Finding Hygge in Denmark and Wintertijd in Leuven

 

...follow the Christmas lights...

It has been a truly enchanting Christmas season here in Leuven! The elaborate woodland winter scene in the Grote Markt between the Old Town Hall and St. Pieter's Cathedral is unlike anything we've ever seen before! The Christmas market near the library (pictured below) was lovely to stroll through in the evenings, and purchasing handcrafted gifts from local vendors there suits the season far better than power-shopping at the mall. Since making our decision to study abroad in Belgium, I dreamed and dreamed about Christmas in Europe. All my romanticizing was not in vain, that is for sure.

But of course, there is a myriad of things I miss about Christmas in Canada, Christmas with my family - both the Walls and the Dases. I miss the snow-laden countryside, trees sparkling with hoar frost, listening to my mum play Christmas carols on the piano and singing along with my sister, the Wall family tradition of picking out the annual Elvis tree decoration for dad, arranging the gifts under the tree with my brother and trying to guess what's in them by putting them on our heads (a magical method), and most of all I miss settling into a church pew with the whole family at a Christmas Eve candlelight service.    

Last year I was blessed to have Christmas with Kyle's family at the Dase acreage. It was a quintessentially Canadian Christmas - tucked away in the countryside of northern Saskatchewan and nestled in the hills and the trees in a log house warmed by a wood-burning fireplace... I saw my brother-in-law hurriedly run out in 20 below weather wearing cow-boy boots, Hawaiian shorts, a t-shirt, and a cowboy hat with rifle in hand to shoot a squirrel who was eating all the birdseed out of the feeders in a corner of the yard. I also saw my husband wander into the woods with an axe and return from some kind of lumberjack-coming-of-age-mission with a giant tree in tow that he proceeded to chop into firewood. It was a perfect winter wonderland last year as we'd had a particularly heavy snowfall and an incredible, glistening display of frost covered the trees in a thick layer of ice-bristles. The northern lights danced for us too on Christmas eve.

Christmas in Europe has a certain kind of brilliance and old, traditional magic... but I'm going to say something I've been saying since I was a little girl after the happy season passes, I can't wait for Christmas to come again next year, this time because I can't wait to spend the season with my Wall and Dase families. Although our little family of rabbit, married couple, and room-mate Brendan is just swell.

Brendaru, out-thugging this christmas ent. 

I love the big bushels of mistletoe above the door! 

busy at the Christmas market!

We all enjoyed some Glühwein (literally 'glow wine')!

Kyle and I took a four-day trip to Copenhagen, Denmark to celebrate Kyle's 25th birthday!

The Danes have this beautiful cultural concept known as 'hygge' which I've heard is very hard to properly translate with a one-word English counterpart, although 'cosiness' is most often proffered. The high season of 'hygge' is Christmas, because 'hygge' is about contending with the cold, darkness of Nordic winters by surrounding oneself with warm light, good food, mugs of glögg, loved ones, and an atmospheric comfort that is noticeably manifest in a lot of Scandinavian interior design.

We found 'hygge' in a delightful little cafe just down the street from our hostel that served fresh pressed juices, homemade bread, vegan sandwiches, teas and coffees. 

Then we went hunting for some history at the National Museum of Denmark and found our favourite Scandinavians... Vikings!

.... the shield and the helmet were made to resemble the real weight and size of those of a Viking. They were quite heavy.... Kyle made me do this. 

Once again, we found ourselves among ancient hordes of gold.

The picture above and below are of artifacts excavated at  Hjortspring Bog in Southern Denmark. The boat is the oldest wooden-plank vessel in Scandinavia built circa 300-400BC and it contained the shields, swords, and spear heads pictured below. The mysterious Hjortpring Bog finds are interpreted as evidence of a battle that took place between natives of the region near the bog and unidentifiable foreign invaders. When the natives managed to defeat their adversaries they gathered up their weapons, threw them in their ship and sacrificed it as a votive offering to the bog. We know nothing about who the invaders were, where they came from, but the bog preserved the weapons so well that we can see from details on the shields and swords that they were individually personalized belongings. This was Kyle's favourite exhibit, for good reason!

I got super excited about this one because its one of my favourite Celtic artifacts - The Gundestrup Cauldron! Also found in a peat bog in Denmark. 

decoration on a gorgeous horse-cart in remarkable condition... found again, in a bog. 

RUNE STONES. 

This one was the coolest/most mysterious...

Danish break. 

Some pretty medieval stag rings. #hipster

Then we went to the Royal Danish Arsenal where we found many a weapon, suit of armour, and uniform. Unfortunately we didn't take very many pictures except for this one of Kyle next to the Japanese weaponry...

In addition to innumerable Danish weapons there was a temporary exhibit on Tolkien's Middle Earth! Yes! It featured a bunch of handcrafted small-scale character models as well as the weapons they made at the Weta workshop for the films.

And many cheesy embarrassing photo-ops that Kyle insisted I take because "Meg, its my birthday."

"...oh no don't kill me mr. urukai."

Next to all of Aragorn's swords n sheaths n stuff.

Radagast! 

Our attempt to hastily snap another picture of Kyle next to something not Japanese before they closed the museum. 

It wouldn't be Kyle's birthday without a trip to a board-game store. 

Copenhagen Christmas Market!!!!

Glögg!!!!!!

CHOCOLATE HAUL. AWESOME hazelnut truffles that were vegan from Hotel Chocolat <3

The next day we took the train to Roskilde, one of Denmark's oldest towns (purportedly founded in 980 by Harald Bluetooth!), a hub of the Viking trade routes and one of the most important centres of medieval Scandinavia.  We visited the Viking Ship Museum situated on the Roskilde Fjord and the Cathedral which was built in 1170 by Bishop Absalon. At the ship museum we learned a lot about the defensive tactic of scuttling ships deployed by the Vikings in order to prevent invading clans from reaching the shore. This forced the invaders into negotiations with the Roskilde Vikings and prevented a full-fledged land battle from taking place. At the Cathedral we learned that the Danes don't mind decorating the place with swords and skulls.

It would be great to return here sometime during the summer, when all of their full-scale detailed replica ships are in the harbour!

Then we saw some baby reindeer and I freaked out a little. 

Absalon's Arch! 

We got to listen to this girls' choir practice while we walked around the Cathedral. It was lovely! 

The number of surviving medieval wall paintings here was astonishing! The story of the giant, St. Christopher pictured here, is one of my favourites. 

This guy reminded me of Tutivillus

The remains of Harald Bluetooth are believed to rest below this pillar. Harald Bluetooth, a former pagan viking turned Christian, founded the first wooden church the foundations over which the current Cathedral stands.

See?! Swords! They were everywhere. 

First edition copy of Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum!!!! 

I became aware of this fascinating scandal through the Danish film, A Royal Affair, which is on Netflix! The story is told through the eyes of Caroline and provides an interesting context into the life of a queen consort as well as some 18th century Danish history.

Again, the medieval wall paintings! Sigh! 

Statue of two vikings sounding their Lurs - an ancient wind instrument used during rituals and in battle to frighten the enemy! We saw lots of them at the museum which had been, of course, preserved and found in bogs!

God jul, Vrolijk Kerstfeest, and Merry Christmas from we earth-steppers who cannot express how much we miss our friends and family at this time of year! We know exactly where to make our next Christmas hearth.

Love,

Kyle and Megan