Gækkebrev

One Danish tradition at Easter time is for children to write a gækkebrev (or several).  A gækkebrev is a little note, written on a piece of paper that is cut out to look like a snowflake.  Written on the gækkebrev is a little poem that rhymes.  Instead of signing your name at the bottom, you put little dots to represent the letters of your name.

The person who receives the gækkebrev is supposed to guess (or not guess!) who sent it to them.  If they guess incorrectly (the goal), they must give the sender a chocolate egg.  If they guess correctly, then the sender must give them a chocolate egg.

Here are some examples of truly excellent gækkebrevs:

EXHIBIT A:

Mit navn står med prikker

Pas på det ikke stikker

. . . . .

My name is dotted

Be careful it does not sting

. . . . .

EXHIBIT B:

Mit navn det står med lort

Pas på det er sort 

. . . . . .

My name is shit

Take care that it is black

. . . . . .

EXHIBIT C:

My name is written below with more than one dot

Guess wrong and give me all the candy that you've got

. . . . . . .

English Version

Today, I was told that the grocery store will be closed on Thursday and Friday, open on Saturday and then closed again on Sunday.  You know, for Easter.  It makes perfect sense.

På gensyn!

UPDATE!  THE NEXT DAY:  It worked!  Gaius gave a gækkebrev to Tommy, our caretaker and this is what he found on our front doorstep this morning.  CANDY!

BFDs

We've been here in Copenhagen for almost 3 months now and we are pretty much all settled in.  Christopher is working at the lab.  Gaius is enjoying school.  I'm shopping on the Strøget.  I thought you might like to know about our Best Friends in Denmark, our BFDs.

Jens

Handsome Guy, and he cooks too!

Jens is our Ambassador to Denmark and one of our closest friends.  When we arrived in Copenhagen, Jens picked us up at the airport.  On New Year's Eve, Jens hung out with us and taught us about all of the Danish NYE traditions.  Several years ago, Jens took us to Skagen and we had a nice holiday.  (Read about that HERE.)

Skagen, Denmark 2010

Jens and Christopher have been great friends since they were back at UCLA.  In fact, I met Jens at UCLA too, while smoking in front of CHS.  Jens was actually there the night Christopher and I met! Jens works at the University of Copenhagen.  He lives in Helsingør.  He's a great cook.  He has two kids, a son and a daughter.  Ladies, he's single!  We will be hanging out with Jens in Helsingør this weekend.  I'm bringing a carrot cake and a bottle of champagne.

CDN and Jens talking science

Dallas

We ran into Dallas on our first trip to the skate park at Fælledparken. When I took this video, I had no idea that Gaius and Dallas would become the best of friends.  Here's Dallas!

Gaius and Dallas have so much in common.  They both love skateboarding.  

Gaius & Dallas Skateboarding

They both love listening to Metal.  Here is a picture of them at Gaius' first concert, Flowers Must Die at Musik Loppen in Christiania.

Gaius & Dallas at Musik Loppen

Dallas is an amazing English speaker.  He is helping Gaius learn Danish.  One amazing fact about these two friends is that they were born one day apart! Dallas is one day older.  

Jessica

Shopping with Jessica

I met Jessica on the first day of school at CIS Orientation.  Her daughter, Abby started school on the same day as Gaius.  Jessica is from New Jersey and her family just moved here too.  One day, Christopher, Gaius and I were out shopping in Copenhagen and we actually ran into Jessica and her family.  It's strange to be in a foreign city and actually run into someone you know!  And of course, Jessica is the first parent who actually said hello to me at Parent Pick Up.  She's nice like that.

Skål! Pillaging an unmanned beer station at Magasin.

It turns out that Jessica (like me) is a huge fan of the show This is Us.  The first time we hung out, she came over to the apartment and we watched 3 episodes of season 2, back to back, and cried together.  So much fun!

Now that Jessica has her own VPN and she can watch This Is Us on her own, we still hang out.  Now that's friendship!  It's really great having a friend who is in the same boat (new to CPH.). We share all the new information about where to get things, how to use things, and what to do.

Things in Common:  We both like going to bootcamp and watching This Is Us.  We both wear the same model Fitbit (Charge 2).  We both enjoy figuring out how to live in Denmark.  And who doesn't like drinking, shopping and going out for lunch?

I hope you have enjoyed reading about our friends.  Having friends in Denmark for us really is a BFD.

STUD!O at the Standard

Last month, the list of Michelin-starred restaurants was released, and it was good news all around for Copenhagen!  No restaurants lost any stars, and one restaurant, our neighbor Kadeau, gained a second Michelin star.  Unfortunately, this means it will be more difficult for us to get a reservation there.  Maybe I should foster a relationship with them by popping over to borrow a cup of sugar.  Or a sous-vide machine.

A couple of weeks ago, we were lucky enough to dine at STUD!O at the Standard, one of the restaurants on the list.  We brought Gaius with us.  While Christopher has dined at Michelin-starred restaurants before, it was the first time for Gaius and me.  It was amazing!

Surprisingly, the atmosphere in the restaurant was not stuffy.  People were very peppy and sort of casual.  I was surprised that people were taking selfies.

We had the Studio Experience, which is a 12-course meal.  Christopher and I ordered the wine pairing, while Gaius had the $16 glass of juice.

The STUD!O Experience 12 Course Menu

Our first dish, the Cep Tart with Macadamia Nuts and Pineapple Weed was the first of 5 "snacks."

The filo pastry on top of the tart was melt in your mouth thin!

The next dish, Sorrel with Fermented Creme Fraiche and Dried-Caviar came with the instructions, "Don't eat the dirt."  Nestled in this living plant were three folded leaves.  We plucked out the leaves and ate them.  They were delicious.  Seriously, I was just about to dig into the dirt when I heard the instructions.

Don't Eat the Dirt

I was very excited about the third snack.  I had never eaten razor clams before and was looking forward to trying one.  I was half way through eating mine when I looked over to Gaius.  He said, "I think these are ants.  Are these ants?" I said, "Of course these aren't ants.  Would I be eating them if they were?"  So Gaius asked the waiter.  "Yes!  They're soured ants."  As if the fact that they were soured made it totally normal to be eating them.  Anyway, they were delicious!  Christopher ate the rest of Gaius' though.

Razor Clam, Nasturtium and (soured) Wood Ants

For the fourth "snack" they brought us this cute little campfire scene.  Gaius was enjoying it.  He said, "What is this?"  I said, "It's duck."

Duck Heart, Chimichurri and Unripe Black Currant

The last snack was Gaius' favorite.  Who would have thought a savory churro would be so delicious?  It was smothered in TRUFFLES!

Churro with Cheese & Truffle

The next dish was very interesting.  It was difficult to determine where the scallop ended and the pears began.  

Scallop Ceviche with Pear and Juniper

The next dish, Limfjord Oyster with Kelp and Potato Dumpling came with a foam poured on top.  The potato dumpling was sort of like a cream puff.  You can see it on the tiny plate at the top of the picture.

Dumplings at 12 and 2

That's Sachin, our sommelier

In addition to foaming up our dishes with sauces, our sommelier, Sachin kept our wine glasses full.  Over the course of the meal, Christopher and I tried seven different wines (including champagne) and our glasses were never empty.  No wonder everyone at the restaurant was so jovial!  Here are the pictures we took once we loosened up!

The wines were delicious, BTW

So klassy

A Memorable Night

Twelve courses is a long meal.  Three hours, I think.

Lobster with Passion Fruit & Chili

My favorite dish was the Monkfish and Leek with Celeriac.  It was also probably the most "normal" dish.

Monkfish

The last savory dish was Duck with Endive and Tamarind.  Followed by two savory deserts.

Duck

Apple with Coriander and Olive Oil

Refreshing!

The final dish, Almond, Cep and Balsamic Vinegar bookended the first dish, which also had ceps.  So clever!

Punkt Slut ("that's all there is" in Swedish)

Overall, it was a great night.  The only bad parts were...

Paying the Bill

I lost one of my favorite earrings (a gift from Gaius)

The Long Ride Home

There are so many great restaurants in Copenhagen!  We are looking forward to trying a lot more of them!

På gensyn!