God Weekend

I had a fun weekend. It was great to spend time with friends and enjoying the last of the good weather ! Friday I went to my coworker, Cheyenne's, birthday party at her apartment in Nørrebro. It was nice and good to spend some time with all of my coworkers outside of the DIS environment. After a couple hours, Olivia and I left to go to a party, at my old dorm - Frankrigsgade Kollegiet. My friends, Jacob and Anders, were hosting the party and djing. There was a jungle theme and I was especially impressed when Anders told me he carried all of the decorations home on his bike !!

I hadn't been grocery shopping since before I left for Germany and literally had NO FOOD, so I took the time on Saturday morning to go to the grocery store. One of the things I had been wanting to make for a while was my own muesli - basically granola that you eat with yogurt. The store bought types that claim to have fruit or nuts in them actually have 95% oats 4% nuts and 1% fruit, so I decided to buy my own ingredients and add extras of my favorite parts. The combination I made had oats, raisins, craisins, cashews, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds. I've been mixing it with plain yogurt and honey and its so good !!

The next day I met up for a fun afternoon with a my friend, Stefanie. Our final destination was 'The 2nd Annual Chili Cookoff', in Amager, which my coworker, Joe, had been raving about all week. On our way over there we stopped at Chrisitiania. After sitting by the lake, we got coffee at a small cafe in there, then made our way to the cookoff. When we arrived, I realized what I had pictured in my head had been way off ! For some reason I was imagining it would be a huge festival with hundreds of people, but really it was a small gathering where people from the local community could showcase their chili making talents. There were probably 12 people there, but they all seemed to be having a great time and really enjoying the chili - it was all gone !! It was cool though, they had developed a ranking system and were voting on each chili to ultimately decide who's was best ! I will ask Joe how it turned out.

Today, I took a bike trip with some friends from work, to the suburb Klampenborg, about 12 km outside of the city. Michael, a sweet old man from the accounting department at DIS, sent out an email on Friday suggesting us to go visit Dyrehaven - Deer park - where deers roam freely around the park and you can walk or bike throughout the trails. Besides the amazing fall weather, it was also perfect timing for a visit because its DEER MATING SEASON !!! woohoo !

We saw and heard massive elks persuing the deer. Their mating calls sound unworldly and could be described as a very loud and bellowing burp. Not gonna lie, there were a few times that I was a little bit scared !! There was nothing to prevent them from just charging at us or anyone of the other 100's of families that were all around, but luckily that didn't happen. We had a lovely time biking along the water on the way to the park, and then enjoying some salad, fruit and cake and biking around while we were there.

It was a fun and relaxing weekend :) Next week I'm looking forward a visit from my friend Mathew. We met at Fordham, but now he lives in Miami and decided spontaneously to come for a visit ! I can't wait to see him and introduce him to Copenhagen !

Return to Munich !

I wanted to visit my friend Markus in his home city of Munich, and I decided Oktoberfest would be the perfect time to go ! I was there Sunday - Wednesday and had such a good time. Besides going to the festival we walked around the city, did some shopping, went to a bunch of different cafes, went to the Deutsche Museum, saw Midnight in Paris, and just relaxed.

my first lunch : pumpkin soup - so good on a cold and rainy day !

the Deutsches Museum is full of new and old German technology and innovations

we stopped in an outdoor sporting goods store called Globetrotter. It was 4 floors and had a rain and ice chamber you could enter to test out jackets. In the basement there was a small pool where you could also test out kayaks and canoes.

our friend Benedetta wanted to go shopping for a drindl - the traditional dress that women wear during Oktoberfest - so we went shopping to a few different stores before finding the perfect one for her. I saw this hat in one of the stores.

we stopped in a candy store that sold only gummies to get a snack for the movie theater, and even they were playing along with the Oktoberfest theme
Oktoberfest at night. I didn't know it before I visited, but Oktoberfest is really a huge carnival with rollercoatsters, games, and performances, in addition to the main event of beer drinking.

Markus, Benedetta, and me inside one of the tents at the festival.

you know you're on vacation when this is what you're eating for breakfast ! apple strudel with ice cream !

Homemade Hindbærsnitter

I decided to make hindbærsnitter after enjoying it so much last weekend. I made them to bring to Markus, my German friend, and host for Oktoberfest. I found the recipe on a Danish cake blog called Gateau Mistress.

After a Saturday afternoon yoga class, I leisurely biked around Vesterbro stopping at Føtex (like Target) and Netto (supermarket) getting everything I needed to make the recipe. I finally bought my own scale to weigh ingredients while baking. It was an investment, but I am really happy to finally own one. The next thing I bake will be buns :)

RIP DJ Mehdi

I heard some very sad news today - one of my absolute favorite DJ's, Mehdi, passed away today, on his 34th birthday. He was killed in tragic accident that involved the roof of his apartment caving in while he and some other friends were on top of it. He was such a great DJ and had the most positive energy out of any performer I have ever seen. He was always smiling and dancing while he played and just seemed so down to earth. I am so glad I got to see him 2 times in the last year, and the last time I saw him, in Miami, I was lucky enough to run into him outside of the club when the show was over. Even though I made a fool out of myself by saying "Mehdi !! Hiiii ! I feel like I know you !" I don't regret it.

This is a video I took the first time I saw Mehdi Copenhagen in January, 2011.

RIP

Treat Break

So amid a long day of shopping, Olivia and I decided it was time for a treat break. We stopped and to get coffee and a pastries. I had a kaffe latte and she had an Americano, and then we both had a 'hindbær snitter' which is pretty much a gourmet pop tart ! It is fresh raspberry jam between two shortbread layers with icing and sprinkles on top ! Yum :)

Potato Omelet

I had some ingredients in the refrigerator that I had to use up so I decided to make a potato omelet for dinner.

First I washed and boiled the mini potatoes for 10 minutes. Then I sliced them into quarter inch slices and tossed them with olive oil and a spice mixture. Meanwhile, I heated a frying pan on the stove on medium heat. I dumped the potatoes in the pan and continued to cook them for about 4 more minutes.


Then I whisked together 6 eggs and dumped them on top of the potatoes.

I turned the heat of the pan down to lowish and let the ingredients cook together for 15 minutes. When I came back to the pan I checked the bottom and maybe I let it cook a bit to long, but it was still okay. I put a large round plate on top of the pan and flipped the omelet on to the plate. Then I slid it back into the pan to cook the bottom for 3 more minutes.


It tasted pretty good and was a good way to use up ingredients so that they didn't go to waste !

Spontaneity

So it was 11:30 pm on Thursday night and I was already in my bed, under the covers, just relaxing and getting ready to go to sleep, when my night took a sudden turn. I 'liked' a music video, from the Australian DJ Duo : Flight Facilities, on my friend Steffen's facebook, and two minutes later I get a message from him saying 'Well, they're playing at Rust tonight'. Rust is a club, in Nørrebro that is a 5 minute bike ride from my apartment. And so I responded, 'well let's go !' At first I was half joking, but then he responded 'yes!' so I got out of bed, got dressed, made a strong cup of coffee, and left my apartment at like 12:15.

the video that inspired the night

We met up there and ended up having a great night ! The music was so good - really groovy. Disco electro. We had so much fun dancing, drinking jager shots and beers, and making fun of the 'baby strippers' aka 16 year old girls dancing on stage begging for the photographers to take their picture. It was such a great night and I'm so glad I went out because why not !

I took this picture on my cellphone, and it happened to be perfectly timed with the flash of one of the professional photographer's flashes, which is why you can actually see the DJs !

Roasted Veggtable Pitas

I was feeling so inspired about healthy eating after my first yoga class at Fitness World, that on the way home I stopped at Fakta and stocked up on tons of fresh veggies, low fat greek yogurt, flower honey, chickpeas, and whole wheat pitas and pasta.

When I got home I wanted to make some veggie pitas. I roasted slices of eggplant in the oven for 40 minutes, slow cooked a purple onion on the stove for about 30 minutes, sautteed some mushrooms and wilted some spinach.

fixins

final product

I also made some homemade tzaiki sauce and it was so easy to make ! I grated 4 inches of a cucumber on a cheese grater, and then mixed the shavings into 1 cup of greek yogurt and then squeezed half a lemon into it. And thats it !

sauce - eazy peezy

Regnbue

the most beautiful sight on my way to Danish class

Art and Design Workshop

I stopped by this shop with my coworker, Joe, because he needed help picking out gifts for his mom and sister. It is a marketplace for local artists and crafters to sell their work. I didn't buy anything this time but I will definitely be back. Here are a few things I especially liked.

hand painted earrings

these are what Joe ended up getting for his mom because she works with kids and LEGOS are Danish ! so appropriate

I want this

I like the colorful bead bracelet and the egg accessories, but the pig head and rear rings at bottom were just so bizarre

NIMB

Me and my IT coworkers didn't know if it was a trick or a trap when our boss, Mads, said that we were leaving work half an hour early to go out together for after work drinks, and we certainly didn't expect him to take us out to one of the nicest and most luxurious places in the city.


We went to a place called Nimb, which is a bar/lounge, wine cellar, restaurant and hotel, right next to Tivioli Gardens in downtown Copenhagen. The menu had a variety of cocktails, but I decided to play it safe with a glass of red wine. My coworker, Andreas, decided to go exotic though and ordered the Beeknacker - or something like that. Everyone thought it was so funny when the drinks came out and his ended up being the pink one with raspberry on top :P


For a snack they gave us homemade chips, which were spicy and delicious. It was so nice of Mads to take us out as a thanks for our hard work during the first few weeks of the semester. Again, I love my department, job, and life.

Fantastisk Weekend ! Tak DIS !

I had such a great weekend and it was completely sponsored by DIS. My job is seriously amazing. It started after work on Friday when we had our all staff social. It was such a nice time and was a great way to spend time with my co workers in a more relaxed setting, especially because things have been so hectic around the house (everyone at DIS refers to the building/work environment as the house...I think its so cute).

We started with a small picnic in Kongens Have (King's Gardren) with drinks and snacks just waiting for everyone to get off work. It was a such a nice day and was really a great time. Me and a few of my fellow interns tossed around a frisbee for a while while enjoying some Carlsbergs.

cozy picnic

Then we moved onto the restaurant where we would enjoy a lovely 3 course meal and a cozy evening with all the full time staff. It was such a great meal and really a fun time with all of my collegues.

pre dinner champagne

appetizer : potatoes topped with rye bread crumbs, sour cream, and alfalfa sprouts

they of course kept the wine flowing throughout the night

main course : white fish with peas, mushrooms, cauliflower, and greens

good looking table :)

dessert : chocolate souffle with warm fudge sauce inside with vanilla ice cream and caramel on the side

The next day I had to be up at 6:00 because I was was leading my first study tour ! It was really acutally an overnight adventure trip to Sweden, hiking and canoeing. The whole time me and Burke, one of my co workers, kept saying 'I can't believe this is our job'. We were getting paid to have such a great time and yeah we were responsible for ensuring the students had a good time too, that wasn't very hard because all of the activities were so great. We canoed, hiked to Nimis, had a BBQ and campfire, repelled down cliffs, orienteered through a nature reserve, and finished the trip at the same sweet little garden café I had been to back in August where we got vanilla custard hearts and cake :)

these ducks came right up to our canoe because they thought we had food, when I was getting my camera out they were so happy and excited that I was going to feed them, but once the realized what was actually going on, they completely lost interest in us and swam away

Nimis - the Latin word for 'too much' - is located in a nature reserve on a small beach in Sweden. It takes about a 45 minute hike to get to, so it is pretty secluded, and the Swedish government didn't even know it existed until it had already been there for 2 years. In this day, it is not supported or acknowledged by the Swedish government. My guess is because they do not want to be held at all liable for it. It is an interactive sculpture that has been under construction for the past 27 years. It is made out of drift wood, and is completely interactive, so visitors can climp on and inside of it. Its pretty much like a wooden jungle gym that even adults can play on.

me in front of the 25 meter cliff I repelled off of :)

We were really lucky and the artist happened to be there working on it during our visit.

Tak for godt weekend DIS :D