There’s a nearly fairytale quality – or Hallmark movie feel, at least – to the city of Boulder, Colorado at Christmastime, its festive lights nestled at the foothills of the majestic Rocky Mountains. Tidy rows of fairy-light-decorated multimillion-dollar homes stretch away from the city’s famed pedestrianised Pearl Street Mall. Boulder is almost as well known for the picturesque shopping strip as it is for the University of Colorado’s main campus and its 38,000-strong student body.