Big Prayer Time

It’s a glorious sunny Wednesday here in Copenhagen and there are flags on all the buses again today.

Are we still celebrating the 70th birthday of the Danish Queen ‘Daisy’? Nope. This week it’s to mark the visit of the Russian President! šŸ™‚

I’m running errands today to try and avoid the crowds tomorrow. The shops will be busy because of the public holiday on Friday. Which means the whole country shuts down and people go off to their ‘summer houses’ or get busy with garden tools and barbecues (if the Danish weather gods have mercy on us).

Which public holiday? Stor Bededag. Which translated means ‘Big Prayer Day’. No, I’m not making it up. Those crazy (yet practical) Danes decided there were just too many religious holidays during the year so lumped them all together! In days gone by it was a time to fast and pray. These days it means that – the night before (Thursday) – you toast some hveder (very plain bread rolls), spread them with butter and wash them down with lashings of tea…

When you’ve had your fill of hveder (to tell you the truth, they’re huge, fluffy and pretty tasteless) you can then stroll around the city ramparts at Kastellet. Immortalized by my sweetie friend Rasmus and his band, Magtens Korridorer, in their (hit!) song, “Picnic pĆ„ Kastellet”. Watch the vid hereon youtube…enjoy! šŸ˜‰ 

Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!

Pray for good weather! šŸ˜‰