havecarryonwilltravel

Last day in this run of Denmark’s biggest city. There are a few things we haven’t had time to do so this is a clean up day. Two galleries that are on our list do not open until noon and the last few days we had passed by them before opening. There are a couple of stores specializing in Danish designed furniture and products we most definitely want to walk through. I set out a route that would have us walking to the most distant gallery and then take the bus back. We need a little time to sort out what we are going to pack for the Germany leg of this trip. Without bikes and riding gear we should be able to get all we need into a shoulder bag each.

The first gallery has one exhibition we most definitely do not get. During the evenings it is a performance piece with actors that interact with the audience. In Danish, so it would not be of much use to us. During the day it is an installation with the remnants of the previous evenings performance. Only thing is it is all in Danish and we don’t get it either. The other exhibit is more accessible and we spend some time reading and wandering and analyzing.

Light/sound installations are popular in art galleries these days. Most are ho hum and I spend a couple of seconds in the area and walk on. The one in the second gallery we visit catches my attention and we spend 15 mins. or so in the room listening and watching. The other show is fascinating. With a single sheet of paper the artist depicts a 2 dimensional drawing and then by tearing the paper to construct another part to the composition and photographing it, the result is a 3 dimensional illusion. I found this really cleaver and spent a goodly amount of time looking at each and every picture.

In Copenhagen like any other big city, the variety of food available is vast. You can eat whatever your heart desires. I manage to try a couple of traditional Danish meals. The first is a roast pork sandwich. Not too unusual except the pork is roast with the rind on and the rind is very crisp. Tooth breaking crisp. It was OK. Today I had (sorry I don’t know if it an ‘a’ or if this is the general classification) Smorrebrod. Basically it is an open face sandwich. They are on display in a glass case and come with a variety of different toppings, shrimp and boiled egg, salmon and egg salad, roast pork, and, and, and. I had a smoked salmon with egg salad on white bread. Again, OK but not something I would search out on a regular basis.

Although surrounded by water, albeit salt water, and in a country that has more than it’s share of rain therefore a lot of fresh water, water, even tap water costs in restaurants. I’m guessing that is why everyone drinks beer.

One thing Debbie noted on our touring about the last few days is the size of the cars in the big city. All throughout Denmark we noticed the people drove little cars. Here, although only one 1/2 ton truck, the cars are at least a size bigger. The roads are actually quite wide here and there is not much street parking so it is possible to maneuver the beasts around and they are still not on average as big as at home but they are definitely bigger.

When I was in architecture school it was generally thought that paving stones (cobbles) are preferable to concrete and/or asphalt. They are more in scale with humans, they provide texture, they break up the unsightly uniform expanse, yada, yada. It is easy to buy into the rhetoric. After all concrete sidewalks, and asphalt roads are not the most aesthetically pleasing surfaces. I mentioned riding on the cobblestones and how it is not very nice. Well, after spending 3 days on foot they are not all that great to walk on either. The unevenness of them makes for tough slogging. Each step you have to be sure to lift you foot high enough so as not to kick the stone that is laid next to the highest of it neighbours. The ladies with any kind of heel whatsoever have to tip toe for blocks. Every step, ones’ ankles have to be able to roll in any direction and at any angle enough so as to maintain balance. They are wicked slippery in the rain.As each step is uneven when they are wet, balance can be even more precarious. Again because they are uneven the dips collect water and there are small puddles everywhere. And when it snows, not too often here, they are impossible to shovel. The preachers of the gospel in architecture and urban planning schools around the world should spend some time on the streets.

Tivoli Gardens – Goodbye Copenhagen

Off to Germany tomorrow but we shall return for one last foray into the Danish world in a couple of weeks.

Our first stop today is the Design Museum Denmark. There are extensive exhibits of early Japanese art, Toulouse Letrec posters, Danish chairs, modern Danish furniture,  and even a Ming Dynasty vase from between 1400 and 1600. Very interesting but boy, a lot to look at.

The SMK National Gallery of Denmark is the next stop. Paintings mostly and a few sculptures. I am always enthralled to gaze at works of Matisse, Rembrandt, Picasso, Diego. These artists had such talent and it was not just in painting, but in sculpting or weaving or other art forms. I stop to admire a sculpture of a woman, my size, dressed for an outing, and so real looking she might just be frozen in time for a second.

For something completely different, the next stop is Rosenberg Castle, Christian IV’s residence some 400 years ago. We stroll through most of the rooms, cranking our necks to see the cherubs in plaster on the ceilings. The best part was the Treasury with the jewels and gold. It is simply stunning, the various jewels set in rings, crowns, necklaces, earrings and goblets.

Lunch, we stop for a much needed break and food at a market more for locals than tourists. Noisy and busy, but good quiche and pizza.

The Round Tower is next and we walk up and up not on stairs but an incline inside the tower until almost the top, where we troop up a short flight of tight circular stairs. Outside on the viewing platform we can see over the rooftops and pick out the landmarks of Copenhagen.

On the way down, we stop in at a small gallery showing large tapestries. A pleasant surprise as they are all exquisite.

Our last stop of the day is Tivoli Gardens. We arrive at 5 pm just when the parade starts. It is a Disneyland sort of parade but much shorter. Cute and well done with smiley performers. We wander around Tivoli Gardens and through the amusement ride end. I can see the draw on a summer day, sitting on the lawn eating ice cream, but in the drizzling rain, I am not sure.

Five museums/attractions in one day. Tired feet but satisfied.

Today is a day of hurt. We aren’t on our bikes but we have decided to walk as most of the things we want to see today are close enough. The last 3 weeks we have supported our body weight through our butts. Today it is homo erectus, biped support with our legs stuff. Don’t know how far we walked but we are on our feet from about 9am to 3pm.

We bought a ‘Copenhagen Card’ before we left Canada and it  gives us free access to most of the attractions in the city and surrounding area. It is quite easy really, we walk up to the till flash our card and we are in. By walking from place to place we get to see what the city is like and how it operates.

Copenhagen is quite a big city but by world standards it is quite small. The population is about 600,000. Smaller than Edmonton but it is sure one hell of a lot busier. Some of it is tourists and we are in the area tourists frequent but mostly I think people here don’t use cars as much and therefore there are more bodies on the street rather than in a small, wheeled tin box.

It is the biggest city in Denmark and therefore by default the biggest city we have been in. I had mentioned how clean I thought Denmark is. Copenhagen is a city and does have its share of trash on the streets but it is still very tidy by any standard. There are not an overabundance of trash cans or anything but I presume the culture demands that garbage be stowed as opposed to tossed.

Rush hour here has three distinct elements. At home rush hour is strictly automobiles. Sometimes it is faster to walk rather than sit in a traffic jamb at 5pm. Here this morning there is action on the roadways. There are numerous vehicles on the streets but there is no gridlock. The bike roads are flush with commuters. People biking in their work duds. Racing along in peletons headed for work. The sidewalks are very crowded. The downtown and surrounding area has a lot of housing and people live close enough to work they can walk the distance easily.

Amalienborg Palace changing of the guard

The changing of the guards at the royal residence is on our list. We arrive a 1/2 hour early expecting crowds. We sit on a chair fence and more and more people amass. At 11.55 there is a rush to the black lines painted on the pavement outlining the edge of the ‘performance space’. We miss the cue by about 5 seconds and are in the third row of viewing. A polite lady moves over a little so Debbie can see. Very nice these Danes. The actual implementation of the change of the guards is quite boring, really. The uniforms are quite flashy but the process falls flat as far a entertainment goes.

We then board a boat and go for a 50 minute tool about the Copenhagen canals. It is always interesting to see a city from the water. It is lower than any of the land and you can get a distant view of the streetscapes that line the shoreline. The tour guide gives us a little history of the city we are not likely to pick up on our own.

There is a section of Copenhagen called Freetown. It is an area taken over by ‘hippies’ in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. There were some unoccupied buildings about and the young travelers squatted in them and eventually made them into a permanent residence. I think the authorities just plain gave up trying to get rid of them and the area is now established as a pretty much anything goes kind of place. Really I think it has grown well beyond its original counter culture experiment and is now one of the main tourist attractions in the city. We were accosted by a pair of cruise ship folks and accused of being one of them, heaven forbid. They had specific instructions on the ship not to take pictures and were wondering why I had my camera out. I took a few shots and no one seemed to care too much. The thing that made me think the place had become more than utopia was the cost of the food at one of the mini restaurants. Looking at the menu, which was posted at the entrance, not exactly hippy stuff, the prices were higher then we had noted in the downtown area. Rather suspect.

The last place we see is the ‘Danish Architecture Centre’. It is a nice display of architectural stuff. The message behind most of it is how we have to change our view of the built environment or the world is going to hell in a hand basket. I had to chuckle because it is the exact same stuff preached to me when I was in architecture school 40 years ago. Almost to the letter really. One would think the world could turn a corner in 40 years but it does not seem to be the case. I guess we are doomed.

We need to build our walking stamina up over the next few days as we are going to spend the next two weeks on our feet. Although tomorrow we may sneak in a train or bus ride.