Copenhagen = Bike love

We arrived by train yesterday. The train took 5 hours and it was an absolutely amazing journey. Sandwiches, marzipan (from Lubeck, of course), pastries and a bottle of wine all stretched out over 5 hours with nice scenery outside the window. I think this is the only way to enjoy a train ride.

If I had to sum up Copenhagen in a single word I would say "Bikes". No, wait. I would say...

BIKES!!!

They are everwhere. In front of the train station there must have been a few thousand bikes just chained up awaiting their riders. On the streets there were thousands more as though bikes outnumbered the cars; which is quite possible. The city is designed for bikes too.

Elevated bike paths are situated next to but below the sidewalk by an inch or two and ontop of the roadway by about two inches. In effect every roadway has 3 "areas"; 2-3 lanes for cars, 2 elevated bike lanes and wide sidewalks. It makes bicycling throughout the city an enjoyable, non-stressful experience.

The city also encourages people to utilize bicycles as a form of transport by putting free city bicycles throughout the town. You can simply walk up to one of these stands stick a 20 Kronor coin (about $4usd) in a slot which will release the chain. Then ride the bike around town and return it to ANY of the bike stands around the city (which are somewhat plentiful), put the chain back in the slot and get your coin back. You can also just leave it on the sidewalk and someone will return it for you (heck wouldn't you.. its a free 4 bucks!).

Every day we were in Copenhagen we used the free city bikes to get around. Some of the bikes were beat up and it would usually take us a while to find one that would fit Diana (she's short by Danish standards) but we always found some. It was great. We biked to the Botanical gardens, the castle, the radhus (city hall), the opera house, the theaters and everywhere in between.

One of the day we stopped off in Christiania. I could go on an on about Christiania but I think its better for you to read the wikipedia entry because it pretty much sums it all up. Even though I got a little sick while in Christiania it was definitely worth the visit.

aaaahh. Copenhagen, you'll always hold a special place in my heart. You bike loving, steal-my-heart city you!

(oh ya.. we also saw a really nice noise band there...schweet!)