Copenhagen Epilogue

Just my thoughts before I forget them.

As we got into the shuttle van to take us to our car, we chatted with a couple that just got back from Paris and were comparing notes.

Copenhagen is not Paris. Paris is beauty at every turn and a refined sense of style and taste and artwork beyond your imagination. Paris is vast and has rules about where to eat and what to eat and when.

Copenhagen is not London. It has royalty, but on a minuscule scale next to London. London has theatre and culture and a long detailed history. London has so many different areas and they all feel different. London has David Bowie and the Beatles.

Copenhagen is not Italy. It is not passionate and effervescent. It doesn’t have astonishing natural beauty. Italy has a reverence for food and a zest for life found no where else. Italy has antiquities and vibrant history. Italy has Bella Figura.

Copenhagen is bite size. Copenhagen embraces the old and actively chases the future. Copenhagen is stable and sane. It is European, a bit Anglo and also Nordic. It’s a mix of the best of all of them. I think I’ve fallen so hard because it’s not just a good place to visit, it’s a good place to live. It has an enough crumbling grand buildings to sweep my heart, yet mixes them with clean, modern, efficient buildings so that you can live comfortably.

Education and children are valued, and not with lip service. Childcare is provided, kids are fed at school, healthcare is universal. People are not stressed nor are they lazy. It is a wonderful mix. The food is great, the coffee exemplary. The only hitch is the language. I have never heard an uglier language. It all sounds like gibberish that a comedian made up. It would be a bitch to learn.

However, at this phase of my life, to go to a happy, safe, clean, healthy place that is a little European, and little hip, and very relaxed seems like a good fit.

In Italy and France (and a bit in London), you always feel a little frumpy. You really need to put some effort into every outfit. You feel like you have to do things correctly, there are standards and rules. In Copenhagen it’s come as you are. It’s freeing. It’s not that they don’t care, they are just not judging the book by the cover. No one is posturing.

And they are intelligent, and well educated, and industrious and know how to have a good time. They are my people.

I’m sold and we’re going back. I want to see the countryside and the beaches. I’d like to get out on the water (with a captain) and see the rest of the islands. Who’s with me?

Until next time…