“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,
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 19th and 20th 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!
