We ︎♥︎ Copenhagen (and Pølser - duh)

Denmark. Twice this year. Yes! There was a relevant (I think?) conference for Andrew in Copenhagen in July, with the added bonus of seeing old friends. Pack your bags, we were off to Denmark again. It felt a bit like coming home. 

Andrew was there for the week and I joined him for the weekend. I got in Friday evening and we met Scott, Nancy, and Chris for dinner at a street food market I had read about. Starving, the first thing on my agenda was a pølser. Luckily there was a pølsevogn right as we walked in. Done. Not nearly sated, Chris and I did a lap to check out all of the other food. Andrew loved this place because you can buy a bucket with ice and beer in it to carry around. After dinner we sat outside on the water as the sun went down, but I was so tired from traveling all day that I fell asleep just about as soon as we sat down. Luckily we had all day on Saturday to spend with them, too - hitting the National Museum and enjoying a nice dinner on Nyhavn. (I also snuck in another pølser mid-day at some point.) 

 

They were gone by Sunday, and Andrew and I took the train out to Helsingør to explore Kronborg Slot (castle). Most people know of it from Hamlet - Shakespeare used it as the inspiration for Elsinor Castle. We got off of the train and, believe it or not, walked by a pølsevogn. When in Rome...

The castle is located at the point where Denmark is the shortest distance from Sweden, and at one time that land belonged to Denmark, too. The position allowed Denmark to impose tolls on any ship passing through and Helsingør was once one of the most important towns in northern Europe. We took a short, but excellent, tour of the castle before wandering the grounds on our own. The best part was going down below the castle into the crypts in total darkness. I don't know why they allow people down there, because there is no light and no guards and no signs directing people where to go or how to get out. As unsafe as it was, it was just as fun popping out and scaring Andrew. He's a better spouse than I, because he didn't return that favor. 

We spent Monday morning on the Strøget before we needed to head to the airport. As usual, a wonderful weekend away in one of our favorite cities.

See you later, Denmark! (We know we'll be back.)

More photos on flickr.

Closer to America than we've been since last October

The 12th of July in Belfast is like the 4th of July in America (even better: you get two whole days off of work!), except that it's not fun for half of the population. The loyalists are celebrating the Battle of the Boyne and the republicans are getting the hell out of town. We joined some Irish friends for a long weekend in Donegal instead of sticking around for the marches and bonfires. We had a bonfire of a different sort two hours away and roasted a goat over it. Yum.

Tom and Beatrice invited us along with them and a few other friends and we spent the weekend in the wild Irish countryside. It was great. Tom had procured a goat from a local butcher and, after marinating it in the bathtub overnight, it was ready to go on the spit on Saturday morning for a day of roasting. All day long (through a lot of rain) we watched and waited, turning the spit, basting, salivating. It was ready to go as the sun was going down (which is quite late here in N. Ireland in the summertime), but worth the wait. We ate as much as we possibly could that night. And the night after. And the night after. And we still have a lot of goat in our freezer. If you are wondering what goat tastes like (it's great - between beef and lamb!), just come for a visit and we'll share some.

On Sunday and Monday we took a drive to two different breathtakingly beautiful beaches each day and Andrew went swimming in the freezing cold Atlantic Ocean at both. We were closer to home than we had been since last fall and if we squinted really hard we thought we could see the shores of America. Almost. 

I, too, took a dip, but only after putting on Tom's wetsuit. (Which I actually put on backward, but oh well, that's not really important.) Also, my hands and feet were pretty cold after about two minutes so I didn't last. Andrew's a champ - or he's insane. 

More of our weekend on flickr.

In which we almost meet the Queen

We were thrilled that Marisa and Dave decided to vacation in the British Isles in June. We met them in London for their first weekend, and then they finished their trip with some time in Belfast before we all went down to Dublin and they flew home.

We met for dinner on Friday night and, after a quick jaunt through the Tate Modern, found our beds. They were ready to go again relatively early on Saturday morning (only God knows how) and we went to the Borough Street Market and stuffed ourselves first off. From there we moved on to the major sights: Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey to name a few.

No trip to London is complete without a visit to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard, but we, completely and utterly oblivious, bumped into the Queen. The Brits sure do love their queen; apparently if her birthday doesn't fall in the summer (it's in April), then she gets a summer birthday party nonetheless. It's officially called Trooping the Colour. Long story short, we went to see the guards move around a little bit, and within an hour we were about 20 feet from the Queen Mother, Kate, and Prince Hotty. I mean Harry. Not a bad morning's work.

In Dublin we checked out the Book of Kells at Trinity College and did the Guinness tour one more time. Andrew and I also found the smallest bar in Dublin. Not kidding. It really is the smallest bar in Dublin. It felt like we were in someone's basement in the '80s with a terrible home bar. Obviously the best part of this visit was getting to see Marisa and Dave (and you can see more of the trip on flickr).

A barnedåb for two

We made a triumphant return to Aalborg at the end of May. Our second visit, in fact, since we moved two and a half years ago. I honestly can't believe it's been that long, but when you think about it, little Finley was born as we were leaving and he's now about 2.5. Finley, big brother to our two newest little godchildren (ish). A few months back, Owen & Anne-Marie asked us to come to Aalborg for a barnedåb and serve as fadderbrev to the twins, Eluf and Harald. The word translates more roughly to "sponsor" than godparent, but we stood on an altar at a church and agreed to something of the sort (it was in Danish). We couldn't believe they would ask us, but it is such an honor.

  

By sheer chance (and kismet), this was the same weekend as Karnival. Karnival being the huge city-wide, party/parade that Aalborg hosts every year in May. Karnival being the very same party/parade that woke us up on our first morning in Aalborg in 2011. It was such an amazing weekend to come back, full of great memories. We walked around town and reminisced, ate some ristet pølser from our favorite wagon, visited some of our old haunts, ate some more ristet pølser from our favorite wagon, checked out what was new since we had moved, and then ate some ristet pølser from our favorite wagon again. We also went to our old grocery store to see if they still had the cheese we used to get and considered bringing some back. (We decided we couldn't.) Not surprisingly, we also found time to eat some amazing Danish pastry, too. All the sights and more photos are on flickr.

Denmark may just be my favorite country to visit. I'm looking forward to our next one, which is coming up shortly. See you in July, Copenhagen!

Barcelona: la segunda visita

Dave and Deb Stone were in Europe in early May, so we met up with them in Barcelona for a long weekend. It's always great when someone we know is on the same continent as we are - if nothing else, it's an excuse to get out of town. Unfortunately Deb was a bit under the weather that weekend, but we did get to spend time with Dave and get some heat. It was sunny both days and almost hit 80°! You can imagine how wonderful this was, as everyone says it was the worst spring on record here in Belfast and summer is proving to be just as bad (if you can even call this summer). 

It was a weekend of gluttony (as our vacations inevitably are). About 20 feet from our apartment was one of the best bakeries I've ever been to (Fork de Pa - as pictured below). We stopped there every morning and the pastries were better than anywhere else. I also got some churros at some point (obligatory on a trip to Spain, I think). And the cava was flowing.

 

We had wanted to ride the Funicular de Montjuïc last year, but the two-hour wait deterred us. This time around we got in line before it was open and ended up waiting only about 45 minutes... lucky us. The wait was worth it, though, because riding the funicular was pretty cool. It was a short trip and a bit scary when it actually took off, but getting to the top was amazing, especially because some of the best croquettes we've ever eaten were waiting. We explored Montjuïc Castle, an old military fortress, for several hours before heading down and meeting Dave for a late lunch. Later that night we met Dave and Deb for dinner at a restaurant that burned us the night before when it was booked and I was hangry. (That's not a typo. Hungry + angry = hangry.)

 

On Sunday we rented bikes and thought we would bike up to Park Güell. If you want a tip, don't try to bike up to Park Güell. This park is on top of a hill and they actually have a funicular and outdoor escalators for people to get up it. Thanks for nothing, Lady Who Rented Us Bikes - we told her our plan and she said nothing of the lunacy of it. Anyway, after a seriously awful trek up (which started with biking but ended with me very angry and pushing my bike), we did find a back entrance. However, we were so tired and annoyed by that time we ended up leaving after about ten minutes. We'll explore the park next time. The trip back down (blissfully all down hill) wasn't half bad, though. We met Dave on the beach after that and got some of the seafood we'd been craving. Also, we spotted another cousin David lookalike. A real rarity.

We rounded out our short vacation with a trip to Can Paixano on Monday, now our favorite spot to hit when we're in town. The cava is €1 a glass with the stipulation that food must be purchased. Delicious, cheap, wonderful food. Done. More photos on flickr.

¡Feliz Año!

Fresh off the boat from Luxembourg, we stopped home just in time to say hello to the cats before turning right back around to the airport. Uncle Bob and Barb are spending the month of January in Spain and invited us along for a few days at the beginning of their trip, so we met them in Madrid to ring in the new year.

Andrew's taking over for the rest of this:

Bob and Barb were meant to call us first thing after landing on New Year's day, but when we didn't hear from them, we figured their flight was delayed and that we had time for a trip to the supermercado. Luckily, it was a quick trip, because we returned to the apartment to find them waiting at the front door, looking panicked. It turns out dialing international numbers can be a bit tricky. We spent our first day together walking to el centro de Madrid, including La Latina -- the old town.

Just off Plaza Mayor we found a purveyor of "el mejor churros del mundo" (which was, sadly, a gross exaggeration). The slow service allowed our newly arrived companions time enough for a quick snooze.

We walked home that night through a very dark, but surprisingly populous, Parque del Retiro, which is located near our apartment and also where we began the day on Friday.

We emerged from el parque on Friday just behind El Prado, with pangs of hunger and a bit of thirst. After admiring the baroque door of San Jerónimo el Real, we stopped for a bite and a caña (draft beer). After a bit more wandering, we rendezvoused with our companions (after we had parted in pursuit of separate meal plans) at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza for a chronological stroll through art history.

Saturday we were off to an early and frigidly cold start on not-quite-the-first (but near enough) train to Toledo. The town was stunning; particular highlights included the cathedral (Santa Iglesia Catedral Primada Toledo), the excellent meal at Restaurante Locum, the incredible views, and the absurdity of staffing the ticket office of a museum that was closed until February (thanks for nothing, Museo de Santa Cruz!). We also met Pollock's (much more active) Spanish cousin, El Pollocko.

We came back from Toledo in the afternoon, just in time to get a quick visit to the Reina Sofia, the museum where Guernica lives. We toured El Prado on Sunday before strolling down the Gran Vía and ending up at the palace. We arrived too late to get in, so it's on our to-do list for our next visit. We're excited to get back at some point again!  (More photos on flickr.)

Passengers Kennedy & Hamilton. This is the last call for your flight to Luxembourg. Please proceed to your gate immediately.

We were sitting in Schiphol, agreeing that it was one of the nicest airports we travel in, enjoying a drink or two before our connecting flight to Luxembourg, when Andrew looked very panicked. "They're paging us!" For the second time in our lives, we sprinted through Schiphol in an attempt to catch a flight.

Rest assured, we made it. KLM is possibly the nicest airline ever, with the nicest employees. They very generously called a bus to take us to the plane all by ourselves, and we even got to sit in the nicer seats so as not to disturb all the timely passengers who were ready to go when they should have been. This was an excellent start to a truly wonderful Christmas, made even better upon landing in Luxembourg with Sara waiting.

On Christmas Eve, we spent some time in Luxembourg City, ice skating and going to a Christmas market. Andrew was the fastest skater, Julia was the cutest, and I was the grumpiest. We got to ride a giant ferris wheel at the market, ate some lunch, and indulged in a bit of mulled wine.

Christmas morning was wonderful. Santa spoiled us all, but everyone except Julia was left wanting a My Little Pony or Frozen gift - it seems none were left for the rest of us.

We went chateau-ing on Boxing Day - three in one day, oh my!

Next stop Mount Everest

Our last day in Luxembourg dawned snowy and cold. I was glad to get a bit of snow for Christmas and I was pretty lucky to have a pal who wanted to play in it with me. Andrew and Paul went out cross-country skiing for a few hours before we had to pack in it and head back to Belfast. We were seriously sad to leave, as it was a really incredible trip. Check out more of it on flickr.