Copenhagen is often described as “a city of cyclists” or “the world’s cycling capital”, but you will also hear the opinion that there aren’t any “cyclists” in Copenhagen, just normal people wearing normal clothes who use bicycles daily as their main form of transportation. Their argument is that they also Read More …
In the middle of my visit to Copenhagen I was treated to one of their famous Baltic low-pressure areas, which brought thirty-six consecutive hours of drenching rainfall. This had a somewhat dampening effect on bicycle traffic. Instead of the usual 500,000 there were only about 300,000 cyclists on the streets Read More …
In lots of cities, including the one I live in, there is an ongoing discussion about whether bicycles lanes should be painted on the street or on the sidewalk. If these are the only two options, I much prefer having a lane painted on the street, because car drivers can Read More …
Since the bicycle wasn’t even invented until the 19th century, earlier people like Archbishop Absalon (about 1128 –1201) had to make do with horses. Absalon was a typical archbishop of his time, meaning that he traveled around with an army or navy, or both, and fought lots of battles — Read More …
One of the greatest dangers for cyclists in any city is the risk of being run over at intersections by right-turning motor vehicles. (Left-turning in the UK.) Copenhagen has come up with a good solution to this problem. At a few intersections (only a few when I was there) they Read More …
At first glance I thought the Orlogsmuseet was going to be a watchmaking museum, because I incorrectly associated the Danish word orlogs with the French word horloge. But it turned out to be the Royal Danish Naval Museum, with a walk-in model of an old warship and several detailed models Read More …
The Workers’ Museum is in a building that has belonged to the Danish Labor Unions for many decades. The building also houses the historic Union Assembly Hall, which is still used for union meetings to this day. Various scenes from the history of the Danish labor movement have been built Read More …
The Strøget is 1.1 kilometers long and claims to be the world’s longest urban pedestrian zone.
Copenhagen in the 21st century has not only built itself a stunning new opera house, but also a world-class concert house called the DR Koncerthuset — “DR” being Danish Radio a.k.a. the Danish Broadcasting Corporation.
Copenhagen’s fantastic new opera house is called “Operaen”, which simply means “The Opera” because the -en ending is the definite article in Danish.