king christian the fourth...

...did a lot of things in Denmark, apparently... if you ask my husband.  Of course, this is his easy cop out as half the Kings in Denmark have been named Christian.  So, he can never really be that far off.

Introducing the master tour guide... aka my grandfather's "Senior Advisor" for their trip.

We did some sight seeing with my grandparents while they were here and I can't tell you how many times  my grandmother asked me what something was or the more popular questions about who built it and when.  I felt like channeling Rachel in Friends when she tells Phoebe all the Pottery Barn furniture is from the days of Yore or Yesteryear.  But because my grandparents are brighter than Phoebe I was grateful for my husband to to answer correctly, or at least with a more believable answer... blah blah blah Christian the 4th.

The visitors may have been fooled but this sequence reveals it all!

Question was probably something like, what is that building over there and who built it?

He clearly has no idea... but yet here comes the explanation of blah blah blah, Christian the 4th.

Note his eyes... they say it all.  Yet, see the listeners... engaged and seemingly satisfied with his answer.

No, I think they all enjoyed raking as much knowledge and sarcasm out of him as possible. Appreciation for sarcasm is key element of this country and especially with the Als.  I think that should be a tip for "before you go..." in Danish tourism books: Be ready for sarcasm and therefore know that you probably missed at least 1/3 of it and therefore you received false and probably ridiculous information.

This is all fine and well, but we all know the end result of whisper down the lane, right?

Now when stories get stretched further via retelling and adding my Grandfather's special twist of humor... it's really no wonder that most people think that Denmark is the capital of Amsterdam.  Too many gullible tourists and sarcastic Danes! Pfft!

But we had a great time, hope my grandparents did too and have read up on some of their books to debunk any lingering questionable explanations!

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and just like that

In just three weeks my life has changed dramatically here in Denmark.  Some milestones, important visitors, a new home, a new life style.  Things change quickly!

My grandparents were here to visit and we had a great time showing them some sights as well as introducing them to the Als family.  It was great to spend some time with them and show them why I find this country a little quirky but how I am also able to call it home!

Speaking of calling Denmark home...  I have done just that for exactly one year as of last Wednesday, June 1st.  Wow a whole year... really?! Oh but how to celebrate???

How about a new apartment in the city?  YAY.  City girl lives again!  This time on a bicycle and not on the Green Line.  Watch out Copenhagen!

Living Room / Dining Room

Many more pictures and anecdotes to come!

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bit of stress :)

So the past week has been a little stressful.  Sometimes living in a foreign country isn't all sunshine and lollypops.  However, there are pretty flowers here!

But no, basically we found out we have a mold problem in our little old house and that it's really not safe to be living here.  Christian is out flying so bahhh... just a bit of stress.  We have been talking about moving this summer for awhile now anyway but now there is just a sense of urgency.

Apartment hunting in Copenhagen is really not anything like I would expect.  Here is just one of those culture shock things.  To rent an apartment is very competitive and tricky.  Most people buy or buy into co-ops but now that there are many people unable to loan money it makes the renters market even more competitive.  

Firstly, there is no such thing as a realtor for rentals here.  God I hated paying realtor fees back in Boston but at least they did the leg work for you and well with a bit of money you could find a place fairly easily.  So it's a lot of website cruising on our end.  Then you usually have to pay to get the contact information on these apartment listings.  Which is fine, I guess.  Apartments usually go within 1-2 days of being listed... so with Christian gone I can't act fast enough.

The other biggie that we're facing is my stupid residency Visa extension.  I have to be on lease with 3 years minimum from when we apply for my extension (Nov/Dec this year).  These leases are VERY hard to come by.  So yeah bum bum bum what to do what to do.

So just feeling like I'm facing a bit of adversity plus a bit of culture shock at the same time.  Just not able to grab the reins and take control (we know I like control...).

I've calmed down a lot but would still like to get this sorted asap.  Keep you all posted.  I can't wait to be a city girl again!

Last Sunday I made brunch for the family as a Mother's day gift to Christian's mom and grandmother, great success.  At least it received good reviews :)

Menu:

Fruit Salad: blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, bananas, and pears in vanilla yogurt

Scrammbled Egg Bake: 8 large eggs, 6 slices white bread, a bunch of bacon, chopped peppers and onions, bunch of cheddar cheese > sit over night> into the oven at 325F for 45 min

French Toast Bake: 3/4 loaf white bread, 8 large eggs, apple slices, 2 cups milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, sugar > sit over night> make topping with brown sugar, 2 sticks butter, 2 tbsp corn syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg> into the oven at 325 for 45 min

Breads & Cheese spread

Champagne and strawberries

Delicious food, good company, great weather!

Just really hoping this weather holds out for when my grandparents get here.  It got a little chillier this weekend so fingers crossed!

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easter in denmark

I had my first official Easter in Denmark and well... it couldn't have been better!  Danes get Thursday, Friday before and the following Monday after Easter off from work - SCORE!

The sun shined the entire break, nearly 75 degrees every day.  Totally incredible.  Nothing I could have dreamed of in April in Denmark.  Got my sportsbra tan rocking already and a bit of color on my cheeks, happy days.

Every year Christian's family gets together for Easter for food and the egg hunt.  However this is no ordinary egg hunt where you try to find as many small eggs as you can.  Here each grandchild gets a big egg with lots of things in it.  Same concept as Easter baskets back home I guess!  So a bit of a combination.

This year Farmor wasn't going to do Easter eggs and a big deal because of her 80th birthday bash on Easter Monday.  However I pulled out my pouty lip and said "oh but I've never been here for Easter before I was so looking forward to getting an egg" HAHAHA.  I am such a brat and I really didn't mean much about it but then Farmor just said, well yep we'll do it for Jill. We had Easter Saturday together as a family.

So I suppose it wasn't a surprise that my egg was also the biggest, haha. (Okay I'm a  big brat!) But no, it was because Christian went in on it with Farmor. He was out flying so it was kind of nice to get presents as a supplement!  He contributed the necklace/jewelry tree and Farmor got me this super hip coloring book from Christian's uncle's store in Norway.  Yes I'm 26 and I still love to color. :P

It was an awesome day, though.  Almost the whole family was there and we grilled and hung out and then I stole all the grand kids to go for a walk and take their pictures for Farmor's birthday present as a collective gift from the grand kids.

Also decided that to be less of a brat I could make sure Farmor also got an egg.  She was confused but very happy for it!  Fantastic day, though!  Lots of family time which was great.

Easter Sunday we dug up Farmor's front yard/driveway area that has been overgrown for years with random projects half started.  It was 8 of us and it took 2.5 hours but it was like a night and day project afterwards.  I was sore for several days (shovelling is hard work) but it was worth it!

Easter Monday we headed to Sweden for Farmor's 80th birthday party.  That will get a separate post! :)

Hope you all had fantastic Easters!

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love my bff

Swalshy made it safe and sound to Denmark :)  Greeted her in the airport late Thursday night with flags and hugs - was so freaking excited to see her!

Somehow we stayed up late drinking a bit of bubbly and just catching up on the new adventures of swalsh in NYC and international work travels.

Friday we were very slow moving but made into the city in the afternoon to walk around a bit before heading to Heidi's to meet up with the Danish crew for cheap beer and lots of laughs.  I was so happy everyone got to meet my one and only Stephanie and I was also really happy she got to meet the great Danes that are in my life. :)

Another late night meant another slow start on Saturday.  It was a bit ridiculous but I was just so happy to have her here it didn't matter if we didn't see all the sights.  There will be plenty of other opportunities.  Nothing beats hangovers on the couch laughing our butts off.  We finally got our act together to go to lunch (was supposed to be brunch but oh well!).

After brunch in Hillerød we walked around the infamous castle there.  Most people who know me have seen pictures of this place a million times but I always like taking people there just the same.  Winter has a bit of a bare look but nice just the same!

After a tour around Hillerød we went back to Fredensborg (where we live) and took a walk in the park around the castle there.  Sunset made for some fun pics - Steph makes a very beautiful subject!

Saturday night Christian made some delicious Danish meatballs and ate with Farmor, Christian's Dad and fiance Ann.  Steph liked the Danish meatballs - success! 

My swalshy left reallly early this morning (feels like a day ago by now it was so early).  So without accomplishing a whole lot of tourism I still felt like it was the perfect weekend!  It is just sooo nice to spend time with someone you miss and love! :)  Hoping to catch her in London in May when she's there - love her new job!

Love you swalsh - come back soon!  Denmark misses you already! xoxo