TRAVELLIVE 12 - 2017

Hygge from within the home...
The North-Western climate has been known to
have five winter months a year, with dreary nights
of snow and days without the sun. The houses
there are built to be the warmest and safest places
for people to live in and to survive the long bitter
cold months.
The traditional house of the Nordics are built of pine,
with walls nearly 50cm thick, enough to insulate
the house. The exterior can be painted in color, but
the interior is usually rough wood paneling. This
is the most basic element to create the hygge spirit
for a home in cold lands: the roughness of the pine
wood, the light brown of the wood combined with
the golden light is enough to create a cozy space
within the home.
The spirit of hygge in the house of the cold country: the roughness of pine wood, the light brown color
of the wood combined with the golden light is enough to create a cozy space in the home.
Before my family moved to a suburban area in
Oslo (Norway), we used to live in an apartment
right in the heart of the bustling city. We had been
accustomed to the convenience provided by modern
apartments, and therefore were worried about the
move. The house which we bought from my uncle
was built 30 years ago. However, after spending
our first winter in the small suburban house, my
husband and I decided that we no longer missed
our previous comforts.
When autumn comes and brings along with it the
sad rain, people start preparing firewood for the
fireplace. The firewood is split into small logs, and
usually stored on the side of the house next to the
garage, with a roof to prevent rain from wetting the
wood. As the temperature begins to drop to 0 o C,
people begin to light fires in their fireplace, usually
in the afternoon when everyone in the family has
arrived home and is waiting for dinner. After a
hearty meal, the whole family would gather around
the burning fireplace, drinking coffee or hot cocoa,
unconcerned about the snow falling thick outside.
This is considered a wonderful evening and there is
no need for anything but peisekos - the happiness
of sitting beside the fireplace.
...Hygge out in the street
Sweden consumes the second most coffee in the
world, ranking only after Finland. The Danes and
Norwegians are no less in rank as both made it to
the top 10 list of most coffee consuming countries
in the world. So in big cities, at every corner you
will find a cafä.
Unless they are international coffee houses with
franchises of the same name and style in every
corner of the world, a true Nordic cafä would
always provide a warm, hygge feel when you enter
the door.
Those small cafä shops are usually located inside
old buildings in old parts of the town with low
ceilings, dim lights and beveled floors so old that
they squeak when you step foot on them. The shop
otherwise would be of a small space, just enough
for several sets of tables and chairs indoor, and
several more out at the front.
One winter day many years ago, my family had a
weekend outing in Copenhagen, Denmark. After
getting tired of walking the streets, we found a small
cafä in a street corner so small that, today, I cannot
remember at all how we found it. I could only
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