And Then There Was One

It's so hard to believe that a few days days ago I crossed the three month point, and now there's only one left.  It's actually just the right amount of time to make a mix of feelings, really.  Travel break is over, so I can loosen up the purse a little bit and buy some more gifts and enjoy the Christmas markets that are popping up.  Then I'm both motivated and anxious about getting all my papers done (one decent-sized paper for each of my 5 classes).  This was an especially weird feeling, because coming back from travel break I had all these papers in mind, so I was motivated to push through them.  But I also found that I was comfortable enough on return to Copenhagen that I was moving into my American routines instead of ones I had created when entering this new environment (i.e. lots of procrastinating and staying up late--which I guess is more of a reaction to a sudden influx in workload--instead of staying more on top of things and going to bed early).  I'm relieved that things are coming to an end and soon everything can be normal-ish again, but I'm sad it's almost over and a little unsure how the month and half until school starts will go.  And THEN I'm excited to use Thanksgiving break and some of the remaining weekends to pick up things I missed in Copenhagen, and enjoy the jul atmosphere! 

This last part has been going pretty well.  Since I had 4 days until classes started when I returned to Denmark, and I had no travel pass to get me into the city, I decided to venture outside of my normal transportation zones into Roskilde.  I went mostly on a personal mission to see more of Denmark than I have been (though this doesn't near complete seeing the entire country), and, considering my recent revelation about churches, I thought it would be important to visit the Roskilde Domkirke (Cathedral).

It was a cold Saturday, but I found a pleasant city of about 55,000 (close in size to my hometown in America), with shops lining the old streets, a placque honoring Denmark's first railroad from Roskilde to København in 1847, and a weekend market with fresh produce, music from political campaigns, and some pretty nifty antiques (I almost bought this really awesome old bottle opener, but instead opted for the pre-WWII Carlsberg soda water bottle). While there were quite a few British and American tourists around, and the municipal signs included English portions, it was nice that the town retained a distinctly Danish feel.  That's one thing I've noticed when visiting smaller Danish towns: there's a distinct look to the older architecture and layout, especially with similar designs for brick churches.  The Domkirke was no exception, although it was on a much grander scale and dramatically changed the skyline.

While I was not nearly as affected by the cathedral in Roskilde as I was by St. Vitus in Prague (which may not be a fair comparison, to be honest), it certainly had its merits.  But then again, no one goes to see the Domkirke for the cathedral itself, but for the chapels surrounding the sanctuary, which are all magnificent tombs for the Danish monarchs.  Some of the tombs were marked not only as "King of Denmark" but also added "Norway and Sweden," which is a fascinating reminder that Denmark was once much more powerful than it is now.  Unfortunately, I missed some of the more important tombs due to reconstruction, but I'm still glad I went.  AND it was weird to see the very back wall behind the altar lined with portraits of bishops instead of holy chapels--as it would be seen in a normal cathedral.

I then walked to the Viking Ship Museum, which houses the remains of 5 viking ships recovered from the harbor.  It wasn't an incredibly extensive museum, but I did get to try on viking clothes, and at least the walk there led me around 3 different natural (although not potable) springs used for healing and water supply in centuries past.  One of them (Maglekilde--the large spring) produces 15,000 liters a day, which is 1/6 of it's former production. (On a side note, I just noticed that "kilde" must mean "spring," which means that "roskilde" is something about a spring.  Unfortunately, "roskilde" isn't in my dictionary, and "ros" means something about praise, so, I have a feeling that MAY not be the meaning. A few websites say the name derives from King Roar.)

Finally (and you may not stop hearing about this for a while), Christmas is really starting to settle in!  Køge and Vesterbro have hung greens across the streets, while Tivoli is alight in white, and Nyhavn by the harbor has a Christmas market set up.  But my favorite thing, by far, is the advent candle crafts that Kirsten (my host-mom), Nanna (my host-sister), and two neighbors made last Sunday.  I had a group project that kept me from joining in for very long, but I got so excited when I saw the table was covered in a craft table cloth!  Not only did we munch on æbleskiver (balls of pancake batter) with jam and powdered sugar, sipping on gløgg (spiced wine--in this case, white wine with white raisins), but, I got to decorate a Christmas candle for my room with a tray, some moss, and pine cones.  Every one else had been making these as an annual tradition for several years, so I just tried to sit back and watch what they were making--from individual candles, to a tray with a large candle you burn down a little bit for each numbered day until Christmas, and a tray with four large white candles for advent.  Nevertheless, I thought mine turned out all right--smiling wooden angels and all.