Our last days in Denmark

Well we cannot believe 5 months have gone by so FAST!  We have had such an amazing time while living in Denmark and traveling all around Europe.  We were able to reunite with many dear friends and family and make lots of new friends as well.  Made some vet friends and horsey friends, spent time with Scott's Danish co-workers, and were even invited to a Danish pig farm so I could see why the Danes are the best pig farmers in the world!  We are so grateful and appreciative of all the kindness that has been bestowed upon us.  Couldn't have asked for a better experience living abroad.

We head back to Colorado in one week (December 17th) and I just wanted to post some last pictures from our days living in Denmark.  While we are happy to be heading home, it will be a bittersweet goodbye.  Denmark and more specifically, Vejle, will always hold a place in our hearts! 




While spending time in Vejle, I was lucky enough to meet Sara and Mette, 2 equine veterinarians.  Not only did they include me in some ride-alongs and teach me lots about equine sports medicine, but they also introduced me to Siri.  Siri and her husband Nis own a farm outside of Vejle and have Icelandic riding horses and dairy cows.  It is here that I spent many days being outside with the animals that I love most!  Below are some of my happy memories from Siri and Nis's beautiful farm.

 

 

 

Thank you Mette and Sara for teaching me a lot about life and veterinary medicine and for inviting me on so many veterinary calls.  Thank you Siri and Nis for welcoming me onto your farm and letting me spend SO much time there!   And thank you also to Siri for teaching me to ride Icelandic horses- something that everyone should try!  It is sure to put a smile on anyone's face!


 Another 2 people who really made our time Denmark special were Lasse and Pernille!  Lasse is one of Scott's coworkers at Siemens and Pernille is his wife.  They have had us over for several most delicious meals (Lasse is pretty much a world class chef!), taught us to make some traditional Danish foods, and most of all have always been there for us whenever we needed help with ANYTHING!  Thank you for always being there for us!

These are aebleskiver- basically little Danish pancake balls that you eat with sugar and jam.  Delicious!  

 These are some "brown cookies" (direct translation from Danish).

 The next 5 pictures are from some short runs and walks around the farm lands and forest in and around Vejle.  They are from a couple months back when the weather was warmer.  We will miss all this green when we go back to Colorado!

 

The next 2 are from our last trip to Copenhagen.  We visited Tivoli for the Christmas fair- very beautiful with all the lights. 

These 2 are of the old wind mill in Vejle.  

 

And lastly, a few pics from our Danish Thanksgiving.  We are so grateful that Anita and Roger (Scott's parents) were able to join us, plus 3 of Scott's coworkers-  Christian, Lasse and Stephan.   We could not find a turkey so we had duck instead.  It was delicious!  And so was Lasse's Pear and Marzipan pie pictured below.

 

Oh and one more thing, I have so enjoyed being able to visit my Grandma TWICE while being over here.  I had a great time getting lots of quality time with her and being able to hear all about her life long before I arrived in it.  Here she is below drinking tea, riding her scooter and saying goodbye to me at the train station! 

That's all I got!   

Farewell
Hei hei
Auf Wiedersehen
Afscheid
Farvel
Au revoir
Arrivederci
Comiat


Love,
  Jess and Scott

Living large in Barcelona, Espana

November 28- December 2, 2013

Barcelona- city of beautiful Mediterranean beaches, amazing architecture, delicious food and a beautiful language (Catalan).   I have always wanted to go back to Barcelona since I briefly visited their on a high school graduation trip and Scott had never been there.  So, we convinced his parents (Roger and Anita) to make a family trip out of it.
  We arrived late in the night on Thursday, but woke up to a beautiful sunny day on Friday morning.

 

We had to start the day off right with some of Roger's Dakota Maid pancakes!  This is the lovely view from our balcony- great pick Anita! 

After our bellies were full of pancakes, we jumped on the metro and headed to Park Guell.  This is one of Gaudi's (famous Spanish architect) many masterpieces.  It's basically a big park/garden with lots of funky architectural accents.   The weather was so beautiful and we had a great time just exploring and seeing all the colorful tiles. 

After exploring Park Guell, we meandered through the streets of Gracia (a hip part of the city with some funky shops and restaurants).  Of course it was siesta time- 4pm- so everything was closed.  We then headed on to La Sagrada Familia.

La Sagrada Familia is a beautiful church designed by Gaudi.  Building began in 1882 and is still not completed.  It is supposed to be finished in 2026 and will then be the tallest church building in the world. 

The next day we did a night trip to Casa Batllo- another of Gaudi's creations.  It was an apartment building that he redesigned in 1904.  It is also known as Casa dels Ossos (House of Bones) because the outside of the building and many parts inside look like bones joined together.  After exploring, Anita and Roger took us out for a delicious meal of tapas and sangria.

 

Some more eclectic pictures from our trip:

Scott pondering the meaning of art at the Picasso Museum.

 

Anita and Rog outside the Picasso Museum

 

View of the cool 2 story round-about from our balcony at night time.

 The 4 pictures just below are from La Boqueria Market in Barcelona right off La Rambla street (the main walking street).  It was a crowded market full of local charm and many colorful fruits, vegetables and all kinds of fish I have never seen before. 

 

They even had Italian truffles.  As we learned while visiting Tuscany, white truffles are very valuable.  They were in a glass case here and being sold for 2400 Euros!!

Scott and Rog with a very popular street performer  on La Rambla street!

 

And my favorite activity of all, Flamenco dancing!  It was Anita's idea to see a performance and we stumbled upon this small place offering a night show.  There was live music that really reminded of the Gipsy Kings and a male and female dancer.  See the video above.  Of course, it was WAY better in person.  Plus, the show came with a free glass of sangria : )  

 

 And that is how it's done in Barcelona!  : )