Juletid in Aalborg

Christmas has taken over Aalborg since October - as neither Halloween nor Thanksgiving really exist here, the Danes start decorating very early. The streets are all decked out with Christmas trees and lights, and one of the biggest Christmas traditions is the town's outdoor Christmas market. Almost every town (it seems) has their own market that is set up through the holiday season (Advent through Christmas). There are plenty of stalls full of people selling food and Christmas presents, and there are even rides for the kids. 

 

In addition to the town market, there is also an indoor Christmas market in Nordkraft, the cultural building about two minutes from our apartment (it houses an indie movie theater, restaurants, a climbing wall, and the tourist center, among other things - be warned, though, the Indian restaurant there is terrible!). The indoor market is infinitely better than the outdoor one - we got some delicious apple cider and bacon there a few weeks ago, but have yet to buy anything from the outdoor one. One of the best parts of the indoor market has got to be the man riding around on an absurd bicycle, though:

Lastly, one of Aalborg's best Christmas festivities is the train (actually a bus that is decorated to look like a train) that runs around the city during the season. I've never seen anyone but children riding, but it looks like a good way to get around the city...

Happy Holidays!

Since we're living out of the country this year, Andrew and I won't be mailing any Christmas/holiday cards. This will have to do instead:

(The background is from a photo I took in Luxembourg.)

An American Thanksgiving in Luxembourg

Andrew is in Copenhagen for a few days this week, giving me some alone-time to finally post about our best trip yet: an American Thanksgiving in Luxembourg with family (Andrew's cousin Sara lives there with her husband, Paul, and daughter, Julia; and his Aunt Janet and Uncle Dick were visiting from Buffalo, NY)! We arrived in Luxembourg on the night before Thanksgiving, and I can't begin to explain how nice it was to get there and have family waiting for us. Thanksgiving day was spent cooking and eating (and eating and more eating) some very delicious food! Hats off in particular to Uncle Dick's stuffing:

On Friday, we went into Luxembourg City where we visited their Christmas market and tried some traditional Glühwein (warm, mulled wine). We also went to an art museum and found some dinner at an American restaurant (who knew that Chi Chi's had locations abroad?!). We hit another Christmas market on Saturday, this time heading across the border to Trier, Germany.

On Sunday we got a tour of Paul's office and lab, and spent a little more time in Luxembourg City before flying back to Aalborg that night. It was a bit hard to leave, as we had such a wonderful time with everyone. We really hope to get back to Luxembourg at some point before we leave Denmark. More photos of our trip are on our flickr page.

Our next big trip is in just a few weeks: the Canary Islands for Christmas! We can't wait to get some sun and warm weather!