Vrolyk Kerstfeest, Gladelig Jul, God Jul!

~ It all comes down to Merry Christmas, no matter which language you are speaking. Traveling in Northern Europe during the Christmas season was, above all, cold, but bright with the lights of December. The clamor of the Christmas markets and the smells that seeped out into the streets made me forget about not being home, but just for a while. Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Lund, and London, 4 cities in 4 countries.

Vin chaud et stupéfiants...



On the left we see Tristan, smiling (from the hot wine or other substances), then Pauline, glowing (a couple of cups of hot wine already finished), Jake (going to work on yet another cup) and finally, there I am (happy just to be there, AND happy to be drinking hot wine with friends while wandering the Christmas markets of Amsterdam).

Great Danes (not the dogs)...



Ah Denmark. I have to refute the rather celebrated claim that "Denmark is a prison." Sorry, Hamlet. The people that I encountered on the streets and in the cafés of Copenhagen were remarkably warm and helpful. There was no sense of desperate urgency or impatience in the streets, despite a rapidly-approaching December 25th. Regularly, after wandering the canals I would duck into quaint cafés such as Café Wilder and Bogcafeen, yes a book café. Also, I ate my fill regularly of herring and smorgasborg and indulged in Danish pastries. My preferred European capital after Paris, Copenhagen amazed me with all of the above. Its people welcomed me in from the cold, and there I found my grandmother's Danish features smiling at me from everywhere.