I've eaten street food and dined in Michelin-star restaurants. I've slept in a tent on a mountain, in a bed in a five-star American hotel, in a mosquito-infested room in Amsterdam, and been rocked to sleep on many a cruise ship. I once got lost in Luxembourg for three hours, looking for a hostel and rapidly running out of weed in the meantime but that's a different story for a different time. Remind me to tell you about it because it's a pretty good story. But I digress, as I usually do.
So, Copenhagen (which the locals actually pronounce as "Ko-pen-hay-gen," not "Ko-pen-ha-gen," like the rest of us who do) has quickly become one of my favorite cities thus far. It's truly a cosmopolitan city, much like Amsterdam, London, Barcelona, or Berlin. One of the defining characteristics of Copenhagen is that you can walk around the entire city, including Christiania, in the span of a couple of hours and that's at a leisurely pace. Denmark, and Copenhagen in particular, get mad bonus points for being super liberal in their politics, very supportive of their population, and being home to more Michelin-star restaurants than anywhere in the world (again, more on that later...this is just an intro).
Copenhagen is the kind of city that makes you smile so hard it makes it look like your face is going to break. A couple from Indiana took this photo of us after we had done the plane travel and, very jet-lagged found our way to for bevvies and snacks, my mum (on the right) and me (on the left, sunglasses hiding our travel-weary eyeballs). It's on Nyhavn (street, avenue, strasse??), which is one of the oldest paths in the city, on a canal, and, apparently, where all tourists end up when they first get to Copenhagen. So that happened. It also happens to be the place to be on a beautiful Friday late-afternoon when the weather is amazing and the average Copenhagen citizen goes to watch the people walking by, laugh at the silly tourists (see above photo), and enjoy the view. Boats line the canal and droves of people walk by in all states of dress or undress (we just so happened to be there at that time during The Distortion (Thank you, Wikipedia!). If you can manage to make it to Copenhagen during The Distortion, I highly recommend it and I also highly recommend taking part in the festivities (something I aim to do in the future for sure).
The average Copenhagen citizens seemed to be doing what we were doing but according to their own rituals, like these guys:
Perfect summer evening so the perfect opportunity to hang out of the canal with beers, bud, and friends after work. And let's not even get into the architecture or the boats or the chill vibe of the whole place while we're at it. There's a word to describe it and that word is "magical." Take your first stroll down Nyhavn and take it all in and go from there because this city is your oyster, a pearl to be found in every part of the city, in every step you take, in every person you see. Drink it in and savor the flavor of a culture of people who understand how you can truly experience life.
And now for a very brief presentation of the average snack you'll get in Copenhagen. The place is surrounded by water so fish of all sorts is very heavy on any menu. Despite my Dutch heritage, I'm not actually that big on fish consumption and I usually rebel against it in favor of my comfort food choices (which usually include anything involving the revered potato, some sort of cream-based soup, and anything involving cheese). That being said, while you can get one of the best vegan/vegetarian meals of your life (again, more on that later) in Copenhagen, and especially Christiania, EAT THE FISH!! It's truly incredible what the Danes can do with the freshly caught, totally sustainable (they are WAY into that sort of thing....yet another cool thing about the place) fish and they have cultivated, over the centuries of their existence there, more ways to make fish delectable than anywhere I've been so far. I haven't been to Japan yet and had a real sashimi experience but, at this point, I'd put them head to head with the Danes for fish preparation, presentation, and eating experience. (And, again, I'm Dutch so that's saying a lot.)
Enjoy this first look at Copenhagen. I have about eleventy-billion photos of this city and I plan to share more of them. You totally need to see the rustic-urban-rebellion that is Christiania, which I will offer you shortly. For now, feast your eyes and challenge your senses to the idea of adding this place and everything it has to offer (wait 'til you see the Opera House!!) to you list of places to spend more than a minute in because it deserves your time and attention.
To wrap up this post, here's a photo that I think is rad:
It's just a photo I took of ropes coiled on the back of one of the boats in the canal of Nyhavn. The beauty and magic of travel isn't always in the big sites, the big destinations, but in the details, the little things that constitute the lives of the populous. And in Copenhagen, you'd best bone up on your boating skills because that can't hurt, right? Humans are about 80% water so it's better to learn how to navigate and understand the tides and go with the flow. Travel on, .my loves!
More to come....and please leave comments regarding your own experiences in Copenhagen or anywhere else that you would recommend I visit. Follow me on IG for more adventure photos and/or tell me where to go for more of this life.
*With the exception of the photo that the couple from Indiana took of me and mum, I took all of the photos with my phone. You're welcome to use them, share them, etc., as long as you cite you source. And please, PLEASE, travel and have that experience. You deserve it.
No comments:
Post a Comment