Valentine's day, Chinese New Years, & Fastelavn

Two weeks of school and two weeks of non-stop partying. There is ALWAYS something to do. In the first week was the Insomnia Tour - a week long event organized by a student group where there's a party every night at a different venue. This week was Copenhagen Fashion Week and the city was invaded by beautiful people and an array of different events. Life is exciting.

I've opted for a quiet Sunday of recovering and doing readings for my classes - which is ironic because today should really be the day for celebrating since:
a. It's Valentine's Day.
b. It's Chinese New Years.
c. It's Fastalavn (the traditional danish version of the Carnival holiday)

Three holidays in one!! ...Not to mention that it's also the start of Reading Week (a week long holiday) in my university back home.

I wish Copenhagen would warm up already. Every morning, I look out the window in the hopes that the canals wouldn't be frozen anymore. However, I did take this opportunity to walk across a frozen one:

Now that I'm pretty familiar with the downtown central part of Copenhagen, I've taken it upon myself to explore the other neighborhoods. Nørrebro and Vesterbro are the more multicultural alternative parts of town. I loved the vintage shops, turkish markets, trendy cafes and unique finds.

 There were so many little treasures that I wanted to buy, but I didn't give into the temptations. Firstly, an exchange student's budget is really tight and secondly, I wouldn't have room in my luggage to carry things back to Canada anyway.

HOWEVER, we did decide to get warmed up and treat ourselves to some amazingly delicious cafe delights. I had a chai tea latte with a chocolate muffin and Stef had a hot chocolate with whipped cream.

 By the way, this is pretty much the coolest little cafe of life. It's called the Laundromat Cafe. Why? Because while you do your laundry, you can sit back and enjoy some good coffee.

Anyway... I really have to get ready to leave... since I'm still in my PJs. I'm going to a Fastalavns party to make traditional danish pastries and celebrate the holiday with some friends.