Hey, There's An Old Zealand

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Copenhagen may not be as dolled up as some of its Scandinavian contemporaries but it takes up the slack with more than its fair share of spunk. There's still plenty to admire in her looks and Danny Kay wasn't whistling Dixie when he declared Copenhagen wonderful wonderful. Without knowing the lyrics to that song, I'll bet they were referring to the architecture, social scene and location location location.

Copenhagen sprawls over a myriad of islands interspersed by dozens of narrow canals conjuring up images of Amsterdam. The bike culture augments that Amsterdam feel. There are equally as many people weaving the streets via pedal power as there are in cars. OK, perhaps not quite as many but you get the point. This city is tailor made for 2 wheels, being as flat as the form of the Australian swim team. So when in Rome............. For the princely sum of $20 we jumped aboard our very elegant white ensembles complete with basket on the front and pedalled from one Copenhagen sight to the next. This is THE way to explore a town, just as we did in Vancouver some months ago, only warmer.

Favourite Copenhagen Enclave - Christianshavn. A stereotypical vision of Copenhagen might be The Little Mermaid acting sentry over a harbour lined with the finished products of famed Danish architects, well educated rational locals sitting at canalside tables supping the odd Tuborg or two and Princess Mary overseeing the show from her royal balcony. The alter ego of that is Christianshavn, a haven of counter culturalism where the smell of weed is thick in the air, police turn a blind eye and artistic creativity is the order of the day. This rundown earthy few hectares rubs shoulders with multi million dollar apartment complexes and I love the juxtaposition.

Least Favourite Copenhagen Enclave - Christianshavn. Why is it that supposed oases of art counter culture appear to give the cold shoulder to basic human and civic hygiene? Christianshavn is bursting with folk who could really use a tub and it's lane ways wouldn't complain if someone bothered to swing by with a broom every now and then. All of its citizens enjoy the soft drug liberalism that Copenhagen allows and plenty of this gentry punch out some catchy artworks. On the other hand there is no shortage of others who seem to consider "living the creative dream" involves being permanently shitfaced, comatosed in a gutter at midday, surrounded by empty bottles and joint butts, living off the fat of Denmark's generous social security system. They come in all ages with a reasonable smattering of 1960s dropouts who never dropped back in and surrounded by potential younger protégés.

There's a lot to like about Christianshavn and a lot to dislike.

The greater Copenhagen area sits on the island of Zealand. I assume our brothers across the ditch took their name from here but it's difficult to see the connection. Ignoring that, if you happen to be in this ballpark, try and squeeze in a day trip up to Helsingor in North Zealand. The town itself warrants the detour plus it hosts Kronborg Slot, aka Hamlet's Castle.

Helsingor is the part of Copenhagen that went to charm school and managed to sift off most of the grunge. Helsingor is also a few short klms across the strait from Sweden and the town milks a bladder full of krona selling grog to thirsty Swedes who regularly make the transit for significantly cheaper prices. If that means the rest of this region's alcohol prices are way up on Denmark, which ain't exactly bottom shelf, then the rest of Scandinavia is going to be a dry old argument.

I'll close off with my major gripe, not only on Denmark, but on a European phenomenon. Anti smoking etiquette may have taken hold in the law books but many of the good citizens of this continent seem determined to push the envelope on those laws, or is it just that Australia really is a nanny state and we should pack up our puritan arses and get over it. Whatever the case, nobody will convince me that streets carpeted with cigarette butts is a good look. Nor did I appreciate the 16 year old girl who almost shoved me off the bench I was sitting on so she could light up and blow her smoke over my face as I was attempting to nosh down my pesto chicken roll. It's times like that I really miss my wheat and oat bran for breakfast when I can, on demand, conjure up a whoopsy. I would have given her both barrels. Alas, thanking her for allowing me the privilege to suck in her smoke then walking away was only met with a snicker. Grrrrrrrr.

More images at:

www.colvinyeates.zenfolio.com

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Photos

The Little Merman
Helsingor's answer to The Little Mermaid

Kronborg Slot
aka Hamlet's Castle

Armed to the teeth
Princess Mary's personal guards

Comments

[Fiona cosgrove]

Smoking for all
Haha Gary (I presume not Penny) - sure you could have found some payback for the smoke sharer that didn't require oat bran! Great to read your news.. all good on the Gold Coast!

[His Dudeness]

Where New Zealand gets its name from
New Zealand doesn't get its name from Sealand, Denmark, but from the Dutch province of Zeeland. It was so named by Abel Tasman who was Dutch and came from that province. Hence, he named this new island he had discovered, Nieuw Zeeland in Dutch, and in English it became New Zealand.

[colvinyeates]

I stand corrected
Thanks His Dudeness, I'll lock that one away.

[Sameul]

Grass growing on Wall like illusion.