Live from Cop15

If you want to take a break from the Christmas crazyness, right now the festival Hopenhagen is happening on the Square of the City Hall.


A giant sphere is placed in the middle of the square to project environmental awareness campaign.


I love the geant McDonalds sign on top of the Hopenhagen ad!!


A first: the Christmas tree is human powered. Indeed, a dozen bicycles are available for the braves who can warm up and immediately see the results of their efforts because each bike lights its own garland ... Tiring but rewarding!


They even have what it takes to celebrate a green Christmas ... at the Christmas workshop.


A nice Hopenhagen bike ... used to transport materials including leaflets (hopefully printed on recycled paper)

A l'intérieur d'un des pavillons, une exposition retracant les idées écologiques de plusieurs grandes métropoles: abris de bus solaires, gestion des déchets, transports verts, ...

Inside one of the pavilions, you can find an exhibition showing the green ideas of several major cities: solar bus shelters, waste management, green transportation system, ...

And of course, the most important because we are still in Denmark, the beer supplies! You wouldn't want to be short of those during the 2 weeks of Cop15- Is that really environmental friendly? ...

Sainte Lucie (luciadag)

Santa Lucia is celebrated on December 13th and in southern Sweden and Denmark (at least around here), this festival is not quite like any other. Indeed, tradition dictates that girls dress in white and sing (more or less nicely) the "Song of Lucy". One of them (most often one that has the most Facebook friends :-) has the right to personify the saint and wear a crown of candles.
Lucia was a sicilian martyr, so every modern Lucia has the chance to share his suffering thanks to the hot wax dripping from the crown ... For less barbaric people, there are electric candles.
We had the opportunity to attend a parade in Tivoli last year, we hoped that the girls had a wool tee-shirt under their white dress! At least, we could warm up with a good æblegløgg!

Christmas trees everywhere

In Denmark, each institution must have a tree. Starting with the municipality which probably has the biggest on the City Hall square. The Christmas tree is traditionnaly decorated with traditional hearts representing donations to charity (and pretty lights at night).

The DSB (local train company) also set up its tree in the central station. The ignition usually takes place with the exclusive presence of Father Christmas and Harry, the mascot of the company. All accompanied by the DSB orchestra!

Christmas markets

Don't forget to visit the Christmas market in Nyhavn, it's very pleasant to stroll along the port (both day and night), admiring the art and craft stands. You can also watch the courageous people sitting on the bar terraces drinking their glögg, huddled under thick blankets and eating æbleskivers.

Hurry up it is open only until the 22nd of December.

Kalenderlys

Christmas is really close now!!
To be sure not to miss it (as if!), the Danes use a kalenderlys, ie a "calendar light". You can find them in all sizes and all colors and here everyone has to have one!
For the first time this year, DanskViking does no exception to the tradition! We chose a model not too huge, with designs not too silly (we escaped the angels) but local: Hearts of Christmas (Julehjerter), Danish flags, small conical baskets (they replace the socks around here), drums and stars .

Okay, I have to admit we have passed on the crown of leaves and small decorations that should - normally - dress the foot of the candle ...
In the end we realize that just having to think to light the candle every day is already a big effort!
So today, live, the candle looks like this:

We have not even cheated!

Julehjerter

One of the main symbols of Christmas in Denmark is the Julehjerte. It is a woven paper heart, red and white in general (the mandatory colors of a worthy Danish celebration). This forms a small pocket in which you can place small gifts such as a cake or candy. They are found everywhere: in houses decorations, in shops, on the Christmas themed stamps, the trees.... We even found a book of models: 150 different all more complex than the previous one.
If you are bored during the Christmas holidays, you can find below the explanation for the basic model. You must cut one of each color, then we'll let you guess how to weave! Good luck!
Don't hesitate to send us links to your creations...

Here is our first try, not too bad for beginners!

Sorry for the french version, but I am sure this is quite self explanatory!
Plier means fold
Rayon R: radius R
Longueur 4*R: length 4*R

Strange little nisser

Here is a funny Danish Christmas tradition: the Nisser (sort of little elf): small creature living in barns or attics. If you do not offer him a big bowl of rice pudding at Christmas, it will annoy the whole family for the following year, turning beer into milk or other small disasters ...
You can buy them in many different forms and then arrange them around the house in December along with the Christmas tree, julehjerter, ... Some hate them, others find them cute. For children, the challenge is to place them in the most funny and unexpected locations. In most houses, you still discover "kravlenisser" in wacky places long after Christmas. When this happens, the children are usually overjoyed with their victory.



Another star of Christmas is the little piggy ....

A store that I really liked in the past years ... Royal Copenhaguen (I really need to go back there this year)