Skal!

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Copenhagen is home to 1 million people including all the suburbs and is a really cool city. The weather was amazing when I was there which according to Katrine with whom I stayed (my friend from India) is unusual for this time of year. There certainly is plenty to do here, you need a big wallet though as it is even more expensive than London!!! There is a law that no building can be higher than 5 storeys in the city and being that Denmark is virtually all at sea level you don't get many opportunities to see the city from a vantage point. There is however a very tall gothic church in Christian Town called Vorfrelsers Kirke (Our Saviours Church) which was well worth the climb as the views were excellent. It does not look that tall but at the top it is really thin and a long way down, believe me! Very close by is Chritiannia which is a community of hippies living in the old fort area of the city. This place was beautiful and full of interesting and different people. Since 1972 (I think!) it has been home to about 1,000 people, they pay no tax and have to build their own unique houses. Presently, there is a great deal of controversy surrounding the settlement as the current greedy right wing government in Denmark wants to reclaim the land and build more modern apartments. This would be a real shame as Chritiannia has a very unique feel and charm. Taking brunch is very fashionable at the moment in Denmark and also very good. The canal tour was a good way to see the city and passed through many interesting places and sites including the Little Mermaid, perhaps the most potent symbol of Copenhagen. Hans Christian Andersen is a famous Dane who wrote many fairy tales including The Little Mermaid so the statue is dedicated to him. Apparently there are queues there sometimes for people to have their photo taken with it, when I was there, there was the token bus full of Japanese Tourists! Further along the harbour is Kastle where the Danish secret service is based and in contrast to paranoid Britain you can literally walk straight through and around it, it is also shaped like a star. From Kastle you have an excellent view of the harbour and the contentious new opera house which is a really special building having a completely flat silver roof that overhangs the entire complex. Newhavn is the most touristy area of the city and is very similar to Amsterdam in terms of being along a canal, it is however very colourful and there were many restaurants and cafes to visit. No visit to Copenhagen is complete without a trip to Tivoli which is a theme park in the city centre, from the roller coasters you can see the city, at least for a few seconds at a time anyway. The best way to get around is on bike, there are thousands of them everywhere and according to Katrine everything is only 10 minutes away! (not) The Danes are very civilized people and always speak English, second to Luxembourg they have the highest proportion of the population speaking a foreign language at 68% so I was rescued again from a language barrier! All in all Copenhagen is well looked after and great place to hang out, I had a very special and memorable time. Skal means cheers incidentally!

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Photos

Me, Katrine and Lars
Not in India this time!

View from Vorfrelsers Kirke
Don't look down, its shakes also!

Vorfrelsers Kirke
The Church of Our Saviour