My Christmas Spirit for 2024

 The first thing I did was get my balcony in the mood.

Then I went to the mall across the harbor to get into a some X-mas spirit 

with a sandwich and coffee and a overhead view of the mall decorations.

It's a school of fish hanging over the X-mas scene because, you know,

Santa like pickled herring and the mall is called The Fish Square.

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December was just rolling around.  

It was already the 2nd week and for 

I snapped a photo of Jens and showed

it to him.

It reminded us of a photo we have of

him at a hotel in Key West that we 

went to years ago.  I positioned Jens

just so, so that the giant bird of paradise would

 look like a hat he was wearing.

This is a coconut palm in the hall way of

the nursing home.

I sent it to my friend George

and he sent it back saying:

It just needs a few ornaments.

And this was how he returned it.

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Then.....  to get myself full blown into the holiday spirit, 

I took a stroll in town and visited one of the 

several X-mas markets in town.

At the market they were making real fresh 

home-made æbleskiver.  Jens used to make

these all the time.  Jens would actually use a 

knitting needle like in this video.

Click here to see Jens making them.

Lots of colorful nutcrackers and glass ornaments.

And then of course a hot toddy called Gløgg to help

keep me warm and wash down the æbleskiver.

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Then my wonderful neighbor, Lotte, left a little gift at my door.

It went very well with Little Alfred that she gave me last summer.

Then I rolled Jens down to the ground floor

of his nursing home so that he could see

the X-mas decorations that have been set up.

Jens fell and landed on his face.

(in case you were wondering what the nose injury is about)

(ouch)

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A few days later I rolled Jens to the mall near his home 

to help him get into some more X-mas spirit.

And a few days after that, I put Jens into the car to 

take him to town to see some city decorations 

from the car.

Køge

Last year, I went to the X-mas market in Køge.

It's small village about 40 minutes from Copenhagen.

For 2nd Advent Sunday, I decided to go again.

But this time I invited my friends Lars and Nasko. 

I got in my car, drove to their home to pick them up 

and off we drove out to Køge (say:  Koo)  We get off 

of the motor way, and then pulled into a parking lot just 

a short walk from the square.  I had a look of despair on my 

face and feelings of embarrassment.  Such a disappointment.  

The square was totally empty.

There was no X-mas market or anything at all with 

exception of 1 giant tree.  I was so embarrassed to

talk up such a storm about how cute and quaint the

market is and then when we get there, there is no

sign of X-mas at all other than the 1 tree.

But as it turned out, we had a very nice time.

I was with Lars and Nasko so of course we had

a good time.

1 tree and cars.  

This was supposed to be hopping

with Santa and his helpers :-(

But instead, we ended up enjoying the side streets

with decorations on shops and private homes.

 

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Police Music

Jens supports the Copenhagen Police Orkestra.

Because of his support, he gets free tickets to the concerts.

I have been giving away the tickets the last few years 

because it is just too much for him to go.  But this year

I decided to go myself and listen to a bit of live X-mas music.

I'm glad I went. It is always a pleasure to listen to their amazing talent.

----

Some time in late November, I got a mail from the

county asking if I wanted the RSV vaccine (for the lungs).

This is at the center where they administered the vax.

I waited my 15 minutes after the injection and 

then snapped these on my way out.

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Santa Lucia

On Friday the 13th, it was the Santa Lucia celebration.

Do a google search if you don't know what/who is Santa Lucia.

Or click here for a quicky.

It is always celebrated in Denmark.  

Today, among many celebrations, it was celebrated

in the nursing home.

Later that evening  Santa Lucia would be celebrated 

in lit-up kayaks.  It's a huge event in Copenhagen, So I 

knew I would have to get there early to beat the rush.

But this is what I arrived to:

I was supposed to be on the other side of the street

but there was no way that it was possible.  It was 

almost impossible to get to this part of town.  So

I figured, if everybody is here, then I may as well

turn around and walk down the pedestrian street.

In order to get to the pedestrian street, I would 

have to back track to the other side of Kongens

Nytorv - The Kings New Square.  In the middle 

of the square was an ice-skating rink.

I was sure that once I could hike my way thru and

get to the pedestrian street, it would surely be empty

of people. Wrong.  

It was cold so I needed another hot toddy to help

brighten up my holiday cheer and calm my 

disappointment of the large crowds.  I wanted a get 

a Gløgg but I didn't want to pay the high price of 

80 crowns.  I thought if I could find a place selling 

it for only 60 crowns, then it would really be a

 merry christmas.  Well..... you can imagine my

joy when I saw this:

Look at the price on the center drum - only 50 crowns.

Wow !!  Such wonderful Santa luck.

But what I didn't know was that the guy would hand 

me the cup that was about the size of a thimble.

So on I stroll along the pedestrian street being extra

cautious not to be bumped by the crowd to avoid

spilling my hot gløgg all over me. 

Balancing my cup, dodging people and snapping 

pix of X-mas decorations was a bit of a challenge.

The hearts are actually deep red 

but the camera sees it differently.

As I make my way to the next square,

Højbro Plads - High Bridge Place, where

one of the X-mas markets is located,

I take a look and ask myself: Do I really want 

to go thru the market again?  The answer?

Yes! Why? Because I notice that there is a huge

crowd standing on the bridge.  This can only mean 

one thing:  The Santa Lucia kayaks are on the way.

I quickly make my way thru the market and find

a fairly decent spot to stand for the 

soon coming Santa Lucia kayak parade. 

Soon turned into 20 minutes

20 minutes turned into 30 minutes.

30 minutes turned into 10 frozen toes.

Finally 40 minutes later, signs of the first kayaks

were approaching.  There were huge crowds 

anxiously awaiting for the joy, splendor and color

of Santa Lucia.

It was amazing.  The Santa Lucia kayaks kept 

coming and coming.  It's just a guess but I would have

to say there were about 300 kayaks.  It was worth

the freezing wait.  But now I am hungry. 

However but I don't want to stand in a long line 

for an expensive bite.  I continued on my walk looking 

for a place to grab a quick sandwich or a slice of

pizza.  Eventually I approach the next

X-mas market and I am in great luck.

I have been dying for a German X-mas sausage 

but the lines have just been too long.

But not here at this X-mas booth.

OMG - it was so delicious.  My X-mas wish at the moment

was that my parents could be here with me.  My Dad

would die and go to heaven on the first bite and my

Mom would love all the charm pouring down in abundance. 

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The next day I had a get-together planned with some

of my previous colleagues.  2 of the guys couldn't 

make it.  Tom was having surgery and Brian had to 

work.  My 2 favorite colleagues, Glen and Jens, have 

both moved onto a pharmaceutical company and Henning 

retired just before me.  But we still get together every

now and then.  Tonight we decided to go out for X-mas 

dinner and a few drinks.  It's always great to see my former 

colleagues.  They are the number 1 reason why I stayed

 in the company as long as I did.  They have been great

work colleagues and when things got really bad with

Jens, they have been a tremendous support.  

----

In the following week, I did something really adventurous

for the holidays.  I took a train ride to the other side of 

Denmark.  I went to the 2nd largest city called Aarhus.

My plan was to go the The Old Town and then on the 

following day I would go to a museum.

I had to take the metro to catch the train.

The clock in the metro station is crazy.

I always love walking thru the massive and heavy

train station. There is always something to look at.

The train will be here in just a moment.

My ticket is for seat 41 in car 71.

Somewhere along the way, I notice the moon is out.

Eventually the under-sea tunnel leads the train

back to ground level but then the we run out

of ground and have to continue by bridge over

the sea.

3 hours later, I find my senses are enjoying a new 

train station... new for me that is.

There is a to-your-right exit and a to-your-left exit.

To the right took me by surprise.  It was a huge shopping

mall.  But I went to the left, crossed the street and found

myself on a wonderfully decorated pedestrian street.

After a bit of walking around town, I made my way 

to the major street where my hotel was located.

It's just a 2 minute walk away from the pedestrian street.

I checked in.  My hotel was Radisson Red.  Here is

the link if you want to see some of the swanky photos.

I chose this place because I liked the idea of the rooms

facing the lobby.  Different and interesting.  

Right after dropping off my bag, I walked to Old Town.

It's just an 11-minute walk.

There is a river right thru Aarhus.  Once you cross that,

you come to Den Gamle By - The Old Town.

It's not a very easy website to navigate but this is

what is says: 

Embark on a fascinating time journey through 400 years of Danish history.

The site is in English if you click on the little globe in

the upper right-hand corner of the screen. But shortly

told, it is an out-door museum of a collection of buildings

from around the country all the way back as far as the 

1500s.  They have all been moved here and preserved.

I thought it would be heavily decorated like Tivoli but it

was very sparse on the decoration.  That's because they

try to keep the place as authentic as possible and way back

in the 1500s,1600s and so on, there was no electricity and no

electric strands of lights made in China - obviously.

This was a tent that was set up to enjoy X-mas

refreshments that you could by.  I got X-mas

gløgg of course.

So several of the centuries old homes had set ups

of what x-mas may have looked like at the time.

Most early decorations were made of colored paper.

Here is an old wood burning stove with a coper

kettle of gløgg and fresh made æbleskiver. 

This is a real old green house from the 1500s and 

inside were real plants in X-mas style that you could

buy and take home with you.

I snapped these for my sister but she doesn't read

my blog.  Who does?

I enjoyed this next one.  It makes you laugh at the 

word play.  Gran - meaning great or pine.

Notice the sign - Gran Hotel

Here come Santa Clause riding down Santa Clause Lane ;-)

Moving into more modern times.

They had a lot of set up apartments from the 50s to the 70s.

It was just like walking into Jens' parent's home.

Here is one of the several vids I took.

I stayed very late at the museum into the dark.  I was

one of the last to leave the museum.  It was 5:15 and black.

So back to the modern day town of 2024.  I soaked up

anything X-masy.  For example, I passed this in-door

 X-mas market. You say you don't want anything

tacky from China?  Get it here.  Everything is 

hand-made with love.

The town hall square of Aarhus.  The tower of the city 

is iconic but I personally find it containing a 

very high level of eew with a heavy sprinkle of yuck.

More from the pedestrian street.

Then it was dinner time.

I ordered a tradional Danish duck X-mas dinner.

After dinner I head back to my hotel.

I have to pass the town hall square.

Here I snap a photo of the tree with the colorful 

roof top of the AROS museum in the background.

Tomorrow I will go to the museum.

A very way cool museum but nothing X-masy about it

other than the one tree on one of the entrance floor.

So this will be the only photo of the museum on this blog.

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After the museum, I continued
to walk around town

looking for anything X-mas and food.

I always find it amazing when a river

flows right through the center of town.

The cathedral.

 

I found a really cute place to eat.

Great food and service.

Later that evening, I snapped a photo from the front.

I'm on the far end of town.  I still have plenty of time

to look around and shop - I bought a much needed new jacket.

St. Paul's Church

And then it was time to hit up the train station.

Departure is at 18:15/6:15pm

As I am on the train, I enjoy my little snack and try

to review in my mind all the X-mas trees I have seen 

until now.  Nope - I never get tired of lovely pine

trees covered in colorful lights and decorations which

makes every tree, a one of a kind tree.

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The day after I came back to Copenhagen, 

a good friend Anne invited me to Tivoli.

And I invited her to dinner.

Tivoli is now 180 years old and it looks as 

fresh as ever.  There is always something 

new to enjoy in the gardens from 1843.  

At X-mas, Tivoli is extra charming.

Anne ordered the traditional duck.

I ordered the traditional pork.

And we both devoured the traditional

ris a la mande with cherry sauce.

The restaurant is such a cozy charming spot in the gardens.

With a giant tree growing right in the middle of it.

After eating we took a stroll to admire all the 

X-mas magic with lights and decorations.

Then Anne wanted to show me the latest

dessert place.  2 cups of hot milk, chocolate

balls and a glass cup of whipped cream.

The idea is to make your own hot chocolate.

We shared a super rich slice of double chocolate

raspberry cake.

Eventually it was time to head back to the main

entrance gate.

On my way home now.  From the metro, I have to 

walk on the pedestrian/bicycle bridge over the harbor. 

 The Moon was rising.

On the bridge was this x-mas wish list:

At the end of the video, just right of the center, is

where I live in that cluster of x-mas lights.

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We have now reached the Grand Finale.

In Denmark the main celebration is

always on the 24th.

All the residents in the nursing home 

were either too sick to come to the table 

or their family came to pick them up.

We were a total of 4 residents plus

the one and only employee and 

I having x-mas dinner at the table.

I put a lot into my Christmas this year and I got

a lot out of it.  I hope your holidays were filled with 

lots of love and joy and that Santa fulfilled his 

duties to deliver the gifts on your wish list.

Now.............

on to the new year.

May 2025 bring you lots of love, joy, 

good luck, and good health.