O Nettle, Where is Thy Sting?

Ever since I was a kid (and especially when I was a kid) I haven't exactly had the fondest view of stinging nettle. I just saw it as this awful little green weed with the power to make my skin burn.

But now this sworn enemy of mine has been conquered. And eaten.

Yup, that's right. I ate stinging nettle today. More like I cooked and ate stinging nettle today.

As part of living in the Green House at DIS we have a weekly dinner that we take turns cooking, and tonight was my turn to be a co-chef. Since we're also part of a vegetable co-cop in Copenhagen, we get 2 bags of fresh veggies from local farmers for making the meal. Every week's an adventure because we end up getting things we never would've imagined having to cook with. Like Jerusalem artichoke. Or celery root. Or... nettle. But what's study abroad for but taking on challenges and growing from new experiences?

So for my next new experience, cooking nettle it was - and cook it we did... into a soup along with those Jerusalem artichokes and some good ol' fashioned potatoes and pureed to perfection. Result? Deliciousness.

I can say one thing for sure: living in the Green House has broadened my horizons and given me more confidence when it comes to cooking unusual vegetables. And conquering childhood enemies.

The Enemy

little things that mean the most

Since being back in Copenhagen from all my European travels, I've decided I really love this place. I mentioned that at the end of my last post, but it's worth repeating. Just why do I like it here so much?

Reason #1: Outdoor kindergartens... Where else could 'being in school' mean 'building forts, exploring the woods, and climbing trees?' I recently spent a day visiting an outdoor kindergarten and fell in love with the educational model. Young kids from the city are taken out into the country where they spend their 'school day' just playing outside - rain or shine. The Danes have it right: kids need to spend time outdoors (heck, people need to spend time outdoors) and there's so much to be learned via nature and play that can't be learned in a classroom.

Reason #2: National Research Day... 4/20 may mean something completely different to some, but here in Copenhagen it meant hosting an outdoor research symposium that was more or less like a giant science fair. On my way back from classes, I stumbled upon a large collection of tents in Frue Plads (a plaza nearby) which I later discovered was part of an annual festival to promote the sciences. When I got closer I noticed that there was everything from microscopes to a man dissecting an otter inside. So after I stopped to touch the otter guts (gloves of course) I tried my hand at designing my own windmill. I have a new respect for engineers because I stunk at it.

Reason #3: Organic Day... Similar to the above except with live animals instead of dead ones. Stumbled upon the festivities on my way home from church. It consisted of a lot of tents, a couple of cows, a big screen broadcast, and a whole ton of people. Free yogurt and milk galore and stickers saying 'jeg ♥ øko' (I love organic).  Judging by the number of people there (mainly families), it seemed like a big deal for the Danes. Big day for the cows in Denmark, too, because apparently it's the day they get let out into the fields - or something like that. But for Copenhagen in particular, which is a bit short on cows, it was an excuse to promote organic food, let kids milk fake cows, and have a whole lot of fun.

Ok so clearly those aren't the most important reasons I like Copenhagen... but they're all things that made me happy to be living here.

around the world (of Europe) in 14 days

Spring break in the world of DIS is a two week long European traveling extravaganza. They provide planned trips if you want an easy way of doing out-of-the-ordinary traveling or you can just opt to travel on your own (personally, I decided to go half and half). By the end of it you've had a whirlwind of experiences from the eye-opening to the breath-taking to the live-and-learn.

I started off with spending 3 days in the Czech countryside at Hruba Skala (an old castle turned hotel) that became home to 40 DIS students and our Czech guides as we did a range of outdoor adventuring - archery, hiking, ziplining, high ropes bridging, rock climbing, rappelling, and caving. You certainly get a different take on a country when you're army crawling through a dark cave tunnel or hanging on to the side of a rock-face. As I felt quite at home in spending the entire day romping around outdoors, I would've gladly spent the rest of my travel break perfecting my climbing skills... but there were more things to be seen.

Before leaving the Czech Republic, we spent a day in Prague. With the aim of finding my way to the Dvorak Museum, I ventured out and spent the day on my own. I never did make it to that museum, but I did find some great things. I tasted a local pastry called trdelnik which was shaped like a cylinder and tasted a whole lot like one of those cinnamon soft pretzels, went to the top of the Eiffel-look-alike Petrin Tower, spent a leisurely time at the Czech Museum of Music (which had an exhibit on Dvorak), and topped off the day with  the classic meal of goulash.

Next on the agenda was going to Paris. I hit up all the typical touristy hotspots, as did the thousands of other people who were in Paris for Easter weekend. It was exciting to see so many things I grew up hearing about and seeing in pictures, from monuments to artwork... like Van Gogh's painting of his bedroom (when I was a kid a played this board game called Masterpiece that highlights great works of art, and I always liked that particular Van Gogh painting). I can also add my name to the list of people who's climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower (I should say climbed 2/3 of it... the last 1/3 is an elevator), and I became quite fond of Parisian parks as well. Paris is such a huge city, and - though I only scratched the surface of it in a couple of days - I liked what I saw.

After Paris, my last two stops were to visit friends in Switzerland and then Germany. It was wonderful to see familiar faces and to get a different perspective on those areas from people who live there, and I had a most memorable experience of going on a run around a lake in Switzerland with a gorgeous view of the Alps (but of all days to leave my camera at home!).

To be entirely honest, though, it was really good to get back home to Copenhagen. My eyes lit up when I heard, for the first time in two weeks, Danish being spoken in the airport, and it was refreshing to not have to consult a map for directions.

In three months of being in Copenhagen, I've left and returned to it three times. And every time I realize just how much I love it here. 

making a list and checking it twice

Two more things have been crossed off my list of places to go in Denmark: the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and the Little Mermaid. 

Louisiana is a must-see museum if you're in Copenhagen. I went there a couple weekends ago. It's a bit out of the city, about an hour train ride away. I'm admittedly not a huge fan of modern art, but I really appreciated this museum. The building it's housed in is relatively small, has a lot of windows in place of walls, and has multiple exit and entrance points so that you're encouraged to take a break from the exhibits and get some fresh air outside on the trails and down by the sea. I like the idea of combining the natural and the man-made in one's appreciation of beauty. The tour guide said that Louisiana was designed to be a place where you could comfortably spend an entire day and to be a place where you felt like you were just visiting a relative. My favorite exhibit, and where I spent the most time by far, was from the photographer Andreas Gursky. His art is something you have to experience because he has massive prints that capture, at the same time, incredible detail and vast perspective. I thought about buying a postcard of one of his photos, but the 4x6 print just didn't do justice to it. 

The Little Mermaid is also a must-see, though not because it's large or prominent. Just because it's one of those things that Google Images considers to be quintessential Copenhagen. And the area where it's located is a beautiful place to walk around down by the canals and near the old battalion protected by very steep grass hills/walls. There's even an old-fashioned windmill nearby which I have plans to return to and take pictures.

The Little Mermaid

P.S. This is the other place that's classic Copenhagen according to Google: Nyhavn (new-houn).
I went there recently, too.