Winter has arrived!

It was -3 degrees this morning when I was cycling to work - so I guess winter has finally arrived! Although, it would be useful if my body realised this. For some reason I never seem to adjust to the seasons when everyone else does, and I'm still super warm. So while I am happy to cycle around in a t-shirt, everyone else around me is cycling around in huge winter coats, a scarf, gloves, winter boots - some even have semi-balaclavas. Today I wore a coat to work - I'll hold off with the warm coat until December :o)

I cycled through the city centre today and guess what? They were putting up the Christmas decorations and most important, they were putting up the huts where you can buy Glogg (mulled wine) and all things tasty at Christmas time! Christmas celebrations start early here (our Christmas party is on Dec 2), but whose complaining :o)

Masterchef Aarhus

Although he won't admit it, Esben is a really good cook. So I am very happy to leave him alone in the kitchen to get his creative juices flowing and to produce a master piece. He also loves to use every single piece of crockery and cutlery available, but that's a master at work! Recently he came home with fresh figs and had an idea for a dessert. He said he had never cooked figs before, but had a good idea. I've included a video of Esben in action and a photo of the winning Masterchef Aarhus dessert: flambéed figs, served with creme fraîche and mint leaves - it tastes divine!

Om nom!

After celebrating Hallowe'en, we had a few pumpkins around the apartment. We wanted to use the pumpkin for something, so Esben was back in the kitchen being creative. The result: a yummy spicy pumpkin and potato soup - perfect for this time of year. And the rest of the pumpkin (we had quite a few!!) is in the freezer for future recipes.

Spicy pumpkin and potato soup - served with sunflower seeds

The Flanagans visit Aarhus

Seems like ages ago now, but three weeks ago my parents came to visit us in Aarhus. They had two parts to their trip: firstly, they flew into Copenhagen and met up with Esben's parents, Jens and Grethe for a lovely (almost) two days. They had a wonderful time, visited an apple farm, collected mini pumpkins, went to see an example of Danish architecture (8Tallet - apartment complex, but not exactly your ordinary complex), enjoyed dinner together and of course, they heard stories about and saw videos of Esben as a child - awww. (Esben was thinking more - ahhhhh when he found out later).

8Tallet apartment complex

And secondly, they took the train from Copehagen to Aarhus to spend a few days with us. We had pre-booked the tickets and reserved seats, as often the trains can be busy (but as I told my Dad, not like the trains in India or anything). Well, when they arrived they described scenes as if they were from a train in India. It was mid-term, so many Danes were travelling. We had said that the coffee cart usually goes up and down the train and they could buy a coffee from that. The cart never appeared. The ticket inspector was just about able to make it up through the aisles. What passengers found the funniest was when the pre-recorded announcement was played: 'make sure the aisles are clear of any luggage when the train goes through the great belt tunnel' (connecting the islands of Syælland (where Copenhagen is) and Fyn (where Odense is)). They survived!


The weather was quite cold during their visit, but really sunny, so it was the perfect weather to go for walks around the city. My parents are our first non-Danish visitors, so that was exciting too to show them where we live, where I work, to talk about Danish culture (similarities and differences), as well as to show them places of interest. While my parents were here they celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary! Here are a few pictures from the visit:

Photographed through the rainbow glass at Aros museum, with Aarhus city in the background

My dad doing what the locals do

The beach area where I usually swim

At an exhibition in Aros museum

We stopped at Lynfabriken for 'Kaffe og Kage' - you can see Aros in the background

Aros museum photographed from Lynfabriken. The day before we walked around the rainbow!