Celebrate Sweden’s Obsession with Cinnamon Buns

On October 3, 2018October 3, 2018 By oregongirlaroundtheworldIn Copenhagen, Food, Scandinavia, Sweden2 Comments

Sweden has a Special Day for Their Favorite Sweet

October 4th is National Cinnamon Bun Day | Kanelbullens dag

It might seem silly to celebrate a cinnamon roll. But the Swedes take their sticky sweets very seriously. This is due in part to the cultural entrenchment of fika in Sweden. Fika is that oh-so Swedish ritual of taking a daily pause with colleagues and friends that often includes coffee and a sweet. Most popularly enjoyed when taking fika with friends? Coffee of course. And a sticky sweet knotted and spiced cinnamon roll. Known as kanelbullar in Swedish.

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Walking the Path of a Life Lived Abroad

On September 21, 2018September 21, 2018 By oregongirlaroundtheworldIn American Expat, Copenhagen14 Comments

When you Step Away From a Life You Had Planned

There is a path that you are supposed to follow. For a well-led life. A path that takes you from the boisterous enthusiasm of your sometimes pimply faced youth through high school and on. To the expectation and rah-rah of those determined and dedicated university years. A path that is supposed to launch you into the world, on newly emergent adult type wings still wet and unfurling, fluttering and trying to fly. On your own.

The path may take you through first jobs and first apartments and first loves and second loves and third dates and devastating breakups and then when the time is right, the path proposes marriage. Then maybe a first home. A small white saltbox outside Cincinnati, Ohio. You didn’t know when you started on this path where the house might be, but you knew there would be a house. Or two. Or more. In another place.

This same path potentially brings a dog. Then a family. The 2.5 kids. The path is stable and secure and laid out for you. For the most part. If you walk it. If you want it. Follow the path. Work hard, raise your kids, buy a house, save for retirement, send them to college and launch them on their own paths. Work some more. Retire. Happy. Fulfilled. Knowing you followed the path. It is what you were supposed to do. It’s what you are supposed to do. Continue reading “Walking the Path of a Life Lived Abroad” →

Where to Find the Best Views of Copenhagen

On August 20, 2018August 20, 2018 By oregongirlaroundtheworldIn Copenhagen33 Comments

12 Places to See the Danish Capital From Above

Climb one of Copenhagen’s Iconic Towers for Panoramic Vistas OF THE CITY

Stroll the cobblestone streets of Copenhagen’s old city and you will very soon see several of the historic spires and towers that dominate the Danish skyline. Come to Copenhagen she said. And see it from above. This compact and colorful city is walkable, or better yet – bikeable. Partly because it is so flat, flat, flat, flat. Great for getting around, but not as beneficial for finding breathtaking vistas where you can survey the city as a whole.

To get a bird’s eye view from above – you have to go up. Into one of those iconic towers. In the historic center of the city, building restrictions limit new construction heights, keeping the tallest structures you’ll see the same as they were centuries ago. Lucky for you, a wonderfully charming vista of old-school architecture comingles perfectly with modern Danish design. And it’s all there for you to see. Climb up one of these towers. Step above the streets. Here are the twelve best places to catch the city views from above.

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Step Inside the Cisterns | An Under Ground Art Space in Copenhagen

On June 20, 2018June 28, 2018 By oregongirlaroundtheworldIn Copenhagen33 Comments

Experience Art in the Old Water Reservoir Under Frederiksberg

Go See Artist Jeppe Hein Exhibition at Cisternerne

I truly don’t know why it has taken me so long to step inside Copenhagen’s surreal underground art space known as the Cisterns. Or Cisternerne in Danish. Once a water storage facility for the city, the Cisterns could hold nearly 16 million liters of water. That’s over 4 million gallons. Thirsty yet? But you can’t wet your whistle down here anymore, the Cisterns haven’t held water since the early 80’s. And when the water had to go-go, the reservoir was transformed into a place for art, starting in 1996. It is now one of the coolest art spaces I have ever experienced. Dark. Slightly dank. Definitely damp. All sorts of atmospheric. And the perfect space for Danish artist Jeppe Hein‘s new exhibition, “In is the Only Way Out,” on now through November 2018.

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