CPH

The Copenhagen Airport is our final Copenhagen destination. We’ve had quite a trip. The last day of any trip we’re usually pacing around, waiting for a cab, eager to leave. Not this trip.

We went out to our favorite coffee shop, sat in the sun and chatted with the locals.

We did our last walk around the harbor, noticing the new boats, commenting on the restaurants and clearly not wanting to leave. We met Laura, the music teacher from TaiPei who was on her way to Amsterdam and we had a chat. We saw Lena, the hotel manager, on her bike as we were walking to the Metro and she stopped to say goodbye. We got on the train and headed to the airport begrudgingly.

As we leisurely walked past all of our little shops and storefronts, we commented on how nervous we were when we landed. We weren’t sure about how to take the Metro. It seemed like a far walk to the hotel early last week and the neighborhood was very still that morning and felt a bit sketchy. Now it seemed comfortable and easy.

The Metro cost $6 for two of us to the airport and took 15 minutes at most. We squeezed all of my new clothes into our carry on suitcases, but SAS had other plans for us. A beautiful but grim gate agent said that she suspected that our suitcases were heavier than the 8 kilos allowed (17 lbs) and that we needed to check them. We said we brought them on board getting here and her response was that no one in the US checks!

Okay, we were un encumbered.

Fast pass TSA and into the lounge for a quick bite. Lots of shops and a very friendly airport awaits the last of our Kroner.

A couple of things about Denmark.

The bicycles- 600,000 of them in the city. More than the number of inhabitants. The most cycle friendly city in the world – other city planners come to see how it’s done. 50% of all employees bike to work every day. I did a deep dive into how this happened, and though Denmark had a big bike culture in the 1940’s, it petered out and began a small resurgence in the 1970’s, but slowly grew through city planning efforts at designated bike lanes and bike parking to what it is today – a culture! There are 40 bike shops in Copenhagen and 700 bicycle shop/repair employees. It is religion.

Fed ex is delivered on bikes, the locks are the coolest, and bike wear is office wear. People transport their shopping, animals and children on their bikes.

It’s very cool.

Smoking and vaping – we saw very little of it. As compared with most European cities, it’s almost non existent.

Drinking is ubiquitous. Everyone drinks all the time. On the street, in cafes, at lunch, on boats, probably at breakfast. Beer, wine, Snapps, cocktails, you name it. Aside from the guy tumbling out of the Eiffel bar, we saw no public drunkenness.

Sexuality is comfortable. No one blinks an eye. Many girl couples, many boys with pearls and nail polish, and they mingle with everyone else. It’s like brown eyes and blue eyes – no big deal. Lots of bathrooms are gender neutral because they are closed stalls. Pornography is not illegal, but we saw no displays of lurid anything anywhere.

They are not an overly demonstrative bunch, but they are friendly. They tend to grow up, go to school and work within a 20 mile radius. They teased that in Denmark a long distance relationship is an hour away. Because of this, they tend to have a close circle of friends and are a bit insular. However, we found everyone charming and warm.

Crime. No one worries overtly about it. We saw some graffiti in the outer boroughs and some bars on windows, but not a lot. Walking at 11:00 PM was comfortable.

Work life balance. They seem to be very good at this. Many scientists, designers and craftsmen that take their jobs seriously, but also make time for their family. There are duals income couples as a norm, but roles within the household seem to be shared. No one is racing – the pace is calmer, but they seem to get a lot done. They trust their government and Covid was miserable, but there were no protests or anti vax, anti mask crazies. They all did their part to protect the country as a whole.

Children are not protected the way we Americans protect our kids. They are left outside in their strollers while parents go pick something up. Things aren’t as “babyproofed”. They fall down and learn not to do it again. Parents aren’t worried all the time.

School is free and seemingly pretty encompassing. From trades to graduate level learning, everything is available.

Taxes are high, but services are all encompassing. You get what you pay for, and everyone is good with it.

The water is so clean in the canals that you understand why people swim all the time. Crystal clear, see the bottom clear. They say it was a real project, but they did it. The water from the tap is excellent. I drank from the tap every day. That’s saying a lot.

The best for last: Lennert.

https://kanalhusetcph.com/app/uploads/2024/04/The-Copenhagen-canalside-hotel-on-a-mission-to-bring-people-together.pdf

Please click on the link and read it. We met him. He’s marvelous.

My last look. We’ll be back.