Copenhagen

By Bea
“Auf Wiedersehen” Germany and “Hej” Denmark, we’ve made it to Scandinavia...finally.
Our new home is now all kitted out and we are coming to terms with close proximity living, Copenhagen here we come.

Shortly after crossing the boarder we noticed a UNESCO sign for Christenfeld. According to google it was listed for its significant heritage architecture and urban planning, so we left the motorway and found ourselves in a quaint cobblestoned street town. The village was founded in 1773 by the Moravian church and it’s planning reflected the churches egalitarian ethic with the church building at its heart. The church itself was a simple utalitarian hall which could have been used for all manner of community events. Architecturally it was really interesting to step back in time and see how a strong vision can create such a harmonious town.

A stroll around and it was back to the motorway and the Storebaelt Bridge, an 18km long bridge that connects East and West Denmark... and a toll that cost approx $50! it was a pretty impressive bridge though.

While we had checked into a campsite a short distance down the coast from Copenhagen getting into the city centre was super easy. The local train ran every 10 minutes and took about 25 mins.. and allowed bikes. In fact it had a dedicated carriage for bikes with a purpose built bike rack inside.
Copenhagen is a city of cyclists so it makes getting around so simple. They have their own dedicated lanes and traffic lights and vehicles have to give way!

We spent the next 3 days riding around and exploring Copenhagen, what a great city. So beautiful, colourful and architecturally amazing. They have been bold enough to embrace quality new design and are comfortable with a very modern building being planted adjacent to a17th century street scape. Buildings such as the Design centre and the new library sit comfortable within the historic quarters around the main canals.

A fantastic example of their architectural vision and creativity is the new waste fired power plant. Not only does it deal with waste effectively but the building itself has been designed as a ski and hiking slope, terrain park and a massive rock climbing wall, it will be truely impressive when it opens soon. Though one Dane we met did highlight the irony of trying to build a ski slope on a furnace!

Our exploring took us to Freetown Christiana, a very hippie town with a population around 900. An anarchist social experiment born in the seventies, a society within a society so to speak. It has its own rules and residents do not pay state tax. While one of the most famous part of Christiana is Pusher Street, where vendors sell various forms of marijuana, the rest of the area is quite amazing, quite arty and some cool houses on the waterfront. Christiana and the adjacent ‘boat islands’ are a testament to the Danes socially tolerant nature

There is so much to see and do in this cool city. We stopped for a seafood lunch along Nyhaven (yes quite touristy, but something we had to do!). Took a boat tour, something we tend to gravitate towards as its a great way to see the city. We saw “the little mermaid” from Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale.. thankfully we saw it from the boat as given the hundreds of people who had flocked to see a monument sitting in the water no more than a metre tall, it was hard to actually spot the monument in the first place!

We have been 5 months on the road now and even though we have being doing a lot of walking and a lot of cycling, we have not really done any hard cardio exercise and we were starting to feel very guilty about that. Previous we could use the excuse of not having the right clothes, but after a brief stop at Decathlon, we now have no excuse! We had to bite the bullet and getting running again... so with great pain, we set off. Our campsite was located not far from the ocean (a protected area where many yachts were moored and people would paddle). It was a lovely flat run and a great way to get back into it (although I felt like I was going to die!).

Copenhagen has so much to do see and do, I wanted to catch up with my mate “Princess Mary”, and share a Danish beer or two, like I had shown her the courtesy in Bangkok with a Thai beer, but for some reason the guards at the palace weren’t too keen on me going in and knocking on her door! She must have been out.

There are a few restaurants a foodie must visit in their lifetime. Unfortunately for us El Buli is now closed so that will never happen. Another place is Noma, Unfortunately we weren’t able to get there either, maybe it was the 3 month waiting list or maybe or maybe it was the $1,000 price tag...Sorry... no. Instead we came across 108 which was Noma’s ‘little sister restaurant’. We were fortunate to get a booking, as it turned out the last one available. Wow... what a place. Food sensational! A more causal atmosphere but the ingredients were all so fresh and full of flavour.

The kitchen was heaving with staff, each chef was assigned and managed their own dish. They then also presented the dish to the customers, explaining what the dish was.

We were also fortunate enough to get a sitting at Host, another award winning restaurant serving contemporary Nordic cuisine. Before dinner we visited the Design Museum, you’d be amazed how many pieces of household furniture you have seen, that were actually a Danish design! (Some of them in our condo). After our visit, we changed in their toilets and rode our bikes to Host, desperately hoping the helmets and speed wouldn’t ruin the look!

This restaurant was a little more casual in ambience, so I got away with it. The atmosphere was lively and the staff were jovial and a lot of fun. We did the degustation menu and it was so good. Using seasonal and local produce for each dish.

Another massive tick for Copenhagen. We just have to leave this city, or we never will... or more likely - will be broke!