Copenhagen in 5 hrs or less

This is our boat. I didn't remember to get a picture of my own. We were always in a hurry, either coming or going.

Our cabin. Small isn't it? We were on the most bottom level you could get. You couldn't get any lower in the boat than we were.

Pretty little island in Oslo fjord

Goodbye Oslo

Hello Copenhagen!

 For a broader experience, we took a little trip over to Copenhagen! Prior to the trip, we prepared ourselves most fully. 

Namely, we watched this:

*Note, they do swear once or twice FYI

It's mostly funny if you can hear the different between Norwegian and Danish. Danes speak wonderful English so we didn't hear too much Danish. But when we did, it was great and sent us into gales of laughter.
The boat dropped us off at 9:45 AM in Copenhagen and we had to be back onto the boat by 4:30 PM, so that gave us five or so hours to see everything we wanted to see.
So we made a list:
1. The Little Mermaid (it's a must. You are in Denmark, you have to Hans Christian Andersen's beloved little aquatic heroine.)
2. The original Christus Statue. (We are LDS and it means a lot to us. See here)
3. Danish bakery to try a pastry. (We did and we are converted)
4. Danish souvenirs (We have our priorities)
5. Strøget
6. The Marble Church
7. The Queen's Palace
8. Nyhavn
9. Tivoli
We accomplished our list! All in five hours! I say, we are quite skilled. All it took was a good map (I marked three with our destinations and routes), quick walking, and quick picture taking skills. Here are the results.

1. The Little Mermaid

2. The Christus by Thorvaldsen

3. Danish pastries. So good. I'm ruined for life.

5. Strøget: One never-ending mile of shopping and pedestrians

6. The Marble Church

7. The Queen's Palace, complete with guardsmen

8. Nyhavn

9. Tivoli

Ta-da!

I got some typical souvenirs but I really wanted a Hans Christian Andersen book of tales in Danish but NOOOoooooo. I couldn't find a bookstore in Copenhagen for the life of me. Which led me to the conclusion that although the Danes have a very pretty city with to-die-for-danishes but they must not read. Ever. 

Ach well, it was a busy day, but it was fun.

We made it back to the boat in time. I fell asleep immediately for a couple of hours. When we were seaborn, I rendezvous-ed with the other girls and we got some dinner, played some card games and so on. We woke up at 4 AM to see the sun rise...but it was cloudy.

See?

4 AM, I'm telling you folks.
Well, that is it for Copenhaven.
Ttyl!

Happy 17th of May, Norway

To all my Norwegian friends and anyone interested in all things Scandinavian: Happy syttende Mai!
Today is a big day!

It's their Constitution day, so kind of like their Declaration of Independence/Fourth of July. It's the day they mark their uniqueness and independence from the other Scandinavian powers (i.e. Denmark and Sweden...) and it's a big deal. See here or here for more info.

I'm kind of bummed that I barely  miss the celebration by exactly a month. Still, Norway gets the spotlight today.
Go Norway!

Just Follow Me...

Victor Borge was a funny, funny man. Super talented and still had a sense of humor. And, he's DANISH. And we all know how much I love Scandinavians. I saw this clip over the break with my grandpa. We both laughed very hard, but I was the one that ended up on the floor with tears in my eyes. Good stuff. Enjoy!

Good Eats: Aebleskiver!

Look at how crafty I am!

I made aebleskiver!
They are this delightful little Danish...thing. A little like pancakes, but a little different.
Supposedly, the history of aebleskiver is something like this:

Once upon a time, Vikings were tired after a rather exhausting raid and so they got back to their ship and they wanted something to eat. Pancakes! However, they didn't have anything to cook it on but a badly dented shield, so they made do with what they had. Pancake batter in a dented shield and viola! You get aebleskiver. 

The name, when literally translated means "apple slices" which...doesn't make all that much sense seeing as there usually isn't any apples in them any more...but it's fun to say!

"abe-el-skae-ber" would be the phonetic way of saying it. Danish...it's all at the back of your throat, just swallow the words.

Anyways, this ^ is the type of pan you use to make them with. You pour in the batter and turn it as it cooks so it's done all the way in the inside and golden brown all around the outside.

I am going to make them for my History 201 TA class on Thursday. I get to teach and since there is a connection between  Scandinavia and the Kievan Rus, why not make class more enjoyable with treats!
Except, since this was my first time, they are a little gooey.
However, in the immortal words of Scarlett O'hara, "Tomorrow is another day!"
...
And tomorrow will bring more aebleskiver.

p.s. I made these Norwegian cupcakes a couple of weeks ago. They are really just chocolate cupcakes with the Norwegian flag in icing on the top. Still, I think they are pretty creative. They tasted pretty good too.

Here is Nay, modeling them for everyone.
Labor of love, I tell ya, labor of love.

Askeladden og Smørbukk

Goodness, I can't believe the semester is halfway over. I love, love, love my classes. My favorite one, believe it or not, is my Norwegian Literature class. It is combined with the Danish Lit. class because the languages are so similar, and Denmark controlled Norway for ages. (norway is better...grumble, grumble...) anyways, so for a large majority of the class we have been reading Danish stuff, which, you know, is cool, but ah yes, we just started "nasjionalromatikken" which is the Romantic period in Norway. And there are these two men, Asbjornsen and Moe, they are the equivalent of the Grimms Brother in Germany, well they went to the backcountry of Norway and collected all of these fantastic folk and fairy tales. I love this. I love fairy tales. And fairy tales in foreign languages are even better. Askeladden translates roughly into "the ash lad" which is like Cinderella. He is slightly different though, as he has many adventures, but there are plenty of similarities, trust me. We watched an old school stop-motion animation movie about Askeladden yesterday and I was in heaven. Ah Norge! Dette er det best sted i hele

verden!

Smørbukk is another character, translated into butterball, but he is this adorable kid who has adventures too. He just likes to eat...

Anyways.

That is my geek out moment for the week.

:) Cheers and Happy Halloween!