Winter in Copenhagen, Denmark is a Christmas dream: hearty stews, warm spiced wine, crackling roasts, and festive Christmas Markets cover the city. Danish food is at its best during Jul, aka Danish Christmas. From sweet pickled herring to apple pancake puffs, traditional Danish dishes in Copenhagen are unique – and absolutely delicious!
There are tons of amazing things to do in Copenhagen in the winter – here’s 12 of our favorites – but this post is all about just one thing: food! Well OK, and drinks.
We visited Copenhagen in early December and were treated to some of the most delicious Christmas holiday food we’ve ever had. Whenever we got too cold as we explored the city on foot, we popped into one of the zillion specialty coffee shops or picked up a mug of hot mulled wine at a Christmas Market to warm us up.
We discovered that we absolutely LOVE traditional Danish Christmas foods, like Christmas spice pickled herring and Flæskesteg. Read on to find out the best food to eat in Copenhagen in the winter!
Table of Contents
Psst: We have a couple more posts about visiting Copenhagen in the winter! If you’re planning a trip, you’ll definitely want to take a look at these.
- 12 Charming Things to Do in Copenhagen in Winter
- Copenhagen Castles Guide: Self-Guided Day Trip from Copenhagen
- The Perfect 7-Day Norway Itinerary for an Epic Winter Trip
- 35 Photos of Norway in the Winter to Inspire your Wanderlust
We’ve also helpfully compiled the information in our 3 Copenhagen posts into a handy dandy PDF that you can take with you on your trip! Sign up below to download the FREE Copenhagen Winter Guide.
6 Traditional Danish Christmas Foods
Danish Christmas (or Jul) is typically celebrated on Christmas Eve with a big traditional feast, chock full of delicious Danish holiday dishes. Luckily, you can find most of the traditional Christmas foods served throughout the winter in Copenhagen, to get a taste of classic Danish food. Don’t miss these yummy Danish holiday dishes while you visit Copenhagen!
Flæskesteg: Imagine if pork was the consistency of butter, with all the best parts of crispy bacon. Yup, it’s melt in your mouth salty goodness. Mmmm! Flæskesteg is delicious Danish pork roast with crackling skin, and is served on Christmas Eve as part of the traditional Danish Christmas dinner. We found flæskesteg all over Copenhagen in the winter (including served nightly in our hostel) but our favorite was at Gorm’s.
- Gorm’s| Address: Magstræde 16, 1204 København K, Denmark
Rødkål or Krystkål: Red Cabbage, usually served alongside pork roast, boiled potatoes, and gravy as part of the traditional Danish Christmas Eve dinner.
Æbleskiver: Pancake Puffs! These adorable little balls are exactly what they sound like: round, fluffy balls of pancake deliciousness. Our favorites were dusted with sugar and served with fresh jam at Tivoli Gardens.
Smørrebrød: A Danish classic, Smørrebrød is an open faced sandwich on hearty Danish rye bread topped with lard or butter and varying perfectly paired toppings. It’s like, the original fancy toast. The best place to get it is at Aamann’s, which has a few locations, including one in the airport. If you make it all the way to the airport and somehow haven’t tried Smørrebrød, please do yourself a favor and try it before you leave Copenhagen!
- Aamanns Deli & Take Away| Address: Øster Farimagsgade 10
Our favorite Christmas spin on this classic was a holiday Smørrebrød topped with Christmas spice pickled herring! The holiday pickled herring tasted like Christmas itself. Try it at Københavner Cafeen.
- Københavner Cafeen | Address: Badstuestræde 10, 1209 København K, Denmark
Gløgg: If you’ve ever been to a European Christmas Market, you’ve probably seen (and smelled!) mulled wine. While most countries serve Glühwein, the Danish version is called Gløgg and it is quite different: it is sweeter, made with both red wine, brandy and sherry, and it’s mulled with cloves and cinnamon. Each steaming mug of Gløgg is served with slivered almonds and raisins!
Roast Duck: Duck isn’t one of the “classic” Danish Christmas foods, but apparently it’s a recent foodie trend in Copenhagen. We found it shredded in delicious sandwiches in the Copenhagen food markets.
The Best Food Markets in Copenhagen
To our surprise (and delight), the food markets in Copenhagen were amazing, full of foodie finds that made us super happy (because we’re boujie foodie hipsters, let’s not sugar-coat it. Cuz we’d probably eat that too, if it was $15 and served in an avocado).
From groceries to global foods, the Copenhagen food markets have it all. Here are our recommendations for what to eat in Copenhagen food markets!
Torvehallarne Market
Torvehallarne is one of the best food markets we’ve ever been to! Filled with gourmet stalls selling both prepared meals and grocery staples at budget-friendly prices, this is the one stop shop for some of the best food in Copenhagen.
Our favorite food stalls in Torvehallarne Market
- Coffee Collective: A fantastic third wave coffee shop inside the market. Website
- Laura’s Bakery: The cinnamon bun with cream cheese icing is heaven. Website
- Ma Poule: Home of the best sandwich in Copenhagen: the famous duck confit sandwich! Made with arugula and spicy mustard. Delicious! Also, a great selection of charcuterie and cheese. Details
- Gorm’s: The best pizza in the city! We tried a Danish Christmas pizza, and it was heavenly. Website
- Grød: A porridge stall, with a wide selection of unique topped porridge. Morning porridges are sweet, but evening porridges veer into savory territory, such as one topped with kale, parmesan, apples, and walnuts -yum! View the menu here.
- Hallernes Smørrebrød: All Smørrebrød, all the time. Hallernes has a huge selection of delicious looking Smørrebrød, from smoked eel to liver pate to classic herring. At least, we think that’s what they were – we couldn’t find an English menu! We ordered Roast Beef (which in Danish is apparently also called Roast Beef! So helpful) and it was heavenly. Website
Paper Island Street Food Market
Where do you go in Copenhagen when you’re hungry but not quite sure what you want to eat? Paper Island Street Food Market, of course! A huge warehouse filled with colorful ethnic food trucks from around the world (Colombian! Turkish! Moroccan! Korean!) decked out in an anti-establishment, ultra-cool vibe, the crowded street food market features some of the best food in Copenhagen all under one roof.
Bonus: If you’re trying to stick to a raw/gluten free/high protein/paleo diet, this is the food market for you (but good luck, seriously. Kudos. We gave our paleo diet the boot the second we decided to go to France.)
Our favorite food stalls in Paper Island Street Food Market
- Creme Brulee Donut: OK, I couldn’t find the name of the stall. But just look for a sign that says “Creme Brulee Donut.” You’d think it’s just a donut filled with creme brulee cream, but no: the donut itself is actually rolled in sugar and torched right in front of your eyes, making it a crispy, sugary little piece of heaven!
- The Spoon Company: Stick-to-your-ribs Danish stews and soups, made with hearty ingredients. We tried the Venison stew with fresh currants, and it was absolutely perfect on a chilly day.
- Copper & Wheat: Try the duck and arugula sandwich on brioche with crispy duck-fat fries.
- Handmade: Described as “open-faced sandwiches similiar to Smørrebrød” on the Paper Island website… but to us non-Danish travelers, it appeared to be identical to Smørrebrød. Try it and let us know if you can tell the difference.
- Stormly: Wash down your meal with a Danish micro-brew beer or rum.
Exploring one of the many Copenhagen Christmas Markets! Copenhagen in the winter is an absolute fairytale.
Copenhagen Christmas Markets
I know, this isn’t techincally a food market. But it might as well be! Christmas Markets are an excellent place to sample holiday treats and winter food, and the Copenhagen Christmas Markets are no different. These are our favorite holiday treats to eat in Copenhagen Christmas Markets!
Our Favorite Holiday Food in Copenhagen Christmas Markets
- Gløgg: You’ll find hot, steaming mulled Danish wine with raisins and almonds in many of the Christmas Market stalls in Copenhagen, and they’re all quite good! For an even stronger cup of Gløgg, you can add rum.
- Æbleskiver: Pick up some pancake puffs dusted with sugar and served with fresh jam at the Tivoli Gardens Christmas Market.
- Fudge: Stalls with piles of brightly colored fudge can be found all over the Copenhagen Christmas Markets! Our favorite flavor was Strawberry Cheesecake at the Nyhavn Christmas Market.
- Cured Meats: You’ll see several cured meat vendors selling delicious salami, sausage, and every kind of salted and smoked meat you can imagine. There’s usually a nearby cheese stall too…
Torvehallarne Food Market in Copenhagen is a fantastic place for budget-friendly groceries and delicious Danish food in Copenhagen, Denmark. Also, free samples, which are our fave kind of food.
The Best Specialty Coffee Shops in Copenhagen
Look, we’re unashamedly coffee snobs. We chase single-origin specialty coffee around the globe searching for the best cappuccino and pour-overs. For us, coffee is a comforting, warm holiday drink (or any time of the year drink, but who’s counting?). Although we didn’t get a chance to visit all of the highly-regarded specialty coffee shops in Copenhagen, these are our favorite third wave coffee shops in Copenhagen.
- Risteriet Coffee: You know it’s the real deal when a third wave coffee shop classifies its roasts not by medium, dark, or light, but instead uses the technical terms: city, city plus, or full city. Serving up beans from Africa and South America in a variety of brewing methods – and some we’d never heard of before, like a “cry baby,” which is a cortado with some extra milk – Risteriet is a quiet, unassuming gem close to the tourist district and Tivoli. Website
- Copenhagen Coffee Lab: Quiet and subdued, you’d walk right by the Coffee Lab if you weren’t looking for it. Not much in the way of atmosphere or pastries, but the coffee and espresso is excellent. Website
- Democratic Coffee: Located in what we first believed to be a high-end bookstore but turned out to be the Copenhagen Library (color us impressed), Democratic Coffee is a comfortable place to sprawl out with a book or a magazine, an expertly made almond crossaint, and a delicious cappuccino or pour-over.
- Kent Kaffe Laboratorium: Science meets coffee at the detail-obsessed Kent Kaffee Laboratorium, where you can order your single origin coffee in a flask set over a bunsen burner if you like. Website
- Coffee Collective: Worth another mention. Coffee Collection is a fantastic third wave coffee shop inside the Torvehallarne market. Website
Did I make you all warm and fuzzy inside? They call that hygge, you know. Which of these delicious Danish foods made your mouth water? Leave us a comment below!
Psst: We have a couple more posts about visiting Copenhagen in the winter! If you’re planning a trip, you’ll definitely want to take a look at these. There’s also a great guide to things to do in Copenhagen on Inspired by Maps.
- 12 Charming Things to Do in Copenhagen in Winter
- Copenhagen Castles Guide: Self-Guided Day Trip from Copenhagen
- The Perfect 7-Day Norway Itinerary for an Epic Winter Trip
- 35 Photos of Norway in the Winter to Inspire your Wanderlust
We’ve also helpfully compiled the information in our 3 Copenhagen posts into a handy dandy PDF that you can take with you on your trip! Sign up below to download the FREE Copenhagen Winter Guide.
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![[SAN FRANCISCO] The Gold Rush. The Summer of Love. Silicon Valley. San Francisco is a chameleon city: every few decades it changes, morphing into whatever the next Big Thing is and attracting idealists, inventors, and forward-thinkers. It's a city of beauty, joy, art, and innovation.
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The story of San Francisco is written up and down its steep, winding streets. You'll feel the history of San Francisco as you're climbing Coit Tower for sweeping views of Alcatraz and the Bay, or taking Golden Gate Bridge selfies at Baker Beach (just watch out for nude photo-bombers in the background). You'll feel it as you're warming up with a steaming bread bowl full of clam chowder at Fisherman's Wharf, or kickin' it with the hippies in Haight-Ashbury who came in 1969 and never left. Reading beat poetry in Jack Kerouac Alley. Enjoying a sweet, soft coconut bun from a tiny bakery in Chinatown. Admiring the beautiful, powerful street art in the Mission district. Celebrating marriage and gender equality in the Castro. Trying to figure out if that's Mark Zuckerberg or just some other techie dude in a Facebook hoodie in the Financial District (I guess that's not history... yet). Each neighborhood in the city tells its own story.
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San Francisco also has its problems: rampant homelessness. Gentrification. Diminishing diversity. Corporate interests pushing the city forward without enough consideration of its long-term residents. Insane rent prices.
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It is a city that reflects America's extremes: you can feel the divide between the wealthy, zipping around on hoverboards or private cars and ordering everything from dinner to housekeeping on their smartphones; and those who are struggling to make ends meet - or struggling to survive on the streets.
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Although we live in Oakland, we have a lot of love for San Francisco and its complex past & present. You should visit and decide what you think of it yourself! We've got a post about where to stay when you visit, built on Jeremy's decade of experience as a local and a mindful approach to San Francisco's many complexities - link in bio.
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What do you associate with San Francisco? Have you ever been? Drop us a comment below!](http://scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/8a9baaae44a32f2d3eeab63cfe008980/5DDFA537/t51.2885-15/sh0.08/e35/c0.135.1080.1080a/s640x640/67936545_442033469734625_6728412070039651574_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com "[SAN FRANCISCO] The Gold Rush. The Summer of Love. Silicon Valley. San Francisco is a chameleon city: every few decades it changes, morphing into whatever the next Big Thing is and attracting idealists, inventors, and forward-thinkers. It's a city of beauty, joy, art, and innovation.
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The story of San Francisco is written up and down its steep, winding streets. You'll feel the history of San Francisco as you're climbing Coit Tower for sweeping views of Alcatraz and the Bay, or taking Golden Gate Bridge selfies at Baker Beach (just watch out for nude photo-bombers in the background). You'll feel it as you're warming up with a steaming bread bowl full of clam chowder at Fisherman's Wharf, or kickin' it with the hippies in Haight-Ashbury who came in 1969 and never left. Reading beat poetry in Jack Kerouac Alley. Enjoying a sweet, soft coconut bun from a tiny bakery in Chinatown. Admiring the beautiful, powerful street art in the Mission district. Celebrating marriage and gender equality in the Castro. Trying to figure out if that's Mark Zuckerberg or just some other techie dude in a Facebook hoodie in the Financial District (I guess that's not history... yet). Each neighborhood in the city tells its own story.
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San Francisco also has its problems: rampant homelessness. Gentrification. Diminishing diversity. Corporate interests pushing the city forward without enough consideration of its long-term residents. Insane rent prices.
.
It is a city that reflects America's extremes: you can feel the divide between the wealthy, zipping around on hoverboards or private cars and ordering everything from dinner to housekeeping on their smartphones; and those who are struggling to make ends meet - or struggling to survive on the streets.
.
Although we live in Oakland, we have a lot of love for San Francisco and its complex past & present. You should visit and decide what you think of it yourself! We've got a post about where to stay when you visit, built on Jeremy's decade of experience as a local and a mindful approach to San Francisco's many complexities - link in bio.
.
What do you associate with San Francisco? Have you ever been? Drop us a comment below!")
![[BEACH PEOPLE] Some people are born to be on the beach. All year long, they dream about dipping their toes in bright blue water and frolicking on soft white sand, and they return from their beach vacation with sun-kissed skin, positively glowing with beachy bliss.
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I envy those people.
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While they’re happily soaking up the sun, I’m busy being burned to a crisp, accidentally inhaling mouthfuls of sand, swallowing saltwater, freaking out because I saw one single jellyfish, yanking tangles out of my hair, and trying to get sand un-stuck from places that sand should never, ever be.
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I am truly the least graceful person who has ever been on a beach. And it doesn’t help that finding a decent swimsuit as a size 16, almost 6-foot tall Amazonian woman is an exercise in torture and frustration (what is this, a bikini bottom for ANTS?!). Honestly, somehow I find it easier to pack for a trip to the literal Arctic Tundra than a day at the beach.
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Which is why I began my 3 days of beachy bliss in the San Blas Islands off the coast of Panama by complaining. It was hot. It was sticky. There was sand EVERYWHERE. There weren't enough hammocks. There was too much sun. There were crabs (aka giant armored spiders) leaping around doing little crab waltzes or whatever. There was only electricity for an hour or so a day. There was no WiFi at all. I was convinced that this was hell.
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Clearly, it was not hell. But it took me a bit to adjust to being constantly covered in sunscreen and saltwater. By the end of our 3rd day in San Blas, I was in full relaxation mode: I hadn't worn shoes in 3 days, my hair was in goddess-mode, and I'd sent off at least 53 emails via my crappy Panamanian SIM card that said "I'm on an island with no electricity or WiFi, so I'll have to get back to you later." I was officially in Island Mode, and for one glorious, shining moment, I finally understood Beach People. (I will never be able to accept crabs, though. Crabs are horrifying.)
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Are you Beach People or would you prefer to cozy up to the fireplace in a mountain lodge with me?](http://scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/5d9a4e126269bdfe72039acf23933817/5DE2F442/t51.2885-15/sh0.08/e35/c0.135.1080.1080a/s640x640/65644919_2534245056640344_7143638401448131207_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com "[BEACH PEOPLE] Some people are born to be on the beach. All year long, they dream about dipping their toes in bright blue water and frolicking on soft white sand, and they return from their beach vacation with sun-kissed skin, positively glowing with beachy bliss.
.
I envy those people.
.
While they’re happily soaking up the sun, I’m busy being burned to a crisp, accidentally inhaling mouthfuls of sand, swallowing saltwater, freaking out because I saw one single jellyfish, yanking tangles out of my hair, and trying to get sand un-stuck from places that sand should never, ever be.
.
I am truly the least graceful person who has ever been on a beach. And it doesn’t help that finding a decent swimsuit as a size 16, almost 6-foot tall Amazonian woman is an exercise in torture and frustration (what is this, a bikini bottom for ANTS?!). Honestly, somehow I find it easier to pack for a trip to the literal Arctic Tundra than a day at the beach.
.
Which is why I began my 3 days of beachy bliss in the San Blas Islands off the coast of Panama by complaining. It was hot. It was sticky. There was sand EVERYWHERE. There weren't enough hammocks. There was too much sun. There were crabs (aka giant armored spiders) leaping around doing little crab waltzes or whatever. There was only electricity for an hour or so a day. There was no WiFi at all. I was convinced that this was hell.
.
Clearly, it was not hell. But it took me a bit to adjust to being constantly covered in sunscreen and saltwater. By the end of our 3rd day in San Blas, I was in full relaxation mode: I hadn't worn shoes in 3 days, my hair was in goddess-mode, and I'd sent off at least 53 emails via my crappy Panamanian SIM card that said \"I'm on an island with no electricity or WiFi, so I'll have to get back to you later.\" I was officially in Island Mode, and for one glorious, shining moment, I finally understood Beach People. (I will never be able to accept crabs, though. Crabs are horrifying.)
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Are you Beach People or would you prefer to cozy up to the fireplace in a mountain lodge with me?")
![#ad [Trigger Warning: Eating Disorder] It took me a long time and a lot of hard work to love my body. Before my body and I loved each other, we were at war. I denied my body food. I mutilated my beautiful skin. And I attacked my own mind, verbally abusing myself from within in a torrent of vitriol, hate, and anger.
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In turn, my body rebelled. It ceased all non-vital functions, like growing my hair and nails, or menstruating. It denied me control of my own emotions, debilitating me with unpredictable fits of panic and terror. It focused my mind so intently on food that I had difficulty concentrating on anything else. And when the battle was at its worst, when I had denied my body even a single bite of food for over a week, my body retaliated by shutting down the functions of my heart.
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I was only 16 years old when my heart rate plummeted to 30 beats per minute. A doctor told me to start eating again, or I would die. I was dangerously underweight. But I made the decision to live.
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I don't talk too much about my ED because it makes me so incredibly sad. Because today, my body and I have a beautiful relationship. I worship my body, and it loves me right back. I treat my body with respect and it repays me with strength, endurance, and resilience. Together, we are an incredible team, capable of achieving any challenges or goals we dream up. And it makes me so sad to think back to the time when we weren't.
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But it's important for me to talk about it, openly and publicly, because I know some of y'all out there are struggling too. And I want to let you know that it's OK, I've been there - and it doesn't always have to be this way.
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No matter where you are in your journey to self-love, I want to challenge you to make peace with your body today. If you two are at war, call a truce. If you are reconciling, show yourself a little extra love today. One thing that helped me immensely during my recovery was to look at beautiful, positive images of women whose bodies looked like mine. So today, I'm following body-positive Instagrammers (got any faves?) and browsing @CaciqueIntimates!
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Tell me what you'll be doing to make peace with your body today!
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#FortheLoveofCurves](http://scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/e447022c2d01bd83a732a7bc2cc5270f/5DE4AEC0/t51.2885-15/sh0.08/e35/c0.134.1080.1080/s640x640/67688744_1118377025017476_7306756110191464725_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com "#ad [Trigger Warning: Eating Disorder] It took me a long time and a lot of hard work to love my body. Before my body and I loved each other, we were at war. I denied my body food. I mutilated my beautiful skin. And I attacked my own mind, verbally abusing myself from within in a torrent of vitriol, hate, and anger.
.
In turn, my body rebelled. It ceased all non-vital functions, like growing my hair and nails, or menstruating. It denied me control of my own emotions, debilitating me with unpredictable fits of panic and terror. It focused my mind so intently on food that I had difficulty concentrating on anything else. And when the battle was at its worst, when I had denied my body even a single bite of food for over a week, my body retaliated by shutting down the functions of my heart.
.
I was only 16 years old when my heart rate plummeted to 30 beats per minute. A doctor told me to start eating again, or I would die. I was dangerously underweight. But I made the decision to live.
.
I don't talk too much about my ED because it makes me so incredibly sad. Because today, my body and I have a beautiful relationship. I worship my body, and it loves me right back. I treat my body with respect and it repays me with strength, endurance, and resilience. Together, we are an incredible team, capable of achieving any challenges or goals we dream up. And it makes me so sad to think back to the time when we weren't.
.
But it's important for me to talk about it, openly and publicly, because I know some of y'all out there are struggling too. And I want to let you know that it's OK, I've been there - and it doesn't always have to be this way.
.
No matter where you are in your journey to self-love, I want to challenge you to make peace with your body today. If you two are at war, call a truce. If you are reconciling, show yourself a little extra love today. One thing that helped me immensely during my recovery was to look at beautiful, positive images of women whose bodies looked like mine. So today, I'm following body-positive Instagrammers (got any faves?) and browsing @CaciqueIntimates!
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Tell me what you'll be doing to make peace with your body today!
.
#FortheLoveofCurves")
![[FLASHBACK] We landed in Cartagena, Colombia for the first time ever on July 11th, 2016. The day before, we packed up what was left of of our belongings, said a tearful goodbye to our neighborhood cat friend Jasper, and boarded a plane to Cartagena, with no idea what to expect from the next year of travel.
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When we stepped onto the tarmac the Cartagena heat smacked us full on in the face. We were ill prepared for it. We were also ill prepared for the water we couldn't drink, the food we weren't quite sure how to order, the language we were struggling to speak, the culture that felt so unfamiliar to us, and the utter overwhelm of changing everything about our lives and giving up the comforts of a home we'd made for ourselves just to chase a crazy dream I'd been holding onto for a few years.
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We spent that first night in Cartagena cuddled up in one uncomfortable bed in our hostel dorm, crying. (We also tearfully sent an email to our cat friend's owners to ask if we could Skype with Jasper. They did not respond.)
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This trip, our 3rd visit back to Cartagena, felt like a world apart from that first miserable night. We were joined by a group of 16 high school students and 3 of Jeremy's amazing co-educators on our @take_flyte_org trip. We brought the group to dinner at our favorite local restaurant (La Casa de Socorro) and insisted they order our favorite dish (seafood soup). As we explored Cartagena together we pointed out murals on the walls that had changed over the years, new developments being built, restaurants we loved, our favorite picturesque alleys in Getsemani, even the hostel dog we'd played with at that very first hostel so many years ago (he didn't remember us). We greeted Cartagena like an old friend and lovingly introduced her to Jeremy's students.
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3 years ago, we were afraid that we'd ruined our lives by quitting our jobs and giving up perfectly good lives to seek out adventure on a whim. Little did we know that our paths - both personal and professional - would take us back to Cartagena again and again. Cartagena is our lucky city!
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Have you returned to a place years later? How had you & the place you visited changed? Drop us a comment!](http://scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/8510a401e0dde9bef0f0dc8efd38f7bd/5DE32002/t51.2885-15/sh0.08/e35/c0.135.1080.1080a/s640x640/66217194_2311686425735958_7775172171184034345_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com "[FLASHBACK] We landed in Cartagena, Colombia for the first time ever on July 11th, 2016. The day before, we packed up what was left of of our belongings, said a tearful goodbye to our neighborhood cat friend Jasper, and boarded a plane to Cartagena, with no idea what to expect from the next year of travel.
.
When we stepped onto the tarmac the Cartagena heat smacked us full on in the face. We were ill prepared for it. We were also ill prepared for the water we couldn't drink, the food we weren't quite sure how to order, the language we were struggling to speak, the culture that felt so unfamiliar to us, and the utter overwhelm of changing everything about our lives and giving up the comforts of a home we'd made for ourselves just to chase a crazy dream I'd been holding onto for a few years.
.
We spent that first night in Cartagena cuddled up in one uncomfortable bed in our hostel dorm, crying. (We also tearfully sent an email to our cat friend's owners to ask if we could Skype with Jasper. They did not respond.)
.
This trip, our 3rd visit back to Cartagena, felt like a world apart from that first miserable night. We were joined by a group of 16 high school students and 3 of Jeremy's amazing co-educators on our @take_flyte_org trip. We brought the group to dinner at our favorite local restaurant (La Casa de Socorro) and insisted they order our favorite dish (seafood soup). As we explored Cartagena together we pointed out murals on the walls that had changed over the years, new developments being built, restaurants we loved, our favorite picturesque alleys in Getsemani, even the hostel dog we'd played with at that very first hostel so many years ago (he didn't remember us). We greeted Cartagena like an old friend and lovingly introduced her to Jeremy's students.
.
3 years ago, we were afraid that we'd ruined our lives by quitting our jobs and giving up perfectly good lives to seek out adventure on a whim. Little did we know that our paths - both personal and professional - would take us back to Cartagena again and again. Cartagena is our lucky city!
.
Have you returned to a place years later? How had you & the place you visited changed? Drop us a comment!")
Whoa what an in depth post. I love it. I never know what to try when I’ve got so many options. This will really help on my next trip to Copenhagen.
Thanks Meg! I always look up what to eat before I go anywhere, with so many options (especially in another language) it can be so overwhelming!
The Venison stew looks just freaking amazing! I was in CPH a couple of years back, but I didn’t try any of this food you are showing. I found it pretty expensive to eat in good restaurants, so instead I was eating Chinese and sandwiches. I didn’t know that Danish cuisine was so ellaborated. I lived in Finland for a year and the cuisine there didn’t look asgood as in Denmark 😉 Cheers,
CPH can be really expensive! You’ll notice the conspicous absence of a section in this article about what restaurants to visit in Copenhagen … that’s because we couldn’t afford any of them 😛 We only made it to a single restaurant our entire trip! Everything else was just food markets and Christmas markets.
In the Christmas markets, do they take credit cards or should you have “cash” with you?
Hmmmm I want to say they took credit cards at the food stalls (which is where we spent the vast majority of our money) but to be safe, I think it’s best to carry cash! I think it depends on the seller – a small, independent stall may not be able to afford the credit card processing fees. So bring cash to be on the safe side!