I know what you're thinking. Claire, why is this blog titled Christmas in Copenhagen? You've mixed up your holidays....
YES, it's St. Patrick's Day. Buuuut, I just got home from an evening with my host family where we enjoyed a traditional Danish Christmas dinner! My visiting host family loves to share everything about Danish culture with me so every time I go to their house they prepare a traditional Danish meal.
First, I met them at the station this afternoon and we went on a hunt for two of Copenhagen's forgotten giants. I've been wanting to go giant hunting for quite some time, and since my host family lives in a suburb of Copenhagen, two of the giants are relatively close to their home.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Copenhagen's giants, they are six huge sculptures made of recycled woods spread throughout Copenhagen's suburbs. The artist created them to inspire people to get out and enjoy nature while exploring off the beaten track areas of Copenhagen.
After that, we went home to prepare dinner and enjoyed some tea and conversation (a.k.a. ~hygge~ time). The Christmas dinner consisted of pork, pickled red cabbage, green beans, potatoes and gravy. For dessert we had risalamande (rice pudding) with cherry sauce. According to Danish tradition, a single whole almond is put in one of the dessert bowls and the person who finds the almond wins a little present. My host brother Frederik found the almond but gave me the gift to bring home and share with everyone in my apartment :) It was a little box of Danish chocolate mint patties (so good!!)
Spending time with my visiting host family always puts me in the best mood. It was a lovely Sunday!
So, Merry Christmas I guess! Or Happy St. Patrick's Day? Or maybe just cheers for celebrating holidays!