Fastelavn

Today I got to celebrate the Danish holiday of Fastelavn, which is commonly referred to as the Nordic Halloween.  Children dress up in costume and look forward to coming home at night with a bag full of sweet treats.  Many towns in Denmark are known for their large Fastelavn festivities and parades complete with a traditional event called slå katten af tønden ("beat the cat out of the barrel").  But don’t worry, these days the barrel or piñata is filled with candy instead of a real black cat!  I spent the afternoon is Dragør, a small town outside of Copenhagen, and got to watch a round of “beat the car” played by about 20 horseback riders.  The one who knocks down the bottom of the barrel (making all the candy spill out) becomes kattedronning ("queen of cats"); the one who knocks down the last piece of the barrel becomes kattekonge ("king of cats").  After the King and Queen were crowned today, we headed back home to enjoy the holidays traditional dessert, Fastelavnbolle, which is a round sweet roll covered with chocolate pudding and whipped cream.  They came homemade from Bodil’s mother and were absolutely delicious!