“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 100th 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.
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.
