The city of bikes. It's the first thing you notice about the city, bikes, lots of bikes. Everywhere. The bike lanes are as wide as the car lanes and the car to bike ratio is pretty much 50/50. And it's not just for the adults, you see all ages on or in the bike. Various add ons hold young infants and then my favourite, the bikes with a two-wheel carriage on the front that is big enough for 2 kids, a dog and bags. And everyone harmoniously going about there business, pedalling wherever they need to go. And this is all totally normal for the children. A great example this culture is setting for the next generation.
We walked out of the station and onto the bus. On a side note, the technology for maps, directions and public transport still amazes me - we put an app on our phone using the free wifi on the train. With 3 taps on the app we now have a single bus ticket for a 2 zone trip across the city. Another tap opens google maps and 1 further tap tells me to walk outside the station, get bus 5C, get off after 11 stops and walk 120m to our accommodation. Google maps already knew the location of our accommodation as it had saved this from the email (to my google account) confirming the Airbnb booking, and it saves this even when using the app offline. On the one hand I am just slightly freaked out about how much my phone knows about me and the links between things, although it is damn easy, efficient and useful. Especially when you don't have constant access to wifi and no access to mobile data.
Anyway - we arrived at our apartment & hiked up the 71 stairs in a tight spiral staircase. Again, the apartment is beautiful, and modern. Our room is large, a queen bed, a couch and a coffee table. Big windows on two walls and loads of natural light. Our hosts are very welcoming and gave us all the tips on the neighbourhood.
A 20min walk and we were in the centre of the city by the lakes. What a beautiful postcard perfect city! Despite being in Denmark, Mexican was on the menu for dinner. Some food blog advised that this was a safe gluten free haven. A little pricey, but my word were the tacos good! And to finish it off, gluten free churros, complete with mountains of sugar and apple sauce. We were just a little sugar sick, in such a good way.
Our day in Copenhagen got off to a good start. Steph was especially excited as this was the first new city for her on this trip and was finally starting to feel better after that wretched flu. First thing on the agenda, coffee at the neighbourhood coffee shop, which our host declared as one of the best in Copenhagen. It was funky, hipster and pretty good coffee. And Scandinavian prices as well, 17AUD for 2 coffees.
Next stop was to pick up some bikes. The guy in the bike shop across the road from our apartment was awesome. He took payment (pretty cheap) and then told us that he closes at 6 but that we should get some dinner and bring the bikes back later, just lock them up and put the keys on the postbox in the door. What service! And it was only about an hour later that I realised that the whole transaction took about 5 minutes and that he did not ask our names, where we were staying or any identification information. So trusting!
So there you have it, in the words of Terry Moody (aka ABC comedy, google it) we were 'On our bikes'. The freedom, the sun on our faces and the wind in our hair. Such a simple pleasure, to ride a bike. We joined the traffic in the bike lanes & headed towards town. Across the lake and to the first stop on our self-guided tour - Rosenborg Castle. A castle straight from a fairytale. Rather modest in size and originally a royal summer home. Also home to the Danish Crown Jewels.
Next stop, Rundetaarn, the Round Tower. This is the oldest working observatory in Europe, built in The 17th century. For a small fee and you can walk up the spiral ramp in the tower to a viewing platform at the top. Pleased to report that is was completely Bevan friendly, being totally enclosed for the climb up and two layers of security fencing on the top. No height anxiety today. The tower is not that tall but you still get a nice 360degree view of the city.
We stopped briefly at Christiansborg Palace and Slotsholmen. Formerly a royal palace and now home to the Danish government. A lot of rough cobble stones here, the riding was a little uncomfortable. On our way to the next stop, we stopped along the water front to get a good photo of us with our bikes, the one at the top of this post. Then it was off to lunch. We had several recommendations to go to the street food markets on Paper Island, so glad we listened! A warehouse converted into a food market with all sorts of delicious treats. Plenty of seating indoors and outdoors. We did a lap, purchased our meals and found some sling back deck chairs in the sun by the waters edge. Bevan had pulled duck & chips (FYI - best chips ever!) and Steph had found a health food/completely gluten free stall. We were completely blissed out, so happy and content. How good is this?!
It was hard to extract ourselves from those chairs, but more adventure was waiting. We crossed the water and into Nyhavn, the colourful harbour area. Now this is the postcard shot of Copenhagen you see all over the world. Needless to say, a lot of people/tourists having their photo taken, but hey, can't blame them, it was stunning. We just had to join them.
From here we rode east along the waterfront, soaking up the sunshine and some of the live music along the way. Stopping at Amalienborg Palace along the way. This is the home of Queen Margrethe II, and where you can see the guards in their ceremonial dress. A wide open square and you can walk up to within a metre of the guards. Such a stark contrast to the home of the British Queen, behind fences and under maximum security, including the Queen's Guard.
We continued along the waterfront and a short break at our turn around point - the Little Mermaid sculpture. A tiny little thing that shyly looks over the water as thousands of tourists a day snap a selfie with her. A gift to the city of Copenhagen from Carl Jacobsen, and sculpted by Edvard Eriksen, it is inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale of the same name, written in 1837.
We looped around and rode through Kastellet, a star shaped fortress with beautifully manicured gardens, and a big Danish flag. Steph loves a good flag!
And our last stop of the day, the very idyllic chapel of St Albans Church. An English church built to serve the English people of the city. In 1885. What a example of tolerance for the immigrant population. Again this little church looks just like something out of a fairytale. In front of the church is the Gefionspringvandet, a magnificent fountain featuring the Norse goddess Gefjon.
We now peddled home, joining the throngs of cyclists on their way home from work. We commented that, if we lived here we would definitely commute via bike. In fact, over 50% of the city's populate commute on their bike. Add in a great public transport network and you wouldn't even need to own a car. There is even a small independent and self governing community in the heart of Copenhagen, Freetown Christiana. A car free and green community that has been self governing since its foundation by hippies in 1971.
A cup of tea, a short rest and we were back on out bikes and peddled back down to the lake for dinner. There was some kind of Red Bull extreme sport event that had been happening during the day. Now there was a DJ and a man cruising around on a hydro hover board. We grabbed our food and went to listen to the live music and watch people bungee jump off a crane.
Pretty fair to say that we had an absolutely spectacular day in our first stop in Scandinavia, the city of bikes, Copenhagen. Bevan and I have a new love in our lives and we will be back someday!
