Day 15. Sankt Hans.

It's an odd feeling sitting in a Copenhagen apartment and noticing the thick smell of campfire. There aren't campgrounds for dozens of miles. Denmark is too wet and the trees too sparse for forest fires. I couldn't figure it out, until I remembered that my landlord had sent an email earlier that day with a postscript attached: 

Have a nice evening- try a stroll along the harbourside. There will be bonfires as we celebrate "Sankt Hans"- Midsummer night.

At Nyhavn, the rich smell of burning wood was overwhelming. Though it was Sunday night, hundreds of people lined the canal, watching the bonfire that city officials had lit on a small floating platform. There was a jazz band playing quietly in the background. Jazz has long been a big draw in Copenhagen.

Sankt Hans, or Midsummer, is a Nordic tradition that dates back to pagan times. My Danish coworkers said that Swedes party the most because it's actually a national holiday there. Estonians, Finns and Norwegians celebrate it quite seriously as well. The Danes tend to be relaxed about Sankt Hans and make it into a quiet community affair. Neighborhoods celebrate by burning a big pile of wood along the waterfront. I'm told the view from just off the beaches is incredible: at dusk, bonfires dot the Zealand coast every quarter-mile all the way to the horizon.

Sometimes, people will tie a fake witch to a stake for old times' sake. Apparently nothing brings the town together like a good ol' fashioned witch burning.