My trip to Denmark didn’t exactly get off to a smooth start. I flew to Copenhagen via SAS Airlines, who broke the wheel off my bag somewhere in transit. When I found it in baggage claim, it was precariously hanging off the side of my bag via a sharpe, jagged sliver of plastic. Consequently, I was forced to spend my first moments in Copenhagen lugging my wounded bag through the streets in the rain, going shop to shop looking for something that could be used to fix my bag.
Eventually I found some expensive Gorilla Tape, and—from the refuge of a coffee shop while I waited for my Airbnb’s check-in time to come available—used it to patch the wheel back onto my bag. I’ve done a lot more traveling with this bag since then, and the wheel is still on my bag somehow, thanks to that tape. I now travel with the remainder of the tape in my bag just in case. So, +1 for Gorilla Tape, and -1 for SAS.
OK, with that out of the way, LET’S GO SEE COPENHAGEN!
Intro to Copenhagen
Copenhagen (or, in Danish, København) is the capital city of Denmark. It is also the most populous city, with a metro area population of 2.1 million people, which is almost double the population of its next largest city, Aarhus. If you’ve never taken a moment to observe the geography of Copenhagen, you can do so on the map below; it’s actually pretty interesting. It sits on an island in the North Sea called Zealand—which is home to a whopping 40% of Denmark’s population!—right between Sweden and the peninsula that forms mainland Denmark. This stretch of water is known at the Danish straits, and it separates the North Sea from the Baltic Sea. Thusly, it is quite a consequential water way for trade with Poland, Finland, the Baltics, and Russia.
It was established by the Vikings in the 900s AD and became the capital of Denmark in the 1400s. It would also serve as the capital of a country that existed for just a couple of centuries called the Kalmar Union, which included basically all of the Nordics into a single country. Pretty cool sounding country if you ask me. And København’s elite status amongst the Nordics continues even today. It’s beautiful, it’s posh, it’s cool, it’s influential, and it’s expensive.
However, Copenhagen’s significance to me is a bit more specific. There was a period of time not so long ago when I was living under the assumption that I might soon be moving here. This was for grad school. Ultimately, in what was an unexpected turn of events at the time, I ended up in London instead. And I love London, but I will periodically think about what my life would have been if I had come to Copenhagen instead. Incredibly, I had never actually visited Copenhagen at the time when my life’s path seemed to be leading me here, so it had remained a mystery to me up until now. But it’s safe to say that I had this place on a pedestal. It just seemed like the absolute perfect place, in every respect except perhaps the weather, which seemed quite tolerable in the grad scheme of things.
So in this series of 3 articles in Copenhagen, we will finally answer the question, “WAS PETER’S COPEN-HYPE WARRANTED??"
Indre By (Central Copenhagen)
I would come to learn that this is the part of Copenhagen—the historic city center—that locals tend to avoid. I suppose every city has a place like this, but usually that feels a bit more warranted than it did in Copenhagen. Central Copenhagen is absolutely beautiful. It’s the crisp, Nordic wonderland you’ve always dreamt of. But after you’ve experienced the more residential areas of Copenhagen as well, you can feel the difference in energy. By comparison, the sensation of community is somewhat lacking in Central Copenhagen relative to the more residential portions of the city, which I will share in a forthcoming post.
The Danish name for this part of Copenhagen is “Indre By” and it basically sits between two main canals. The first canal is literally a narrow stretch of ocean, on either side of which sit the North Sea and Baltic Sea. This first canal also has lots of little offshoots that cut into the city and create interesting little urban waterways like you might find in Amsterdam. The second canal isn’t really a canal at all, but rather 3 man-made lakes, colloquially known as simply “The Lakes” / “Søerne.” They each have unique names: Peblinge Sø, Sortedams Sø, and Sankt Jørgens Sø. Apparently there used to be a stream here (centuries ago; we’re talking mideival times) but it was dammed off to provide water to the growing metropolis, and later expanded as a military fortification. Over the centuries these lakes have evolved in both form and purpose, but one thing has remained constant: together, they form the boundaries of what is considered to be the city center. You’ll see these boundaries quite intuitively if you zoom in on the map above.
There are all manner of historic sites in this area, but as you may have guessed if you are a regular reader of this website, I was more interested in just walking around and taking pictures. Here’s a taste of Indre By…
Nyhavn
If you’ve seen only 1 picture from Copenhagen, it’s probably of a place called Nyhavn. This is a small urban waterway cut from the ocean water that bisects Copenhagen and forms the eastern boundary to Indre By. It’s lined with brightly colored historic townhouses on either side that are easily the #1 more Instagrammed location in this city… I assume. I got here in time for the harsh pre-golden hour light, but in spite of that managed to come away with some interesting pictures.
This little canal dates back to 1670, when a combination of Danish soldiers and Swedish prisoners (Denmark and Sweden has been at war about 10 years prior). Likewise, most of these structures date back to the late 1600s. Take a look and I think you’ll see why it is such an iconic spot.
TorvehallerneKBH
The next stop of my itinerary for places to go in Central(ish) Copenhagen was a market called TorvehallerneKBH. There’s not much historic about it—in the center of one of Copenhagen’s many beautiful, cobblestone squares, there sits a decidedly new-looking piece of construction that houses a big market. In this market you’ll find a mix of tourists and locals alike, all washing over a magical combination of flower sellers, coffee shops, bakeries, restaurants… the list goes on. It’s a great place to stop for lunch, for coffee… choose your excuse, but do pay it a visit. I opted for a flat white and a cinnamon pastry, as this struck me as the most authentically “Danish” in the moment.
(FYI, Danish bakeries are known for their cinnamon pastries.)
Here’s the link to this place on Google Maps in case you’re in the neighborhood and want to chiggity check it out: https://g.co/kgs/AiSq1wE
Copenhagen Opera House
We’re venturing out of the main historic center of Copenhagen now and crossing the main canal at the center of the city. On the other side of this canal, although I believe you are technically still in Indre By, the facades quickly begin to shift from the historic 17th century townhouses to the chic, modern constructions that the Nordics are known for these days. One such specimen of modern Scandinavian architecture is the Copenhagen Opera House. Because of its location on a little island in this central canal, it’s not the most convenient place to access via public transportation. In fairness, there is a public ferry that will drop you off right in front of this place, but it wasn’t convenient for me at the time. However, getting over here on foot was actually an interesting walk because it pushed me out of the historic center of the city for the first time.
I’m always low-key evaluating new cities as potential future homes—which was a lot more true in Copenhagen than most cities—so seeing these less-central locales was very interesting for me. Many of these areas of Copenhagen looks like architects and urban planners were simply given a blank check and told to “make something cool.” I had seen pictures of this kind of thing before and never thought that it looked particularly homey, but once I was actually moving through this space, the human element of it all was a pleasant surprise. In the middle of the Danish summer, people were out in force! And they were walking, running, biking, boating, roller blading, everything you can imagine. It looked like a really cool community to be a part of.
Anyway, now on to the actual Opera House. A.K.A. The Royal Danish Opera House. (Yes, Denmark still has a monarchy, like England.)
Here’a a few fast-facts on this place via Visit Copenhagen for you:
“It totals 41,000 square meters. Five of the fourteen stories are subterranean. The main stage of the opera seats an audience of 1400.
The Opera House is clad with southern German Jura Gelb limestone, and the foyer features Sicilian Perlatino marble. The wall of the auditorium facing the foyer is clad with maple wood, and the ceiling in the main auditorium is adorned with 105,000 sheets of 24-carat gold leaf, equivalent to 1.5 kilos of gold.
The Copenhagen Opera House is designed by Danish architect Henning Larsen, and several Danish artists have contributed to the decor, among them Per Kirkeby who has created four bronze reliefs, and Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson who has contributed the three light sculptures for the foyer.”
Because of its location directly across the canal from the city center and within view of Copenhagen’s more industrial maritime areas, you get a really cool panoramic view the encompasses both historic and modern Europe. It’s a really cool way to see the different elements of Denmark wrapped up in a single frame.
Amager Bakke (a.k.a. Copenhill)
I’m going to end with the most Denmark thing I can even imagine: Amager Bakke, also know as “CopenHill”
This is a power plant that doubles as a bar, climbing wall, and year-round ski slope. Yes, year-round! They have a ski lift and astroturf that enables skis and snowboards to slide down it almost as if there was snow!
I got to visit a plant like this in the UK this past spring—one that did not have any sort of cool recreational add-ons—and learned a lot about this process there. This facility—put simply—turns garbage into power, which is really cool! Never having produced the garbage in the first place (reuse or recycling) is ideal of course, but once we throw things into the trash, there’s an incredible system in place here to make sure that we salvage what we can. It’s not exactly carbon-neutral, but it does make sure that we are squeezing every possible utility out of our systems while the rest of our economies make the the transition to net zero. Also, this is dispatchable baseload power, which makes it extremely valuable in controlling for intermittency issues with renewables. Or, in layman’s terms, when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining, this still works.
Of course, as cool as this place is, it does smell a bit like garbage. Once I climbed all the way to the top, there were certain places where I was standing in the path of a jet of warm garbage air. Not exactly the new cologne I was looking for, but this is an industrial facility! And looking off into the distance from the top of CopenHill, you can see rows of majestic, white offshore wind turbines spinning quietly in the distance.
This is a big reason why I was so attracted to Denmark as to almost move here. They are truly the sustainability czars! It’s a really cool glimpse of what is possible in terms of creating a society and an economy that can exist in harmony with nature, and with our own human needs for community and a connection to nature. Here are a few shots from CopenHill.
That’s it for this article, but I’ve still got a couple more in the queue for Copenhagen. Up next we’ll be venturing a bit further afield from the historic center of the city and exploring some of Copenhagen’s more residential neighborhoods, and also getting a taste of anarchy in the hippie commune known as Freetown Christiania. Stay tuned! 🇩🇰 🚲 ♻️
