An Authentic Viking Beer Experience –Minus the Mushrooms

Once upon a time when the Vikings ruled the seas, the phrase “berserk” was coined. Why you ask, well to describe the behavior of the Vikings when faced with a battle. In order to have acquired a strength and pain threshold that was beyond that of the Vikings’ enemies, Vikings created a magic elixir. A beer brewed from a mushroom, a beer that would cause one to go “berserk”. A beer (and a mushroom) that was so powerful that the Vikings were feared by all. A power like no other!

Since the origin of tales, Danes have had a knack for brewing beer, and anyone who has been to Denmark will tell you that it is not the fizzy colored water that most of us grew up knowing as beer. For the Danes, brewing beer is an art form, something that is measured by quality not quantity.

This past Saturday Ole, Birgitte and I went to Valhal in Frederikssund for a beer tasting festival from local microbreweries. Valhal, where the tasting festival was located, is home to plays of Viking tales during the summer. With the Viking inspired buildings, a Viking-age opening of the festival, the highly coveted Danish beer and the 529 Danish guests, it was an amazing cultural experience for me.

The main building of Valhal gives one a sense of ...vikings. This is a picture from when they were announcing the opening of the ticket sales, with three Danes dressed head to toe in viking garb playing traditional horns.

Down to their boots, they were dressed as traditional vikings.

 
 
 
 

There were no modern glasses for this trio, they carried their drinking horns on their belts.

 As you can see the Vikings enjoyed their beer. And by the way, the name of the beer they were drinking was...Hornbeer. Thus it was chosen as the first hornful of beer,  maybe the second and third hornful as well.

As you can see there was quite a turn out!

And thus ends a modern day viking beer tasting, minus the use of mushrooms in the beer (though one brewer did use chili) and the subsequent battle.

Vi Ses!

Tilbage til København! Mit hjem langt væk fra hjemmet.

As you may have guessed or may know, I have been back in Copenhagen for over a week now. Though it is hard leaving my family in Florida, Copenhagen is really starting to feel like home so it is nice to be back.

(rødgrød- a berry dessert that is an indicator that you are not in Florida anymore - in case you missed signs like the language, weather, historical places etc)

My classes have started, and my calendar is already filling up with due dates, trips and other events. As always, my favorite part of being here is my host family. Ole, Birgitte and I have already continued on our quest to watch all episodes of Matador (we are on episode 12 of this classically Danish TV show) and the three of us are sure to be in front of the television on Friday when Denmark is playing Spain for the Semifinal round of the World Handball Championship!

Here is Copenhagen it is still most assuredly winter, snow is still on the ground (it just snowed yesterday), the canals still have ice.

Yet, though it may be cold I still find Copenhagen quite charming, and love to walk around in wonder.
Here is a picture of the most famous Copenhagen canal called Nytorv. Note the Ice.

Nytorv canal again.

One of my favorite things about Copenhagen in winter is the little Danes, who walk two by two in their brightly colored snow suits with pointy hats.  

Most of the children are usually perfectly coordinated in their snow gear, from their body suit, mittens, boots, and hat they are usually bright enough to see from a long distance away... so they do not get lost in the snow. The neon vests that they are wearing is typically worn by school children this age when they are going somewhere with their teachers. In this case they were near a construction zone, so the vests were definitely a good idea.

Someone asked me why I haven't taken more pictures of the bikes in Denmark, and if there are a lot here...

Here is one of the smallest bike areas at Norreport train station. Needless to say, with this being one of the smallest sections for bikes... there is a big bike culture in Denmark.

As you can tell by this post I am still getting back in the groove of things again. Keep checking in though, for field studies(including Carlsberg brewery), my short study tour(to learn about anti piracy techniques), my long study tour (to Kosovo), some sports games, ballet, opera, a fishing trip, a sailing trip and much more. On this note, I can promise you that there will be much more to come this semester, especially with Michael and my Mom coming to visit!

 As always, if there is something you have heard about in Copenhagen and want to see or questions you want answered, just send me an email!

Vi Ses!

Home for the Holidays!

There is no place like home for the holidays! Though not the winter wonderland that Copenhagen is, Sarasota contains my family, making it a superb Christmas destination! This fall semester I had never been home sick (probably a result of staying with an Amazing host family), but I still missed my family in Florida.

My voyage to Florida was full of its ups and downs, both physically and emotionally. I was flagged for additional security in Copenhagen and had to watch every item in each piece of luggage carefully examined. Thankfully the security guards approved of all the gifts I had gotten for my family, including nisser, and I was deemed to not be a security risk. To make up for having everything swabbed for bomb material and all electronics turned on, the airline upgraded my ticket to.... FIRST CLASS! Needless to say my flight from Copenhagen to Newark was amazing, complete with a three course meal, a chair that converts to a bed, videos on demand, a huge bathroom as well as personal service that included a coat check, and limitless food. Despite the obvious differences between me and the other first class passengers (I was the only one carrying a backpack and wearing a non fur coat) the experience was amazing. Unfortunately, by the time I got to Newark and went through customs I had missed my flight to Florida. The service agents wanted to put me in a hotel, but prepared with flight information given to me by my Dad at 5 am U.S. time (sorry Dad), I kept insisting on taking two flights more that evening and eventually the agents told me to run to the flight which was leaving in 15 minutes. Those last two flights were really a blur, the most important part being that I arrived in Tampa at 12:30 am December 20.

The rest of my Christmas holiday was quite relaxing. I spent time with my family, got caught up on Big Bang episodes, went shopping with my Mom, went to the gym with my Dad and sufficiently annoyed my brother (‘tis a sister’s job you know). Before Christmas my cousin Paige came over to make Christmas cookies. We took over the kitchen for about 5 hours, making everything from Danish Pebernødder to American cut out sugar cookies.

We kind of unintentionally Americanized the Pebernødder cookies. Guess which is the Danish cookie!

Here are our finished sugar cookies, minus some eaten by the bakers.

This year my Mom had Christmas off from work so we were able to have a wonderful Christmas by being together all day. From stocking to presents under the tree, Christmas was as it is supposed to be. The real difference was that this year the presents I got for others were from Europe. After presents, we went to my Grandparents’ house for Christmas dinner with the Levantis. As always, I quite enjoyed the whole family getting together. Being so far away from those you love makes you appreciate them that much more.

Michael and I on Christmas morning

As is probably apparent from what is above, my favorite thing about my winter vacation was spending time with my family, specifically my brother Michael, as well as my Mom and Dad. I have now recharged and am ready to go back to Copenhagen for another semester!

Vi Ses!

Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas Tree!

Trudging around looking for something out in the cold with snow higher than your boots is not how most people imagine spending their Sundays. But this is exactly what Ole, Birgitte, and I did this Sunday, in search of the perfect Christmas tree.

As we pulled up to the Christmas tree farm I was already pretty excited, but the excitement tripled when, instead of selecting a ready to go Christmas tree we headed off into the fields of trees to go find Our Tree. And that is how I found myself trudging through snow past the tops of my boots and enjoying it. One tree was too short, another too big, one too wide, another too thin. It was quite a challenge to find the perfect tree.

Finally we found Our Tree. A tall one that was not too tall, and full but not overly so. After the tree passed the test to be declared The One, Ole took his saw and cut down Our Christmas Tree.

After bringing it back to the farmhouse, and netting the tree, we brought it back home.

Figuring that ornaments and water do not go together, we waited for the snow to melt off the tree before setting it up. We then decorated The Tree in red and gold, candle lights, and Danish flags. I must say, Our Tree is a very beautiful one! Don't you agree?

God Jul Alle! Merry Christmas Everybody!

Crazy Christmas Cabaret at Tivoli, land of Nisser

Welcome to Tivoli at Christmas time, a glorious Christmas inspired Danish theme park filled with wonder at every turn. Complete with mounds of snow, a house of nisser, and endless amounts of Christmas Cheer. If you are ever in Copenhagen at Christmas time, go to Tivoli to absorb this essense of Christmas that is spread throughout the park. It is truly magical! Ole, Birgitte and I went to Tivoli Monday the 29th, the day after getting back from London in order to see Crazy Christmas Cabaret. But along the way we absorbed a good amount of Christmas cheer!

A house full of Nisser! Living in Denmark around Christmastime there is no way that one can avoid an encounter with Nisser. These friendly pranksters are extremely prominent during the Danish Christmas season. In order to keep them well behaved, or for children to receive a present from Nisser, a bowl of the Christmas pudding, similar to our rice pudding, must be left out for the Nisser. These little guys are one of my favorite things about the Christmas season in Denmark! It is a guarantee that I will be bringing some Nisser back to my family for Christmas!

A special treasure of Tivoli at Christmastime is the annual Crazy Christmas Cabaret, a comedy show put on for over 25 years in english at the heart of Tivoli. I think I was almost constantly laughing throughout the whole show. I am so glad that my host parents ensured that I would not miss out on this Christmas time tradition!

Vi Ses!