Copenhagen is marvellous. admittedly, i've only been in one building of any sort here as of yet (not including hostels and restaurants) and it was only for the (not-so-great) panoramic view of the city.
the "old" portions of Copenhagen are many and very spread out. there is an "Inner City", which is the oldest part of the city (see also 'old town'). and then there are many other districts that surround the "inner city", some which were autonomous villages, that are now part of greater Copenhagen. today, i did a modified walking tour that involved, well, no walking.
now, scandanavia is very progressive and sweden and denmark both like their bikes. copenhagen has a great system where you can basically have a free bike for as long as you like. the so-called "city bikes" are locked to a bike stand but you can free them up by slipping a 20dk coin into the lock-slot on the bike you wish to use. this frees unlocks them, but it also eats the coin. if you don't relock the bike in the end, you lose your coin. if you leave a designated area, as outlined by a map inserted in the middle of the handlebar, and are caught then you are subject to a 1000dk fine, i believe. (5dk = $1, if you include transfer and withdrawl fees) additionally, if you don't follow the biking rules (i.e. biking at night requires a light), then you are subject to a fine of 500dk.
to note, the designated city bike area is limited to the inner city and a neighboring district by the name of Christianshavn. my hostel is a little outside of the inner city, which is surrounded by lakes.
so i set out this morning with a single goal that would lead to a larger goal: to obtain one of these bikes. i walked from my hostel and into the inner city. i walked through the city to the harbor, without finding one of the darn bikes, so then i thought i'd head to one of the bigger tourist sites in the hopes that maybe i could purloin one there. the site? The Little Mermaid. the most well-known site perhaps in Copenhagen is the statue in the harbor of H.C. Andersen's The Little Mermaid. i walked all the way there, took some photos and still did not have a bike.
my mission was beginning to look dire. i started walking back into town. i walked by the royal palace and lo and behold, it was the changing of the guard. so i took photos and then resumed my walk into the city.
i eventually found a city bike. the city bikes operate on an honor basis wherein you don't lock them and you don't protect them if you aren't going to use them. somebody had left their bike buried underneath what i imagine was a friend's bike. there was nobody around. so i took the bike which was already unlocked with a 20dk coin. (this means, of course, that i actually made money by the end of my usage of the bike!)
anyway, i toured around the city and took many upon many photos. i followed the path suggested by a free guide book. which brought me back to the mermaid statue, among other things.
after biking around for a few hours and touring everywhere possible with the bike - that is within the bike's limited boundaries, including the artistic community of Christiania in Christianshavn - i parked the bike next to the central railway station. i went into the station and bought a train ticket to Berlin for tomorrow. Berlin, by the way, is the last stop on this trip so, if you want a postcard, let me know now.
having parked the bike and taken care of my transport for tomorrow, i grabbed a beer on the way to the Rundetarre (Round Tower), which one can walk up. up and up, in circles, round and round - there are no stairs, just a big circular ramp.
and i got up to the top, saw the wholly unremarkable panorama (due to a fence behind a fence that keeps one from the edge of the platform). descending the tower and heading back into the city, i met...
the scientologists. i talked to a lovely lad by the name of Kristian. the scientologists were offering free stress tests. and i decided to take one. he told me to think about people i know. i was thinking about my breathing, since the concept of a stress test would automatically rocket the pressure, i wanted to relax. i couldn't think of anybody, i could only think about my breath.
and my stress levels rocketed. Kristian looked at me and said, "there. that. who did you just think of? they're a source of stress."
i replied, "i was thinking about breathing actually. honestly, i was thinking about nobody."
and so it went on for a few minutes, before he realized that i am at a fairly relaxed, unstressed point in my life. and we parted ways, but not before he tried to small talk me by pointing out where i'm from.
"so, you're from New York?" he was looking at my hooded sweatshirt. i have been wearing on an almost constant basis during this trip a dark blue, hooded sweatshirt printed with the logo for the slackers, which on the bottom says 'Only the Best for Our Friends'. "Only the Best for Our Friends?"
"yeah. i'm not from New York. this sweatshirt is about one of my favorite bands, a ska band from New York named the Slackers."
"oh. have you heard about dianetics?"
"probably vaguely," i replied. "and i've certainly heard about L. Ron Hubard and scientology. i'm an atheist and i'm happy with no religious or associated type commitments. so, really, i'm not interested."
"oh. well, um..."
"have a good day?"
"yes. you too."
and that was my encounter with the estimable Tom Cruise's religion. or, at least, today's encounter...
after the encounter i walked back to my hostel. i joined another hosteler on her way to dinner at a vegetarian, organic restaurant. we had a delicious, healthful, if bland dinner and came back. we talked for awhile (with another hosteler from Germany), they headed off for a club and i'm finishing this post for ya'll.
oh, and i'm getting sick. something i attribute to the night cruise i took from helsinki to stockholm when i stayed outside in the cold with the aforementioned blue hoody.
Posted by iain at August 27, 2005 07:03 PM