Copenhagen is a fantastic place to ride. There are bike lanes on just about every street, and bike racks everywhere. Better yet, drivers are terrified of bikers because legally it’s always the fault of the driver if there’s a bike/car accident. Now that it’s spring and weather is nice, I’ve been riding a lot. I took all of these pictures in the last two weeks.
I took these (above) in an area where a new pedestrian/bike bridge connects Island Brygge to Vesterbro. It’s one of many projects that copenhagen has going. This bridge was built just last year, and appears in the foreground in the first two images. It is the first new bridge to span that canal built in 50 years, and it’s amazing how many people use it. In the background is a renovated grain silo that is now high-end condos. The third image is Fisketorvet — a big and rather fancy mall.
These are at Langelinie, which means “long line” because it’s a long, straight harbor. The first two are from an abstract sculpture collection — the first being an…unflattering interpretation of The Little Mermaid statue. The third is a crane for loading and unloading boats. The crane is quite close to the royal palace.
This at the “new” Carlsburg brewery. It was built in 1881, and is a pretty amazing building. And yes, that’s a swastika on the elephant, but 1881 was long before the Nazi’s chose to adopt that symbol. Here’s an interesting wikipedia page on the history of the swastika.
Although it’s more interesting to take pictures and talk about exotic sites, there are plenty of mundane sites. I took these in Valby, which is about as un-exotic as Copenhagen gets. I’m including them to demonstrate how like the US Denmark can be, and because I think “McDrive” is pretty funny.
I took these on a ride south on Amager island, to the last bridge that connects Amager to Zealand (the huge island where Copenhagen is located). These windmills are amazing and make pretty wild sounds. Apparently Denmark generates 20% of its electricity with wind power.
These are on the beach in Vedbæk, an ultra-rich town that is close to the Microsoft offices. The weather may be nicer now, but the water is still very cold.
And finally, my bike, which was actually a gift (thanks Martin!) I never imagined riding a single-speed bike, but in a flat country like Denmark, it’s a perfectly reasonable choice. There are no gears to adjust, maintain, or think about, and it’s slightly more efficient than a bike with multiple speeds. That, combined with the aluminum frame and light, thin wheels, make it quite fast. Which is great, because I have a lot more city to explore…
Looks like you are keeping busy. Beautiful Pictures, as usual.
Varry interesting, esp. the grotesque mermaid, which wasn’t there when I visited 40 years ago. By the way, you say, “I’ve been riding a log. “Is that how you spell “writing” in America?
Ha! No, actually I meant I’ve been riding a log — I mean a lot. It’s fixed now.