Of Swedish Pancakes and Secret Cafes

 "This is what Sweden is - quiet people leaning over the newspapers and coffee cups, each one with his own thoughts and destiny."

                                                                                                                                            ~  Henning Mankell

Finishing our trip in Stockholm. We took a bus trip around the city, sitting on the top flight of a double-decker bus. We made note of those areas that we thought we may want to come back to. Stockholm has lots of parks and green swathes of shaded grass where it seems the Swedes like to gather and lay about of a sunny afternoon. The architecture was, again, phenomenal. Near our hotel we found a lovely little coffee shop where we could, indeed, lean over our newspaper and coffee cup, enjoying exceptional coffee and pastries.

While on this bus, we skimmed around Old Town, a part of Stockholm that we really wanted to see. Our brief glimpse of Old Town showed that the streets were clotted with tourists.

So, we continued along being told of the sea-faring history, notable history, the culture, and the art.

But . . . we did go back to Old Town after all. And found that if we went down the narrow side streets that we were away from the crowds. We also found all sorts of little treasures. Like the little cafe, down through a narrow arched street that had a lovely patio set up in the midst of 16th century apartments and shops - including a shoe maker that still did that - made shoes by hand. Wonderful!

The next day, our last day in Stockholm, and our last in Europe, we woke early and sat and people-watched in the small park outside our hotel. We watched as fit Swedes walked by us after their run, and as a gypsy woman bathed in the fountain. 

We took a farewell walk around the area, finding more wonderful architecture, unique doors, and a lovely Turkish cafe with an effusive owner that was willing to talk to us about the weather, politics, Turkey, and the best coffee (his), while he smoked and smoked. 

And on this last day, we treated ourselves to real, authentic Swedish pancakes with lingonberries. They were delicious !

 

On Stumbling into Art, and Eating Tapas

“If Copenhagen were a person, that person would be generous, beautiful, elderly, but with a flair. A human being that has certain propensities for quarrelling, filled with imagination and with appetite for the new and respect for the old – somebody who takes good care of things and of people” – Connie Nielsen

While in Copenhagen, we took ourselves out to Den Bla Planet (the Blue Planet), Northern Europe’s largest aquarium. The architecture of this building is stunning. It was designed by Danish architects 3XN (3 designers, all with last name Nielsen thus, 3 X Nielsen). The spiral design (which is unique in the world) makes the building look like a whirlpool from the air, an eddy that disappears into the earth. Seeing as how it is so close to the airport, I would imagine a lot of people get to see its unique structure. The aquarium actually sits on an island, Amager, which is a suburb of Copenhagen. On the ground, surrounded by water, the building appears to be floating in a circular reflection pool and, because of its swooping lines, looks very organic – like a whale. It is so typical of the frequently cerebral architecture in Scandinavia that someone would design a building whose exquisiteness, uniqueness, and power . . . is seen best by being in the air above it. 

While there, we were most impressed by the hugeness of the Manta Rays and the incredible length of their tails. I was also impressed by the quiet elegance of the wind turbines far out at sea, on the side of the aquarium where children are given poles and bait to catch crabs to put (temporarily) in the touch pools.

On taking a walk around the more residential areas of Copenhagen we happened upon a building called the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. What the hell is a Glyptotek said we and went in. OMG. So much beautiful art - dozens of Rodins, some of his lesser works but right there at the beginning - The Kiss - one of my favourites! Room after room of marble sculptures and we practically had the place to ourselves. And we were ENCOURAGED to lay hands on the art and feel the vibrant life in the smooth marble.

This art museum houses over 10,000 works of art divided into two collections. One collection is works from the Mediterranean cradle of Western culture, the other of Danish and French art from the 19^th and 20^th centuries. It is usually advised that you plan out your visit to determine your priorities, so as to see what you want. Well, as we happened upon the museum serendipitously, we didn’t plan anything. I think we saw the majority of what was most pleasing to us, though.  Bar went upstairs to the see the Danish and French art (Monets!) but I didn’t as my knee was still very painful. Instead I sat in a hallway where chess tables were set up, so that people could play chess under the watchful eyes of incredible sculptures.

It was in Copenhagen that we had a meal that was the tastiest since leaving Italy. And it wasn’t Scandinavian food. It was a lovely Spanish tapas bar called Tapas Huset. Lovely, dim, broody place, decent wine, and great food. We tried a little of this and a little of that, some cold tapas, some warm tapas. A very satisfying meal. It was a relief to note that the Danes were butchering the Spanish when they ordered as much as we were.

Tapas restaurants, jazz clubs, bicycles and more bicycles, edgy architecture, and centuries-old buildings. I loved Copenhagen!

Looking for Virgins

“All the pathos and irony of leaving one’s youth behind is thus implicit in every joyous moment of travel: one knows that the first joy can never be recovered, and the wise traveler learns not to repeat successes but tries new places all the time.”  - Paul Fussell

Early the next morning we disembarked at Denmark, in Copenhagen. Our hotel was wonderfully located so that we could walk to a lot of different areas of Copenhagen from it.

Just at the end of our hotel’s street was the City Hall Square (Radhuspladsen). It seemed a fitting place to begin our first day of exploration of Copenhagen. The Radhuspladsen is the very central part of Copenhagen and it is from here that all measurements in Denmark are measured. There is a stone post that says “0 km” and all distances to the north, south and west are measured from this point. It used to be an old hay market, then an exhibition area. The place is still a popular venue for a variety of events, celebrations, and demonstrations. The morning we were there, there appeared to be several weddings – such that we weren’t sure which wedding party was which. But the largest congregations of celebratory people in this square were when Denmark was liberated from the Germans in 1945 and when the Danish soccer team won the European Championships in 1992. The square is important, too, because it is the mouth of the famous walking street, Stroget (which I will talk about later).

There is quite a lot of statuary around the square.

There is, of course, the statue of Hans Christian Andersen. A young man took off his pants and crawled up into Han’s lap – I suppose for a bedtime story. Actually, once a number of pictures were taken of him (I did not take one), he clambered back down and put his pants on, amongst some hilarity.

There were a number of dragon statues along the balustrade of the city hall. These were a distant, but related, part of a fountain closer to the street that depicted a bull and dragon fighting. 

Right on the corner of the square is a tower atop which is the Vejrpigen (the Weather Girl). This is a weather-telling sculpture. The sculpture is a golden girl that will tell you if it is going to be raining or sunny. If she comes out of the tower on her bicycle (ah, bicycles, I will tell you about later!), the weather will be clear. If she comes out of the tower with her dog and umbrella, it is raining. If you can see both at the same time, it will be an overcast day. This sculpture was created by Einer Utzon-Frank in 1936.

And finally, across the street are the Lur Blowers, atop a 20 meter high column. The statue was a donation by Carlsberg Breweries to the city of Copenhagen to celebrate the 100^th birthday of the brewer who started the brewery. Apparently the blowers will only blow their lurs when a virgin walks by. No one has heard anything from the musicians – ever.

 The bike culture in Copenhagen is world-famous. I cannot speak to the beautiful prevalence of bikes more eloquently than the Danes themselves. The following is from the official website of Denmark:

Young girls in stilettos on their way to a party and businessmen in suits going to work - no matter the weather and no matter where they are going - Copenhageners go by bike. It is no wonder Copenhagen was elected Bike City as the first city ever. In Copenhagen 50% of all citizens commute by bike every day and there are more bikes than inhabitants.

Though cycling is the cheapest mean of transportation next to walking Copenhageners love their bikes no matter their financial income. Many middle class families with kids in Copenhagen don't even own a car. They use their bikes to commute to work, bringing the kids to kindergarten etc. In fact 25 percent of all families with two kids in Copenhagen have a cargo bike.

Even top politicians ride their bike every day to parliament. A majority (63 percent) of the members of the Danish parliament, located at Christiansborg Castle in the middle of Copenhagen, commute by bike.

As a first time visitor in Copenhagen the amount of bicycles on the streets can be overwhelming. But you will soon realize, that life in Copenhagen is based on bicycles as a very important means of transportation.

With 390 kilometers of biking lanes and traffic lights especially for bikes, the city's infrastructure is build on the fact that a bicycle is not only the cheapest, healthiest and fastest way to get around the city, it is also a very important factor in reducing carbon emission. Therefore bicycle culture is a vital part of the city administrations ambition to become the first carbon neutral capital in the world by 2025.

Facts on bikes in Copenhagen 2011

       50 % of all Copenhageners commute to work or study by bike.

       35 % of all who work in Copenhagen – including people who live in the suburbs and neighbouring towns but work in Copenhagen - commute to work by bike.

       25 % of all families with two kids in Copenhagen have a cargo bike they use to transport the kids to kindergarten and for grocery shopping etc.

       In total Copenhageners bike 1.2 million kilometers a year, which equals a trip to the moon and back, twice. In comparison Copenhageners only travel 660.000 kilometers by Metro.

       In central Copenhagen there are more bikes than citizens. 520.000 inhabitans and 560.000 bicycles.

       The busiest biking lane in the world is Dronning Louises bro in Copenhagen with up to 36.000 cyclist passing throu daily.

       63 % of all members of the danish parliament, located in the middle of Copenhagen, commute daily by bike.

              Copenhagen was elected Bike city 2008 – 2011 by ICU.

My own love of bikes has to do with their shape, their simplicity, their personalities. I cannot help taking photos of bikes.