Canal Tour

My eldest son is an adventurer, never happier than when he is near to the top of the tree in our garden waving frantically at me to come and take a picture of his daring exploits. I try to remain nonchalant and proud as I watch my first born launch through the branches before jumping from a height far greater than I care to measure. Last summer he persuaded his younger by three years brother, to join him and as a result I too found myself swaying precariously through the branches of the tree in our garden in order to rescue the now firmly stuck child. I naturally chose the safest path down and proceeded to lose all dignity trying to remove my foot from it's stubborn resting place two feet above my head.

That's the thing about my boys, they like a little bit of danger. The chance to push a boundary and scare their mother halfway up a tree. Which brings me neatly onto the canal boat ride through Copenhagen. To be honest it is a rather more sedate affair than I might have built it up to be and a journey I have taken many a time whilst introducing visitors to the city, my last trip was for my father and my cousin although actually neither of them would have turned down an adrenalin ride were it offered.

There are two companies offering guided tours, both of which leave from Nyhavn throughout the year. During the colder,wetter, windier months it would be wise to take the covered boat especially as the wind really does pick up once you leave the shelter of the canal lanes. In summer prepare to journey down Nyhavn canal to the sounds of a city enjoying it's surroundings. Nyhavn will be packed with both locals and tourist's enjoying the atmosphere and a glass or two along the canal side, it makes a great visual memory of Copenhagen.

You will have numerous photo opportunities as you pass by Christianshavn, The Black Diamond, the National Museum and of course out to see the Little Mermaid. Very knowledgable, the tour guides are usually fluent in Danish, English, French and German and probably others too if you ask. They will provide a running commentary as you pass from one view to the next.

Once you are on the move your guide will give you a run down of the rules and regulations for passengers. I cannot remember them all but I do know I reinstated the need to sit down and not lean over the side of the boat to see how cold the water really is. Alongside, yes, a boat at speed going through a tunnel could break your arm (neck if standing) upon entering, so no, lets not test the theory. It's not that Grandpa is irresponsible, more that he remembers fondly a boyhood spent testing how cold the water was and the older boys enjoyed his version of the tour hugely!

The danger element kept us mostly entertained/nervous for the hour it took to complete the circuit, a bread roll and drink helped for the rest of the time. Everyone enjoyed the trip and we all learnt things we hadn't previously known about this city we call home. I will continue to take visitors on the tour as it is a great way of introducing Copenhagen, besides as I say, on a beautiful day the atmosphere is unbeatable.

Our garden is once again ready to embrace the exploits of the boys as they burst out the door eager to explore their mini world. Although the five year old is now a little taller and a little more confident, I like to believe they both learnt hugely from the 'day Mama had to climb the tree and got stuck'.....

http://www.canaltours.com/canal_tour/

Nordic Bakery

One of my favourite way's to care for my family is to cook for them, okay, maybe not the rushed meals I have to prepare post swimming practice on a Monday evening although even that can be done with a little forethought and sleeping toddler. As a mother of three incredibly hungry boys that is quite frankly just as well, during the course of the week there are a lot of meals to be prepared.

I would love to say the cooking that gives me the most satisfaction does not result in a baked something but that wouldn't strictly be true. Since purchasing The Nordic Bakery cookbook, I have been on a one woman cinnamon bun mission, I like to think I could whip up a batch pretty easily now and the boys happily took them to school on their birthday's, the ultimate accolade. There is something so relaxing and rewarding about creating a batch of the warm soft cinnamon buns that I happily respond to requests and open the page to my favourite recipe, an old friend these days and reassuringly covered in remnants of previous batches.

If you haven't yet seen it I really recommend The Nordic Bakery cookbook, I have used many recipes contained within and they have all worked brilliantly. Pastry is not my natural friend but the recipes for various pastries in the book are hard to get wrong, especially the cheese version for the mushroom tart another household favourite. The book looks as good as the contents tastes and I have given many copies as gifts to friends and family, happy to get an accessible taste of Scandinavian baking.

Lucky for me on a recent trip to London I was fortunate enough to make a visit to the actual Nordic Bakery in Soho and indulge myself in a taste session of all the recipes I haven't been brave enough to try. I met an old friend there and on a difficult day for her we sat and talked and made sense of the world, I almost felt Danish, so nostalgic was the setting! We ordered coffees, open rye bread sandwiches topped with smoked salmon, Finnish cinnamon rolls and the most peculiar sounding but extremely delicious Karelian pie, a rye crusted savoury snack with rice or potato mash filling. Served with egg- butter spread.

It was all delicious and I will certainly be expanding my repertoire. First thing to try will be the Karelian pie, I had no idea how amazing they were so if you buy the book on this recommendation please do give the recipe a go. I just need to convince the boys to step away from the cinnamon buns first.
www.nordicbakery.com
The book is available to purchase or order at www.booksandcompany.dk

Winter Wedding; Norway

Eleven years ago I took a trip to Vancouver for a bit of sightseeing and soul searching, just a week but long enough to have insightful conversations and forget the complications of lost loves in the company of two very wonderful people. As I took my seat on the flight home, a nine hour red eye to Heathrow, I introduced myself to the young man in the seat next to me and settled in for the flight. It turns out he had sat in the wrong seat but as fate would have it, he stayed put and we talked for the entire flight home. Many twists and turns and countries later we still share our lives together but now with the added company of our three children.

Last weekend we got to witness the culmination of another decade long relationship in a beautiful marriage ceremony on the edges of Oslo. The location was an intricately carved church nestled in the hills next to the famous ski jump at Holmekollen. In the coldest of settings on the clearest of days we entered the church and immediately felt all the warmth that came from both the wooden building as well as the happy congregation.

It is always a special moment when the bride enters the church to take her final few steps as a single woman and this was no different, she looked stunning in her dress. Preceded by her adorable little daughter the bride walked to the front of the church led by her exceedingly proud father. The vicar was funny and thoughtful and soon pronounced the happy couple to be man and wife, he followed the grand moment up with a rendition of Amazing Grace on his saxophone which was definitely a first for me.

The tradition for weddings in Norway is for a long sit down dinner which is interspersed with any speeches by those closest to the couple. A toastmaster leads the evening and welcomes guests to the reception, on this occasion it was the brides brother. Leading the celebrations the bride's father gave a heartwarming speech and magnificent song that had us laughing and wiping a tear, sometimes simultaneously. Best girlfriends had written a song that they performed, the best man made a speech and I think dinner lasted for at least four hours as we sat and laughed and shared fond moments of the couple in question. Dinner led to dancing and cakes which in turn late into the night led to hot dogs being served.

We awoke in the morning and took a stroll through the city to the Vigeland Sculpture Park. The work of Gustav Vigeland the sculpture park contains 212 statues cast in bronze, Human Condition is their title hence the proliferation of naked characters lining the walk way.

My favourite was the fountain near the top of the hill which was formed by giant men holding aloft a large bowl that would be flowing with water were it not quite so freezing cold. The centerpiece of the park is the monolith, fourteen years in the making and displaying a hundred and twenty one bodies all intertwined, the monolith reaches for the skies. I have to say I was very impressed by the crowds of tourists already at the park on a Sunday morning in the cold. By then my feet were no longer pliable and needing to head to the airport we returned to the hotel to collect our belongings.

These days the person I sit next to on an aeroplane is still the same man I met by chance so many years ago in Vancouver. Actually that isn't always true, normally we sandwich between us three wriggly bored children needing entertainment and frequent trips to the toilet so it was nice for a change to be able to sit together!

Dave and Hilde we both wish you a lifetime of happiness.

Lego World

This week has bought forth the Winter holiday's in Denmark, a perfect opportunity to escape the routines of life and head off to the slopes for a week of fresh air, fresh snow, fresh food and apres ski. Sounds very nice but I do not possess the graceful agility to ski. In fact I am lacking in the basic agility to even stand up once I have metre long flat slippery ski's stuck to my feet. Dignity is not to be mine and the resulting day spent lying down in cold wet snow does nothing for either my ego or my happiness.

Needless to say we were home in Denmark this week and the latter end was quite a challenge. The unit that supplies gas to my house stopped working and it took two days of waiting in the freezing cold house with three little boys before the gas man decided to arrive to fix things. The boys were bored and I was running out of ideas. Skiing was almost a more preferable option and quite possibly a warmer one too.

Thankfully by Friday all was restored and I set off with them for the Bella Centre and the enormity that is Lego World. Once a year Lego take over the entire conference centre and fill it with, yes it does seem obvious, Lego. I knew to expect Lego but having never been before I had no concept of how it would be presented. We joined the crowd snaking from the car park into the building to be greeted by two storm troopers, it was going to be fun.

The entrance building played host to the Lego shop, discreet enough for the children to miss and second fiddle anyway to the mound of Lego laid out on a green carpet just waiting for eager fingers to pick up. We had arranged to meet up with friends and so were pressed to move further into the halls in order to find them which was a good distraction. At each turn there were more and more exhibits to catch our attention and having started out thinking I was taking the boys for a fun day I soon entered into the excitement and wonder of the place.

We spent a lot of time in the Lego Star Wars section, the highlight of which was being able to sit down and build models with one of the product designers. He was so welcoming to the boys and they thoroughly enjoyed listening to him talk about his job as he patiently answered their questions. Since meeting him my eldest has mounted a campaign to build a slide in our next house in place of stairs as that is what they have in the offices at Lego. It's apparently used primarily to test the cars, once built, but surely proves irresistible on a very quite day at the office?

Aside from Star Wars there were many other areas in the big hall, Ninjago, Duplo, City, Princess catwalks and the freshly launched Friends range aimed at the girls market. There was actually almost too much to see and we did leave having seen little over half the exhibits. Happily we had time to have our names engraved on a piece of Lego and yes I absolutely did do my own name too.

At the end of the afternoon we found an enormous Duplo area and a bench, the remaining five boys walked out into the sea of bricks and characters remaining thoroughly engrossed for a good hour. Their Mummy's sat and talked and were grateful for the huge efforts Lego must have put into creating LegoWorld. It was the perfect way to end our visit, that last hour refocused tired children and let them enter into a make believe world of their own, one built entirely of course by Lego bricks.

We even spotted some Lego men taking in the slopes and enjoying a chair lift. They were poised and elegant and didn't seem to be feeling the cold too much. I think I will happily leave the skiing to them.