Copenhagen

My first reaction to Copenhagen is, wow, I had this place all wrong. I was expecting the reserved demeanor of the Norwegians mixed with the orderliness of the Swedes. Oh my. The little section of town I have seen so far is just the opposite, raucous, rowdy, and out of the box. My impression is that these people pride themselves on their nonconformity! Interesting side note : some researchers say they are the happiest nation. Also, some of this craziness is probably because it is Saturday night and there is a big soccer game in town.



First thing you notice here is that it is a town ruled by bikes. They have their own lanes with traffic lights and crosswalks. Nobody wears a helmet. Many people have modified bikes with a large compartments for dogs and kids. I saw a woman today with 3 kids in the front compartment and one in a child seat behind her. Dang! Four kids equals a minivan in the US. I also saw a lady my age pedaling along with two 8 packs of toilet paper, a few other groceries in a bag and a flat of impatiens on a plain two wheel bike in traffic! Wow!
Unfortunately, I was not quick enough to get a picture of any of these "bikers". I should also mention that there were an inordinate number of people with crutches and bandaged arms. On a more cheerful note, I was able to snap this update for the fashion followers out there. Yellow pants with red jacket and tasteful murse (man purse).


Obligatory little mermaid picture. Underwhelming. Not sure why it is famous.


There are so many more intriguing and unusual objects d'arte like this scandalous fountain which originally was a drinking fountain before they elevated it. You'll notice the water shoots out of her breasts, also the standing boy appears to be peeing. Who in the world thought of this for a drinking fountain?




Also saw this boat sailing in the harbor.


Nearby was the royal yacht.


Hans Christian Andersen was from Copenhagen. According to what I read, Danes like to sit on his knee and get their picture made topless. I decided to break with tradition and keep my clothes on.


We rode one of these boats.

This is the area called Nyhaven. It's a canal, and also an area where the sailors used to dock and hang out since the 1600s. A lot of the buildings are actually that old.



It's legal to drink beer on the street so lots of people were getting it "to go. " The bartender told us the drinking age is 16, but I didn't see many young people drinking. Maybe they hang out somewhere else.


It was a superb opportunity for people watching.


Sad to say, there were a lot of drunk folks in some areas.



A theater


Tivoli gardens which we did not want to pay to see.



Statue of two guys blowing a Lur horn, which Rick Steves says is an ancient horn used to call the guys to battle. Now I think it's just used to signal happy hour!


One thing I noticed about the Danes, they seem to be very politically active and very concerned with "green" causes. Also, taxes must be very high. I read somewhere that there was 100% tax on buying a car and that is why so many bicycles. All I know is I paid about $6 for a large cup of plain coffee this morning. Don't judge me. I really needed it. We have just been eating sandwiches here because food is so super expensive, even at the grocery store.


The one thing we did not quite get to do was go to the area called "Christiana" where the hippies created a commune by squatting in an abandoned military base in 1971. They declared themselves a "free nation" and have been in a tug of war with the Danish government ever since. Kind of interesting to see how their experiment turned out, but I'll have to check it out next time.
Onward now to Brussels, which is, sadly, our last stop. I'll be home on Friday!