Best Little Christmas Markets in Copenhagen

On By oregongirlaroundtheworldIn Christmas, Copenhagen34 Comments

Put Some Danish Design & Art Under the Tree This Christmas

KEEP THE SEASON sustainable when you SUPPORT LOCAL MAKERS

(Originally posted November 2017, updated November 2018)

Denmark, oh Denmark. You happy little hip country you. World leaders in design, fashion, bike-riding, sustainable city-planning and annual happiness rankings, Denmark is stylish even come dark December. Get ready to fire up your calendar candle, it is definitely Jul time in the Danish capital. Grab a glass of gløgg and warm your inner aesthete at a Christmas market off (and maybe one on) the tourist trails. In Denmark, you can find all the design, gifts and hygge you need at a Julemarked. Continue reading “Best Little Christmas Markets in Copenhagen” →

Visit Den Gamle By Open Air History Museum in Aarhus Denmark | Walk the Streets of Danish history | Oregon Girl Around the World

Walk the Streets of Danish History at Den Gamle By Museum in Aarhus

On By oregongirlaroundtheworldIn Aarhus, Denmark37 Comments

A Look at What Life Was Like in Denmark

Step Back in Time at the Old City Museum

As an American growing up on the west coast of the United States, moving to Europe is like living in history every day. Especially in a country like Denmark, where their iconic red and white flag has been waving here for over a thousand years. That is a long time. And a lot of history. Want to learn more about how the Danes lived hundreds of years ago? Step inside the brilliantly recreated open-air museum known as Den Gamle By in Aarhus. Den Gamle By is Danish for the old city. Here you can take a walk back through time.

75 historical buildings from all across Denmark have been repositioned here in Aarhus. These are not replicas. They are the real deal. Step inside each building and see how people lived and worked in days of yore. Founded in 1909, the museum was the first of it’s kind in the world. Now, under the patronage of Denmark’s current reigning Queen Margrethe II, it is a bustling microcosm of Danish history and culture. Stroll with me and see a slice of what Danish life was like. Back in the day.

Continue reading “Walk the Streets of Danish History at Den Gamle By Museum in Aarhus” →

Celebrate Sweden’s Obsession with Cinnamon Buns

On 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.

Continue reading “Celebrate Sweden’s Obsession with Cinnamon Buns” →

Walking the Path of a Life Lived Abroad

On 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” →