Copenhagen is one big construction site and has been so for the last many, many years. One thing we Danes are good at is infrastructure, but I do long for a city without cranes and building space fences, and holes in the ground. It is the Metro expansion, central heating pipes (to make the city CO2 free in 2025) and new residential blocks for a growing population that causes all this.
The King's New Square, Kongens Nytorv - from it was laid out in 1670 it has been one big traffic jam. For years the metro construction in Copenhagen has made it look like this with workers sheds and fences, but soon it will be back to its old form and my daughter will probably be able to dance around the statue of King Christian the fifth as is tradition for the gymnasium graduates in Copenhagen.
This will again be a square with a statue in the middle... In the background you can see th finest hotekl in Copenhagen D'Angleterre
To the left behind the cars, Charlottenborg Castle where the Royal Academy of fine arts have been reciding since 1754. That was where I had my education. In the Background the Royal Theatre.
Nyhavn (new harbour). One of the most iconic places in tourist Copenhagen, but not what is was back when you could be beaten up and raped by a sailor after a visit to the Hong Kong pub. I used to go drink stout with my friends Martin, Jens and Andrew in the public house called Nyhavn 17. Then with a sour old waiter in white shirt and black waistcoat, now a tourist trap like all the rest.
A three mast ship at the bay at Christianshavn. There are still many wooden ships in Copenhagen.
The harbour bath at Islands Brygge where I have been swimming every morning until it closed the first of Oktober. There is still winter bathing.
I guess some of you know the Carlsberg Beer franchise. This is Carlsberg City, the area with the old brewing plant. Now all the beers are made in a large facility placed in the middle of Denmark so the beer can be brought out faster to the thirsty population. We all know what Hamlet, the chased bore, had to say about this:
"This heavy-headed revel east and west
Makes us traduced and tax'd of other nations;
They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrase
Soil our addition."
(I. iv. 17-20.)
So now they are building a whole new quarter here for sober and decent families with enough money to pay the rent.
Well, that's all for today.
You Danes think of everything!
Haha, I actually just thought about if I should take a photo of these bike-trashcans yesterday. Now I see that I needn't.
Copenhagen is one of the few capitals in Europe I haven't managed to visit for work. It is on my list of places I would like to take a family holiday to, but it is just so expensive! Prague has jumped up the list quite a bit this week!
True, It is really expensive here. Not something you think about when you live here of course.
Ah, of course, when you earn at the local rates... everything should seem normal!
Haha, yes, but truth is that I earn a lot less than local rates :)
The Danes are a good lot. I can't but always have a favourable opinion of them as I always think of my favourite writer Isak Dineson/Karen Blixen. Her mind and ideals just suited me and I use her as a sort of template when I consider the Danes, possibly an unfair generalization, but a favourable one at least.
She was a wonderful author. I think that favourable generalisations are OK. If you admires the Japanese or the Pakistanis there is no harm in it at all. We need ideals. The other way around is just pathetic scape-goading and a whole other ballgame.