I’m in love with another city. Copenhagen. She’s clean, efficient, beautiful, friendly, small but not too small; everything you could ask for in a city. The minute I stepped on the metro at the airport, I knew it was love. There are only two metro lines in Copenhagen, so it’s pretty impossible to get lost. The trains are immaculately clean, and they run without drivers, which means that they run every few minutes 24/7, even late at night.
We got off the metro at the stop Kongens Nytorv, which is pronounced like “Kogs new toe.” Apparently in Danish you only pronounce about half the letters in each word. We emerged into a lively square where some cute guys were giving out free bottles of water. My friend Kristen was at first skeptical, as was I. As Kristen pointed out, when a stranger does something nice in a city, that’s often not a good sign. But our friend Sharleen, who has been studying in Copenhagen for several months now, assured us that things like that happen in Copenhagen. The city has the friendly, neighborly feel of a small country town, with all the amenities of a thriving metropolis.
We headed back to Sharleen’s dorm, which overlooks the canal. The dorm was in what looked like an upscale apartment building. After dropping off our things, we walked towards the water, where several trampolines were built into the sidewalk. Being the child that I am, I found this to be one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Trampolines-just there, right in the middle of the sidewalk, totally free, the way that other cites have benches. My love for the city was confirmed.
We walked along the water to the Black Diamond, the futuristic building which houses Copenhagen’s public library. Inside, instead of escalators there are upward moving ramps. We sat in the library café, looking out at the water through the walls of glass and snacking on the delicious Danish version of a pop
tart. Copenhagen is one of the most expensive cities in the world, but Sharleen knew how to get by on the cheap. The library café was relatively chic and very reasonably priced.
Next we had to go see the famous mermaid statue, sculpted in honor of the story by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. We learned from Sharleen that Andersen had his heart broken several times and died a virgin, which maybe explains the gruesome and depressing nature of his stories.
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We walked by the Amalienborg palace and watched the changing of the guard. The Danish guards aren’t quite as uptight as the British guards. You can get them to change facial expressions. For lunch we got generous servings of incredibly tasty Pad Thai from Thai Asien, a restaurant just off the stunningly cute Nyhavn Street. The food was not too expensive, so I recommend hitting this place up if you’re planning a trip to Copenhagen.
In the afternoon we walked along the Stroget, Copenhagen’s version of the Champs-Elysées. It was pouring, but that didn’t stop the Danes. They continued to walk and bike through the city as though it was a perfectly nice day. There are more bikes than cars in Copenhagen, and the bike lanes are as wide as the car lanes. As Sharleen told us, you’re much more likely to get run over by a bike than a car in Copenhagen. The Danes bike through pouring rain, sleet, snow, you name it.
We stopped to check out Tivoli, a park that houses the second oldest theme park in the world. Sadly it was closed for the season, although it will reopen briefly for Halloween. The exterior was already decorated with lights and massive Jack O’ Lanterns. Next we headed over to the glass market, a food and beverage market that is housed in tent-like structures made of glass. There were free samples of bread, sausage,
fudge, and meringue to be found at the little stalls, and lots of beautifully displayed patisseries on which the eye could feast. If you wanted to get by in Copenhagen without spending money, you could probably fill up just from the samples at the glass market.
That night we tasted and fell in love with Somersby Cider. You can find Somersby all over in Copenhagen, and it’s very affordable. It comes in Blackberry, Pear, Apple, and Ginger. It was in brightly colored cans and reminded me of Doctor Brown soda because it was just as tasty. Next we went to the Dubliner, an Irish pub on the Stroget, where there was a cheap cover and a great Irish band.
Saturday morning we woke up late and headed out for brunch. The Danes seriously know how to do brunch. We went to a popular student café called Café Paludan that is also a bookstore. It looked like an old British clubhouse or the library at Hogwarts. Shelves of old books lined the walls, as did paintings of dapper-looking old men. The choices on the menu were overwhelming. The most popular item was a full brunch complete with eggs, pancakes, ham, cheese, Danish bread, and fruit. Many people were also eating the traditional Danish open-faced sandwiches.
My one problem with Copenhagen (no relationship can be perfect) is the weather. It’s freezing cold for a significant part of the year. In October it’s foggy and rainy. Thankfully, we actually had some sun on Saturday, so we decided to take advantage of it. Copenhagen is full of public parks, in which, unlike many of the parks in Paris and New York, you are actually allowed to walk on the grass. As soon as there’s the a little bit of sun, the Danes are out in the parks sun tanning, reading, and making out.
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We decided to be tourist-y and go on one of the canal boat tours. It ended up being worth it, despite the fact that it absolutely poured for the first ten minutes of the tour, and we had chosen seats outside. We passed by picturesque houseboats, futuristic apartment buildings, the Opera house, and the number one restaurant in the world. In case you were wondering, the
number one restaurant in the world (according to the Restaurant Magazine) is called Noma, and yes, it’s in Copenhagen. Based on my past fine dining experiences, I expected the number one restaurant in world to be massive and architecturally flashy, but in the typical Danish fashion, Noma looked simple and humble.
Saturday night we hit up Rust, a cool, two-story club. The experience was incredibly different than others I’ve had going out in Europe and the US. The guys are respectful. They don’t make obnoxious comments, they don’t grab you; people don’t really even grind. Everyone just jumps around and has a good time. The same goes for the street in Copenhagen. Guys don’t whistle at you or do everything in their power to make you feel uncomfortable, the way they do in France. I’ve never felt so safe in a city.
Sunday morning we ate a brunch to rival all brunches, at the popular Café Norden. It was a tad more expensive than the brunch at Café Paludan, but worth every cent. We started off by the choice between a chai latté, coffee, or hot chocolate. The beverages came with tiny cookies on the side. Next was a choice between yogurt, eggs, or pancakes. I chose yogurt. The food came out on a beautifully displayed platter, which included the best and most diverse fruit salad a restaurant has ever provided, a smoked salmon salad, a smoothie, and a slice of cake. This place definitely makes it onto my list of top five brunches ever.
We seriously needed to do some walking after brunch, so we climbed up the tower to the top of the Church of Our Lady. From there we enjoyed a view of the whole city and one of the bridges to Sweden. No tourist experience is complete without climbing to the top of some important monument.
Next we walked across the city to check out Christiania, an old hippy commune that is still considered an autonomous city. The commune stretched on and on. It was much larger than I expected. It was probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. With buildings painted in technicolor, tiny restaurants boasting vegetarian food, and gothic, overgrown wildlife, it was exactly the kind of thing you imagine when you picture a hippy commune in the 60s. I felt as if I had travelled back in time, especially seeing as Christiania is a bit closed off from the rest of Copenhagen, so there’s nothing of the twenty-first century to distract from the sixties vibe.
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After walking through Christiania, we stopped by Tiger. Tiger is a really cool store that you can also find in the UK, so definitely check it out if you’re studying in the UK right now. They sell random odds and ends; the kind of stuff that you find in the part of Urban Outfitters that doesn’t house the clothes. Except unlike Urban, Tiger has two whole floors dedicated to odds and ends like Halloween decorations, art kits, hair accessories, alarm clocks shaped like toasters, and all kinds of other stuff you probably didn’t need until you walked into the store.
For dinner we went to Halifax, a restaurant where you design your own burger. You choose between a chicken, beef, lentil, or celery patty, and various toppings, sauces, and sides. Probably one of the best burgers I’ve ever had. Plus you get the satisfaction of feeling that your dish is the result of your own creative efforts.
My weekend in Copenhagen was absolutely amazing. I may well consider moving there as long as I can get some of those special happy, sun-imitator lights for my house. If you’re abroad, definitely take a trip over there. It’s a completely different culture from ours in the US, and from other countries in Europe: a culture where they pay high taxes, but as a result they receive good, free education through grad school; there is no one living on the street, because the government takes good care of the homeless; the public transportation system is near perfect. And the list goes on. Copenhagen definitely makes for an interesting comparison to the US as we move into our next election. Being in Scandinavia made me wish that the US wasn’t so afraid of “socialism”, so that maybe one day our country could be as efficient and easy to use as Copenhagen.