Amazing Møn

The fields are alive with the color yellow on the island of Møn. Raps or Rapeseed is in full bloom and it is a beautiful sight to see. Fields of yellow and green, with a blue sky backdrop. It almost doesn't look real but then again, this is the land of fairy tales and Hans Christian Andersen.

Every year on Pinse Sunday my husband's family gathers for breakfast in the woods at a place called called Fanefjord Skovpavilion and every year I am grateful to be a part of this brilliant tradition and fantastic family. Not to mention, given an excuse to visit the exquisite island they are from.

Just an hour and a half from the city, Møn is a world away from anything else I have ever seen. If I had to describe how it looks I would say Door County and Cape Cod combined. I am instantly at ease when we cross over the bridge. Similar to how I used to feel living and working in Chicago and escaping to Wisconsin for the weekend.

The common denominator in both scenarios is family, and I believe the Danish expression for the feeling that brings would be 'hyggeligt.'

Cykel Style

The entire month of May has been dedicated to my daily commute to Danish class "på cykel" and it feels great. When the weather cooperates there is no better mode of personal transportation or way to see Copenhagen at its best.

It takes me the same amount of time to get into the center of the city from where we live by bike as it does by train, so unless I have an appointment or meeting after class I would much rather go by bike. You're saving the planet AND getting some exercise!

Of course your sense of personal style may suffer for the sake of the journey. I see many women on bikes with dresses and heels and I admire them. Unfortunately for me, I am not able to do a leisurely bike ride. Partly because my daily round trip is ten miles and secondly, because my brain still registers the bike as a form of exercise equipment.

My habitual race to make the green light, has just been transferred to another form of transportation. Not to mention the fact that all those spinning classes start to register in my brain and I cycle way harder than I need to, but I don't know any other way to do it. It's in my DNA. I come from a family of fast walkers. If you need to get somewhere, you put a little gas in your step, pedal to the metal, or in this case wind in your spokes!

Holiday Season

Holiday season has arrived in Denmark and I'm not talking about Christmas and New Years. Easter kicks it off with a 4-5 day weekend and the rest of the public holidays follow suit.

It starts with Store Bededag or General Prayer Day the 4th Friday after Easter. A day that consolidates a bunch of holy days into one big (or store) day of reflection. Also known as a day when a lot of Danes get confirmed.

40 days after Easter there is Kristi Himmelfartsdag or Ascension Day, which typically turns into two days. I have to be honest, anything with 'fart' in the middle of the name is sort of hard to take seriously as a native English speaker.

The Spring holiday bonanza stops 7 weeks after Easter when the Danes celebrate Pinsedag or Whit Sunday, recognized on Monday. To sum up, there are approximately 6 public holidays between May 1st and June 5th, the last being Constitution Day in Denmark.

For a country that has proclaimed themselves as people to not be very religious, they sure have a lot of publicly recognized holidays that are based around church holidays. No judgment, just a reflection. How apropos!

Feels like Home

Last night my American girlfriends, otherwise known as "the book club girls", and I had dinner at one of the best Mexican restaurants in Copenhagen, luckily enough just minutes from where I live.

The restaurant is called Que Pasa and it's located on a little side street in Vanløse, just blocks from where Van Morrison was inspired to write the song "Vanløse Stairway" about his Danish girlfriend back in the 80's.

The owner is from the US, grew up in Southern California, and was raised on Mexican food, just like one of our fellow book club members. Needless to say, the food was authentic, the service refreshingly American, and we found a new place to frequent whenever we get homesick.

The Beach Boys were playing on the radio, the food was delicious, and everywhere we turned we seemed to run into a another native American also living in Denmark. In fact, the woman who took this picture!

It was one of those nights when you wake up smiling the morning after. That's when you know it is starting to feel like home.

The Stare Down

I went on and on about my fabulous new cykel in my last blog, and now that I've gotten the hang of it, I truly enjoy it. But because I'm an American and I refuse to ride it in the rain, I spend most of my days taking public transportation. That's just a fact of living in Denmark.

While on the train, or bus, or wherever, you begin to notice a lot of things. Human behavioral type things. One, is that no one says "Excuse me" when they get up, sit down, or push you around. Two, is that people stare. Especially if you don't fit the 'norm.'

I thought it was just me, but my husband has started to notice it as well. In the US, we're told as children that "Staring is rude" so naturally we don't do it. If someone stares at you for an odd amount of time, chances are A) they think you're attractive or B) they may have a few screws loose upstairs.

However, if it becomes uncomfortable, all you need to do is stare at them back and they will snap back into reality and look away. Not in Denmark! That human behavioral register doesn't exist here. I've tried it. All you get is a really uncomfortable stare down...and then more stares.

Easy Rider

It's Spring and I decided that I will join the gangs of other bicyclers on the Copenhagen bike paths and start riding my brand spankin' new cykel to Danish class...hver dag!

First of all, just writing this sentence gave me butterflies in my stomach because the bikers here are no joke. They are serious, experienced, 'been riding their bike everyday' people since they were like 5 years old. (Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but still. A long time).

It's also been a long time since I've ridden a bike. Now, I would hop on one every now and then during vacations over the years but the last time I seriously used it for a mode of transportation was when I rode my ten-speed to the swimming pool during summer back in high school. Yep, that long ago.

So I'm easing into it. Got the bike, next up is the helmet. That was a promise to the husband and one I'll gladly oblige since my first spin around the lake in our neighborhood was a bit shaky. Almost wiped out trying to jump a curb when I realized I had turned into a bike path...going the wrong way. It was the exact same feeling you have when you turn down a one way street driving a car.

All I have to say is this. Whoever coined the phrase: "It's just like riding a bike" must have always ridden one. Or maybe after a 2nd and 3rd trip I'll get the hang of it and then the point is moot. After all, my helmet's just too cute to waste!

Beautiful Barcelona

My husband and I just visited Barcelona and were overcome with how gorgeous it was. Architecturally, we knew Gaudi was going to be impressive, but we were not prepared for the everyday beauty of ordinary buildings. It makes the city feel like a walking museum.

One of the first things I noticed (besides the buildings) was that motor bikes are as common in Barcelona as bicycles are in Copenhagen. People smoke more, it's still allowed inside restaurants and bars, and the food is small but very fatty. Our modest Danish systems were shocked into vacation mode after the burst of flavors of our first tapas dinner.

There are two differences I noticed that were my favorites. One is that they eat really late. I prefer our 7pm Danish dinner time to the 10pm Spanish time to be honest, but what makes this one of my favorite things is the fact that 6 or 7pm is still considered "the afternoon" in Spain. Even the ATM's say: "Buenas Tardes!"

My favorite experience of all though was how warm the Spanish people were. They don't speak a lot of English but that doesn't necessarily matter to them. They will continue to talk to you in Spanish thinking that somehow you will magically understand them. What ends up happening is a lot of funny moments and shared laughter after "deer in the headlight" stares. Embarrassing at first, but endearing in the end.