Pt. 1: Christmas in Copenhagen
Nothing quite prepares you (at least, not me) for the sight of the first snow falling in Copenhagen. After a month or two of straight rain, wind, and chill, my five-day Thanksgiving trip outside of Denmark apparently had me missing the transition from grey and gloomy to quite literally, below freezing.
I’ve heard from many Danes that this has been an unusual few months of Copenhagen weather, with the warm summer days lasting much longer into September than usual, and the snow coming 1-2 months earlier than usual! I really can’t complain, and the snow has truly been adding to the magic air of Christmas that has taken over Denmark these past few weeks.
One piece of advice I must give is to pack warm, especially if you’re studying abroad in the Spring. Never underestimate the usefulness of a good puffer, warm boots, scarf, and hat. And never leave the house without a pair of gloves – these truly make the biggest difference – without them, it feels like my hands just might break off from frostbite!
Denmark is big on Christmas, and my inner child is very happy with the Christmas decor strung along the streets. There’s some really lovely things you can do in the winter:
Christmas markets! You can find these at various locations around Copenhagen (usually near Metro stations), and although these are quite touristy, they are super fun to walk through. Make sure to try Gløgg!
Ice Skating. Fun (and potentially silly) activity to do with friends – I went to Broens Skøjtebane near the harbor!
Watch The Nutcracker at the Danish Royal Ballet! I cannot recommend this enough, it was absolutely stunning to watch. Although tickets can be pricey, I got the cheapest seats possible and still had a really lovely view from the top.
Miscellaneous: a hot chocolate a day…
Pt. 2: A Day Trip to Bornholm
Along with soaking in the Christmas spirit of Copenhagen’s streets, my friends and I further embraced the cold by taking a day trip to the Danish island of Bornholm, just off the coast of Sweden. We rented a car for the day and bought our round-trip ferry tickets from Ystad, Sweden <-> Bornholm online.
Bornholm is typically a summer destination, but we decided to make the trip anyways, which required a 6:00am wake up to make an 8:30am ferry. Despite all our passion and fervor to make it on time, we ended up missing the arrival window. With the next ferry in 3 hours, we decided a drive to Lund and back would be a worthwhile way to pass time (after all, why not add another city to the travelled-to list?).
After the 2 hour ferry to Bornholm, we drove towards a particular site where many people go to spot the wild European bison, who now inhabit a reserve / park area (shoutout to Neil for finding out about this!). By this time, we had around ~2 hours to walk around before sunset, and were set on seeing the bison. Walking through the forest in the winter literally felt magical, with the trees and ground covered in pristine white snow.
We trudged through the forest for around an hour or so, stopping and craning our necks every so often to see if we could spot a bison through the trees. Finally, once we had walked up to the edge of the reserve without spotting a single bison, we decided to stop looking and turn back so we could make it back to the car before sunset.
About a minute or two on the walk back, Preeti stopped and pointed into the trees, and there it was… a wild bison!
The five of us literally stopped and stared in silence, watching while the bison foraged, until walking away and disappearing into the trees after a few minutes. Despite noticing us several meters away, it didn’t seem to mind, going on with its afternoon stroll.
The entire experience felt magical, and honestly made this one of my favorite days of study abroad. We joked that if we hadn’t missed the first ferry, we might not have come at the right time to spot the bison.
To end off this blog post, I know that the cold can become difficult to deal with at times. With the short days and long nights in the winter, seasonal depression can get pretty real, and it can feel harder to step outside into the cold. Still, winter in Copenhagen comes with some really amazing things, and I’d encourage you to stay connected with your friends, and to do whatever makes you happy while you’re there 🙂
Stay warm, and talk to you soon!
Best,
– Nat
nat's passport 
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