the climb.

Next on the agenda was the medieval, Gothic-style clock tower. It seems to me that every European city has their own fancy clock tower. I kind of want one of my own. The tower was designed by William Burges for 3rd Marquess of Bute and due to its intricate design it took five years to complete.

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On to the house! Now here is a place where I can envision people living. It’s so warm and inviting, even though the Bute family spent only a couple of weeks a year there. Psh, royalty, am I right?

Finally, the military museum. That’s where I learned that the Dragoons Guard cavalry captured an elephant when attacking rebel forces in the Battle of Lucknow in 1858. (Can that please be a Trivial Pursuit question someday?) And I also learned that traditionally a goat would lead the Welsh forces into battle. The story goes that during the Crimean War, a bleating goat warned the troops of a Russian attack. From there on out, Hebe, the goat was adopted as a mascot by the 41st Foot. Finally, I also discovered that the Welsh have a rather wonderful sense of humor.

What would I say is the most important thing I learned there? I would be very inexperienced leading troops into battle but, man, would I look good doing it.

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Next on the agenda was a walk down to the bay but after a full morning of learning (and climbing!), my body and brain were tired. So after a quick coffee stop in which I eavesdropped on two guys talking about protein shakes and Iron Man events in front of sewing machines and dainty teacups, I finally found my way to the bay.

The day ended with a walk around the Bute Gardens, where I tried to summon some supernatural spirits with the standing stones; felt incredibly small next to some very old trees; and made friends with a boar. At least I think that’s a boar. Or maybe he’s a creature from Where the Wild Things Are.

All in all, a successful day in the city. Join me in my next post when I take a drive…on the wrong side of the road…on the wrong side of the car.

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Off and Running…

My inbox is full of emails with words like “bluehost” and “mojo” and “wordpress”. Apparently that’s because I’m officially a blogger now. I’m also the girl who started using Instagram last year. Late last year and only as a tool to motivate myself to run more: #runtoscotland. Nevermind that I lived an ocean away and that running was only going to get me so far. Along the way I gained followers (just enough to feel that I had an audience, but the kind of audience that you have on one of those small, intimate coffeeshop stages); however, Instagram was always just something for me to look back on as I trained for my marathon.

Enter this blog. I’m on to a new adventure and I know a lot of people will want to follow, if only to live vicariously for a few minutes. And who doesn’t want to live someone else’s life from time to time? So this blog is for you, my soon-to-be-loyal readers (read: mom). Let me whisk you away to a paradise of paella, sangria and sarcasm. But seriously, I’m here to tell the story that pictures alone just can’t provide. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but how do you know what those words are without context? So far, I’ve shared photos on Instagram and Facebook (mostly to show my mom that I am still alive); however, a short caption can only tell so much. So I promise there will be lots of lovely pictures in this blog too; however, there will also be stories, commentary, and fun facts to go with them.

I will close out this first post with my first admission of guilt: I’ve had this site set up since the middle of November. It’s now the middle of January and I finally wrote my first post. To those of you who know me well (and to myself), this is not at all surprising. The whole point of writing a blog is to make your life an open-book to your readers. I’m more of the excerpt-on-the-Barnes-and-Noble-website kind of person, the carefully selected small passage of the story that I choose to share. Or maybe I’m the summary section, full of shallow plotlines and general ideas. Either way, I’m generally firmly shut so this blog will be an adventure in and of itself.  

The first couple of entries will play catch-up for the past two months; however, once I reach present day, I aim to actually keep up with current events. There won’t be a new, exciting post every day. Let’s face it, I’m in a different country but this isn’t a year-long vacation. It’s still a life full of hard work, odd-jobs or quick fixes around the apartment, and worrying about what I want to be when I grow up. I may have traded the snow for sunshine but I haven’t traded reality for fantasy. My feet are still firmly planted in the ground, there’s just no snow around them.

Botanical Gardens in Copenhagen

 

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