hej hej

It's hard to believe that my adventures in Denmark are actually coming to a close. In 12 hours, I'll be leaving DIS for the last time and heading to the CPH airport to catch a flight to Croatia. After those days in Croatia are up, we'll have one night at a hotel in København by the airport, so it won't really even feel like we're back. Crazy! Well, we've been checking off our lists and making sure we get the most important things finished before we head off to Hrvatska.

One of the things I really wanted to do was to see Nyhavn harbor by night...and to take some pictures of course. Kayla and I went down there Tuesday night for midsummer celebrations, but I didn't bring my good camera and when we got there we realized that both of our other cameras had died...therefore, we knew for certain that another trip was in store.

Last night, Kayla and I had an AMAZING dinner at the harbor with two girls from our class and we got the opportunity to take some awesome pictures. We decided that since it was our second to last night, we deserved to splurge a little...so we got fancy dinners and a bottle of wine. It was nearly $40, but for the dinner & atmosphere it was totally worth it!

The Harbor by night - 8:15pm

Kayla & me at dinner

My amazing dinner: Smoked salmon salad--with a honey dijon & sesame sead dressing.

After that, we grabbed some ice cream, another drink, and then went back to the harbor to take some night time pictures. It was stunning. The harbor is just beautiful every time of day, and again, I could not stop taking pictures.

I had to balance the camera on a flat-ish surface so that I could get some good nighttime pictures...this one turned out really cool.

This was at about 11:15pm

View past Nyhavn into Kongens Nytorv

Gorgeous boats

Today, we started the morning off right with some fresh pastries from our corner bakery. Then, Kayla and I went back out for a bit to grab lunch and finish up some shopping, and along the way we said goodbye to many of our favorite places. Then we came back to pack up the majority of our things so that they can be stored at DIS while we're on our study tour. Fortunately, I think i'm in good shape on weight this time...I hope, anyway! It was an interesting experience having to lug our huge wheeled suitcases down the cobblestone streets of København...but we succeeded. We came back tonight & enjoyed fixing our last dinner together. It was a good one, despite the fact that we were cleaning out the fridge.

Our morning pastries. Delicious!

My amazing sandwich from Vero Italiano--Smoked salmon, avocado, cucumbers, lettuce, tomato, & lemon pesto sauce on wheat bread.

Our last supper--whole wheat pasta with chicken & veggies.

It seems like our lives have revolved around food here...but at least it's been good food!

It still hasn't hit me yet that we're really done with Denmark because we're getting ready for Croatia. Every time I've left this apartment for a trip I've been able to come back and settle in for another night in my bed here. That's not the case this time. As I went through the motions of the day today, I kept thinking to myself that Kayla and I were doing so many things for the last time. We walked to Nørreport from DIS for the last time. We walked from our Amagerbro metro station to our kollegium for the last time. We fixed our last dinner in our little kitchen tonight. We're going to sleep in these little comfy beds for the last time. Tomorrow morning will be so strange to lock our very empty apartment's door and say goodbye to Øresundskollegiet for good.

But that's enough sappiness for one night, I believe. Tomorrow at 8:45 we're heading to the airport to fly Croatia Airlines to Zagreb. We'll stay in Zagreb for 3 nights, then go to Split for one night. Fortunately we'll have internet at our hotel in Zagreb so I'll definitely be able to update! I'm really looking forward to being in this country, mostly because it is going to be SO much different from both the US and Denmark. So, hej hej, goodbye, for now...my next post will be from Zagreb!

Lækre!

So my favorite thing about living at our apartment in Amager is our cute little kitchen. It's a pretty tight squeeze, but we've fixed some delicious meals already...lots of fresh veggies with pasta, chicken, tacos...and everything has been awesome. Denmark is known for many of its food choices--the most obvious one probably being its pastries, which are referred to as Weinerbrød here. Yes, they are delicious, but many other things are delicious here as well. I've been trying not to treat myself to pastries TOO often. On our trips & study tours we've been exposed to some excellent danish cuisine, including lots of fish--particularly Salmon and Herring (yes mom & dad, I've eaten the herring, too)--breads out the wazoo, liverpaste--which is a liver pâté, and I've tried it and may possibly eat it another time except for the fact that I avoid red meat--and many super fresh vegetables! Denmark is also well known for its dairy products including cheese and butter...it's no surprise that Denmark, Wisconsin (where my Danish relatives are from) continues to be a dairy farming town! A favorite breakfast choice in Denmark is an openfaced sandwich with freshly baked bread, fresh cheese, and a few veggies on top such as radishes or peppers.

Anyway, I've tried lots of Danish cuisine, but we haven't exactly tried fixing any yet...that may be a battle for when I return home...

Tonight Kayla and I battled an American favorite with a little Danish twist. I try to eat vegetarian as much as possible, and Kayla eats vegetarian quite often, too, so we made Black Bean Burgers. They were super lækre, tasty! Kayla made the burgers with black beans, bread crumbs, and some salt, pepper, and garlic powder. We fixed them up with some sauteed mushrooms & onions, swiss cheese, and I put some tomatoes on mine. The Danish twist was the fresh rolls we bought at the Bakery down the street. They were absolutely delicious, despite the fact that I don't know exactly what kind of rolls they were. Yum!

We finished our very healthy dinner with a little treat from our bakery...

Cookie, Chocolate Icing, Strawberry Cream Filling, and Strawberries.

At some point I'll try to take some pictures of my Danish food before I devour it...but for now, this will have to do!

Tomorrow we're heading to the Kastallet, which is a Fortress on the northern shore of København. My friend Tory got some awesome pictures there on Sunday, and tomorrow is supposed to be pretty, too, so we're excited! Check back for some great pictures and other news...there are lots of fun things coming in the near future!

Velbekomme!

So I just fixed a delicious dinner and I got a little dorky and took some pictures. Cooking in this kitchen is a little interesting because it's technically a kitchenette. We have two cooktops, a sink, a mini-fridge, and a toaster oven. Nonetheless we've fixed some really delicious dinners! Everything is super fresh here, which just seems to make everything taste so much better!

Tonight was:

Blackbeans, chopped spinach, diced tomatoes, asparagus, and diced onion, which I sauteed with just a little olive oil on the cooktop. All this was served on top of some penne pasta. yum!

Cooking!

Utensils--we make do with what we have!

YUM! I'm a big fan of veggies.

Our little counter with the CLEAN dishes. We don't quite trust everything in the cabinet...

Little sink

Velbekomme! Bon Appetit!