Month: February 2018

Water is free and unlimited in the States. Water is not cheap, but doable in Copenhagen. Water is expensive in Germany. In Germany, a pitcher of water is the same price as beer. And this wasn’t fancy water, it was tap water. Shock and awe. How are these German’s staying hydrated?! After spending 20 euros on water we went in search of refillable plastic water bottles to bring with us to restaurants. Yes, we are super classy and no, they didn’t mind.

Stay thirsty my friends.

xoxo-sk

ps. Bring Euros with you, surprisingly a lot of German restaurants are cash only.

 

One quick train ride from Hamburg and we were in Berlin. I really liked Berlin. It was fascinating and steeped in history.

Typical Euro hotel room for families with small children. Our room in Hamburg had a double sofa bed, we (kids) prefer the bunkbeds. Not always typical, the bathtub. I love baths, and I was so happy this hotel room had one (our apartment has 1.5 baths and no tub.)  The King(ish) bed uses two small duvets and no flat sheet, very normal for these parts.

Those environmentally friendly Germans.

Chocolate muffins and eggs and bacon, fancy-style.

Checkpoint Charlie was a well known crossing point in the Berlin Wall between East and West Germany.

The Brandenburg Gate.

The Berlin Wall Monument. A piece of the Wall in situ.

It was very surreal to see all through the city markings of where the Wall had been.

Right beside this is the Topography of Terror. Built on the previous site of the Gestapo and main Reich Leadership Headquarters, the museum tells the history of Nazi German terror. The evil is chilling.

The Holocaust Memorial / Memorial to The Murdered Jews of Europe

The Memorial has an underground Exhibition detailing the persecution and murder of the approximately 6 million victims.

 

Our very German dinners. Currywurst, schnitzel and the German version of ham and cheese.

 

We walked in the huge Tiergarten. It is a massive green space with ponds, playgrounds, and monuments.

In the middle of Tiergarten is the Victory Column. It was built to commemorate a Prussian’s victory in the Prussian-Franco War. It is 67m tall.

The Soviet War Memorial remembers some 80,000 Soviet soldiers who lost their lives in 1945 fighting in the Battle of Berlin.

 

Birthday breakfast bagels. They do have bagels in Europe, but I find that they use them more as bread for a sandwich. It is crazy to them that we want only cream cheese on the bagels. No, we don’t want tomatoes. No, we do not want cucumbers. And, no- they do not toast them. I’ll take what I can get though.

Late one night, Andrew fell into a fountain. It was dark, and frankly, we all almost did. It looked very similar to the street. He was fine, wet, but fine. We blowdried his shoes and jacket for dinner. This picture is from the following day. You can see the crack where he fell.

Yes, on Valentine’s Day, we went to Legoland. The kids loved it.

Lego Brandenburg Gate, Lego Checkpoint Charlie, Lego Reichstag Building

Some intense lego car building and racing.

 

We stayed right beside the historic Potsdamer Platz. It has shopping, restaurants, the Sony Center, Legoland, a little bit of everything. The Berlin Mall had an awesome three story slide. Kids rode it twice. Not pictured- Andy rode it too.

Another mirror selfie for you.

xoxo-sk

 

 

We visited Hamburg and Berlin over the twin’s Winter break. The kids and I took the train from Copenhagen to Hamburg Hbf (Andy was already there for work.) Interestingly, the train actually boards a ferry to cross the Baltic Sea. The train goes, via tracks, onto the ferry’s bottom deck. Passengers must exit and go up to the main deck for the forty-five minute trek across the water.

Andrew and Katherine and the Baltic Sea.

Dinner aboard the ferry. Yes, that is a whole glob of mayo. That is how they roll here.

Andy met us at the Hamburg Station.

Our German breakfasts. Andrew was in heaven. He loves his bread.

They have lots of lovely churches in Hamburg. We visited Katherine’s namesake, St. Catherine’s Church.

We also visited St. James Church and St. Peter’s Church, where the kids lit candles.

 

St. Nicholas was my favorite place in Hamburg. When it was built in 1874, it’s steeple was the highest in the world at 173 m. Most of it was destroyed during the air raids of World War II, when the Allies bombed Hamburg. The Church was turned into a Memorial to commemorate the victims of the war.

The steeple has a glass elevator that takes you up 76 feet to a outlook platform, with a panoramic view of Hamburg.

The current St. Nicholas Memorial and the original St. Nicholas Church.

Statues of Peter and Paul from the original high alter.

In the crypt is a museum. The museum has information about life and the destruction of Hamburg during the air raids of WWII. It details the physical damage the bombs had on Hamburg and discusses the life (before, during, and after the bombing) of its inhabitants, both German and Jewish. It is very interesting to see the German take on the WWII bombings by the Allies.

Lunch- the Germans love pizza and pasta. Good thing, because our kids do too.

Hamburg is a mix of old and modern.

The beautiful Hamburg City Hill (Rathaus) right by Jungfernstieg, the pretty promenade on the lake.

We shopped around in Alsterhaus, super fancy. They had an amazing gourmet food hall, filled with mouth watering food, none of which our kids would touch. They did have a large alcohol section, with an area devoted to whiskey. Good old American Jim Beam among the fancy stuff.

K modeling the cool German fashion.

And a mirror elevator selfie.

We woke up to snow one morning in Hamburg.

Exploring Speicherstad. We went to Miniature Wonderland and the Hamburg Dungeons (Andrew’s fav), which actually made us sign waivers for K and A. Hamburg Dungeons is ninety minutes of interactive scary stories of Hamburg’s past. A little scary, but the kids loved it.

Miniature Wonderland is exactly that, various scenes- Las Vegas, the Alps, Italy, Hamburg, and more, in miniature.

German Chocolate Cake, Apple Crumble Cake, hot chocolate, and really expensive water from Kaffeemuseum Burg. It is technically a coffee museum, but we don’t like it, so…

We walked by the new Elbphilarmonie in the port area.

We shopped a little while waiting for Andy to finish work and meet us at the train station. For a little snack we got- quarkbällchen (doughnuts,) franzbrötchen (streusel,) and Brezel (pretzel.)

We came across these refreshments in the train station version of a quickie mart, looking for snacks for the train ride. We passed, but were very intrigued.

KRK and AK waiting to board our train to Berlin.

I found Hamburg to be a nice city to visit. A mostly modern city, due to the damage it suffered during the war. It is not as picturesque as some of the other European cities. I did not realize Hamburg was such a large port city, with lots of canals and waterways. There is defiantly a mix of people here. I have been spoiled in Copenhagen and some other European cities, everything here is in German, even the visitor pamphlets at the hotel. Not everyone spoke English, but I did not find communication to be a problem. Having the kids with us, we are not able to do everything we may want. They can only handle so much history and can only stay out so late. It was an enjoyable trip though.

Found!! A little bit of ATL in Hamburg.

xoxo-sk

 

 

Yes, I came all the way to Denmark to learn how to make American Pie. The American Pie Company is a wonderful little place that sells sweet and savory pies and teaches pie-making classes on occasion. I took a class with some friends, and we learned how to make a hot pie and a cold pie, with a pre-baked crust (they called it a blind bake.) A really fun morning, and I left feeling pretty proud of myself (and with two pies.)

Look, I’m making pie crust. From scratch.

Cherry filling in, Lattice done, crust crimped (kinda) and egg wash on. So far, so good.

Ready to roll. Apple Pie and Cherry Pie.

Tucking into some Chicken Pot Pie and tea while the hot pies bake.

Starting my lemon curd, and enjoying some of American Pie Company’s sweet pies.

The Hot Pies are done.

Whipped up my meringue and added it to my lemon curd. A little toasting, and its perfect.

Lemon Meringue and Tart Cherry Pie.

xoxo-sk

It was a crazy holiday break for us this year. We left for Atlanta on 21/12 and finally got back to Copenhagen 6/1 (using the European date formatting on ya, welcome to my world.) We were so happy to see our families. Love them.

Neen and Billy came to get us at the airport and took us down to Callaway.

Christmas in Callaway.

How old does she look in her chocker?! She wanted it bad. Aunt Mel got it for her.

Then down to my parents on Christmas Eve.

Cousin love.

A rousing Cousin rendition of Jingle Bells, minus Andrew. Not really his thing, he said. ok.

Christmas morning with my favorites. Santa visited us at our apartment in Copenhagen. He brought scooters.

Andrew’s twin Hatchimals hatched. Then we promptly left one in Athens when went back to CPH. Whoops. They will be reunited in the future.

Beyond happy kid that finally got to eat his McDonalds chicken and hashbrowns.

Then onto Athens Christmas.

Kiki and K got her hair did. K and “her stylist” Joey decided to go with purple.

New Years in Athens. Such a good time with such good friends. I love them, and I love that we have all grown up together.

 

I couldn’t leave without going to see my GMC buddies and work-wife Lisa. I don’t necessarily miss working, but I definitely miss them.

 

There is never enough time to see everybody and do everything. But, a lot did get done, and my heart is full. I got to play board games and cards with Travis and Melanie. (And by I, I mean Andy and myself in most instances, like the Royal We.) The kids got to see the lights with Mimi. My Dad cooked us steak and ribs. A and K got to snuggle with Neen all day. The kids got to go to Chck-fil-A and play with Norah, Lily, and Molly. I got to drink pitchers with my friends in my beloved Athens for New Years. I got to eat queso, Chick-fil-A, Fox Brothers, white cake with white frosting, drink Miller Lite and American Diet Coke. I got to laugh at Dad with Daniel and Katie. The kids got to go to the Varsity with Didi and Kiki and eat Dunkin Doughnuts. I got my hair cut and highlighted for half what it costs in CPH and shopped at Target. I got to watch an epic Georgia Rose Bowl win with my best friends. And so much more. Much love to the ATL. We will miss you.

And then we finally celebrated our Christmas in Copenhagen.

ps. I wish I had more pictures, blame it on being so happy to be back, with a touch of sheer exhaustion. I’ll do better next time.

xoxo-sk

 

Tivoli is spectacular during Christmas. My Mother-in law lives in Callaway Gardens, so I have seen their Fantasy in Lights many many times. Having seen those, it takes a lot to impress me. Tivoli impresses, big time. They have strung lights on virtually everything. It looks magical, the pictures really don’t do it justice.

 

ps. This is a typical Danish Christmas tree and typical Danish Christmas candy. Not very impressive. Andy and Katherine seem to like the candy though.

xoxo-sk

Christmas markets are a big thing in this part of the world. They have food, drinks, and stalls set up, with vendors selling traditional Danish Christmas presents. We visited ones in Nyhavn Harbour,  Kongens Nytorv, and Nytorv Square.

The Hotel D’Angleterre’s beautiful Hans Christian Anderson themes advent calendar. 

Just grilling up some dogs and buns, old school style. Andrew enjoyed one of these.

The Scandinavians love them some Glögg. It is a mulled wine with spices, and it is everywhere at Christmas. Not my favorite. The had fudge though. And I do like fudge.

KRK enjoyed her hot chocolate, she didn’t like the glögg either. kidding.

Kids with a slightly creepy Hans Christian Anderson.

xoxo-sk

In general, Danish favorites, smørrebørd, rye bread, herring, are not really my thing. But, I can get on board with their love of potatoes, roast pork, bacon, sauces, beer, and pastry. Lucky for me, Copenhagen has a fabulous variety of restaurants and foods.

Chips and guacamole and sweet potato soup with coriander and coconut milk at the California Kitchen.

Cafe A’s version of a club sandwich. Not what I was expecting, but good none the less.

Pastries Andy bought one day. They are from my favorite bakery here, Lagkagehuset.

I had a Thanksgiving style dinner at The American Pie Company with some friends. Turkey pot pie, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, dressing, cranberries, and apple and pumpkin pie. It was a great taste of Americana. So good.

This is brunch at one of my favorites- Wulff & Konstali. Scrambled eggs with herbs, blood oranges with rosemary honey, thyme bacon, danish style waffle with caramel and raspberry cream. So fancy, I know.

 

ps- Look what we found. They weren’t that bad.

xoxo-sk

There is a small outdoor ice skating rink we went to in Frederiksberg. It was cold, it was fun, and it was clear; our kids are not naturally born skaters.

The kids did get better. They were able to skate (somewhat) independently by the end, and no one broke anything, which is a win. And a good time was had, and that is always the most important.

ps. If you know me at all, you know I couldn’t help but crack up at their falls. I know, I can’t help it.

xoxo-sk