Oh, Copenhagen… where to begin? We loved loved LOVED Copenhagen. When we arrived, we took the most direct route to our apt. This direct route took us down one of the main streets of our neighborhood, Vesterbro. Now, Vesterbro used to be the drug/prostitute area of the city. It has since been gentrified, and those druggies and prostitutes now share the neighborhood with young hipster professionals and new families. So, our first walk to our apt was a little scary. We definitely walked by a drug house, many sex/adult shops, and loads of sketchy looking people. I thought…omg, what have we done?? As we kept walking, the

Our hood.

neighborhood seemed to get a little better, and when we finally arrived to our apt our host, Sophie, was waiting for us on her doorstep. Behind her was the door of the apt building, and it was covered in graffiti. Again, I think…what have we done?? As I look across the street, there is a school playground with all of the ramps, backboards, etc., also covered in graffiti. This graffiti was a little different. It looked like art- very colorful, and quite beautiful. On the ground floor of one of the buildings around the corner is an entire mural of spray-paint art- also, very beautiful. Okay…so maybe this place isn’t so bad. The apartment is cute, comfortable, and clean- complete with appleTV and Netflix- YES!!

Jackie takes good pictures.

As we explored the city we noticed that the ENTIRE city is under construction, which was a little annoying at times. They are building a new metro system, and are apparently working on the whole thing at the same time. All of the construction sites are surrounded by wooden walls that are painted green. In our neighborhood, the walls are no longer green, different artists have produced incredible murals on these temporary structures, and the results are phenomenal. While we were there, the art changed. With the roads closed, the artists started on Saturday morning, and were done by Sunday night. They painted over the previous artwork with their own. It was really great to see the beginning, middle and final outcome. It was more like an event rather than just some artist doing their thing. There was music being played over loud speakers, little skate ramps for the kids, people out on the grass picnicking and throwing frisbees. There was even a camel for the kids to ride- yes, a REAL camel. This was all in our backyard so to speak, so it’s amazing we ventured out at all.

Name of the pastry.: The Danish Specialty.

There’s this really long pedestrian-only street in Copenhagen called Strøget. The street was full of tourist shops, restaurants, street performers, and this amazing bakery that served this Danish (get it…Danish…in Denmark…) called Danish Speciality, and oh was it! There was gooey bread, with cinnamon and nuts, and…well, I don’t remember what else, but it was delish! So much so, that we ordered it again the next day, and I may have found the same bakery in the Copenhagen airport, and bought one to eat on our way to Stockholm!

We spent a day, or half day at Tivoli gardens which was absolutely lovely. We watched a couple of traditional danish performances, and a children’s play that was in Danish, the songs of which we didn’t understand, but still sing to this day 🙂 Tivoli is a really cute place. There’s rides for both kids and adults, but it’s very aesthetically pleasing.

Cee-Lo Green concert.

Very clean with a great vintage feel, and I guess it should as it opened in 1843, which makes it the second oldest theme park in the world! In the evening, we watched a performance by CeeLo Green, which was a nice way to end the evening if I do say so myself.

So, I don’t know about you, but when I think of Copenhagen, I think of a port town. So, when I got there, I was a little disappointed at first…until we arrived in Nyhavn. Nyhavn is more or less how I pictured Copenhagen. It’s a small area of the city with a waterway with buildings on each side. All of the buildings are painted different colors.

Nyhavn

Most of them are restaurants, that allow patrons to sit outside, near the water, and enjoy the bustle of the town. We stopped and ate smørrebrød, a traditional Danish open-faced sandwich, and walked along the water to the statue of “The Little Mermaid.” The weather was almost perfect for us, giving us only little bits of rain here and there for a couple of days. This allowed us to walk the city all day, and enjoy all of the artwork, architecture, and sights.

There is this area of Copenhagen called Christiania. Now, Christiania was described to us as a free state. They are technically under Denmark rule, but

Christiania

for some reason, their laws do not apply. So, historically, marijuana is bought and sold openly in Christiania, but hard drugs have not had this same freedom. They were bought and sold, but not openly. Today, marijuana can still be purchased, but the selling has been confined to an area called the green light district. Here, we were free to walk through and see everything, but were not allowed to take pictures. We went to Christiania on a Sunday night to listen to free live music at one of the cafes. The venue turned out to be an open air theater with loads of table and chairs, and bleachers up on the hill. We ordered the local beer and grabbed a seat at a community table to wait for the music. A couple of young men sat next to us, joints in hand, and Javier swears he saw a little bag of “white stuff”- I don’t doubt it. After a little while a couple of older guys sat in between us and the young guys. They were clearly wasted/high/who knows what. At one point, I looked at Javier across the table and noticed that his hair was sticking straight up in the front. I smoothed the hairs down with my hand, and smiled at him. Without missing a beat the guy sitting next to Javier reaches over and smoothes Javier’s hair with his hand. We all started laughing, and the guy put his arm around Javier”s neck, and in his drunken stupor pulls Javier in for a smooch on the cheek. HA! HA! He didn’t pull it off, as Javier was quick to react, but we all had a good laugh and then the guy proceeded to sing James Blunt’s “You’re beautiful” to Javier. Good times in Christiania.

Cemetery runs in Copenhagen

We went on a couple of runs while in Copenhagen. We found what we thought was a park and decided to head that way for a run. When we got there and started off, I noticed a headstone…and then another one, and another one…I stopped running. I found Javier and we decided that we would run on one of the main roads to exit the cemetery, as we did not want to be disrespectful. On our way out, we came across other joggers, walkers, and cyclists. These people were clearly out for exercise, not to pay their respects, so we figured…it must be okay, and we ran, but only on the main roads. Is it weird to run in a cemetery? Is it weirder that we returned a couple days later to run some more? This cemetery was unlike any cemetery I have ever seen, and for those who know me, know that I love cemeteries and have therefore seen quite a few…I know, I’m weird. This cemetery looked like a park with tons of trees and bushes, complete with a small lake and ducks! The headstones were often times hidden, and there were little pathways through bushes and trees that would lead to other plots. It was very different than the cemeteries we have at home with countless headstones all in a line, spread over an open space. It was really peaceful there, and beautiful. Dare I say it, but it was the kind of place you would want to jog, or just go for a stroll. There was absolutely nothing creepy or eerie about it. We both decided we were going to miss our runs in the cemetery.

The outdoor bar.

A lot of Copenhagen was recuperation. Javier basically watched a family guy marathon on our down time. We had a really great time just enjoying our neighborhood, eating at all the local restaurants, and taking part in the local scene. Since the weather was so nice, everyone was outside socializing and relaxing in the sunshine. There are many outdoor seating areas that are not necessarily connected to restaurants, so you would see people eating, drinking or just sitting all over the city. A highlight for me was when we were at our neighborhood bar, and the bartender asked Javier if he was Japanese…his second guess was South American. Hehehe. Oh, before I forget…the bicycles. Copenhagen has so many cyclists. They have more bike traffic than car traffic. And these aren’t just regular bicycles, many of them have a cart attached to the front.

Bicycle traffic in Copenhagen.

People use these bikes for shopping, carrying work supplies, and other people. Yes, at one point I saw an entire family in a bike. The dad was pedaling, while the mom and two little kids rode in the front cart. I tried to get Javier to rent one of these and cart me all over the city, but I don’t think these types of bikes were for rent. None of the bikes are locked. You would see hundreds of bikes lined up outside the train station, and not a single one has a bike lock attached. Pretty impressive. I should also add that 99% of these people do not wear helmets. At first, I thought this was just irresponsible, but after watching the traffic, the cars are so used to the bikers, and at many times, the bikers out number the cars on the road. It was all very impressive, and I thought about how much I would enjoy living in a city where more people bike than drive.

I guess it’s fair to say that Copenhagen has been our favorite so far. It was not only a great place to visit, but a great place to live. After all, they are the happiest people in the world!

 To see more pictures click HERE.