A gift from me for you

This weekend, I was browsing through my archives of photos of Copenhagen, and I thought it might be nice to show you the best pieces of my collection. Coz I almost haven't seen the blue sky since four months, and at a time when the spring is desired so strongly, it is worth remembering how the city is beautiful. Only one more month to go. Yes, we can do it. And it is guaranteed without retouchings.

Here are fifty pictures of the city itself and the surrounding area:



And as a bonus, a selection of images taken from above:

When I see this review, after a year of pictures, I tell myself that I still have so much to show you ... 

Is the grass really greener in Christiania? (part 1)

Here comes finally the first article on the definitely most unusual place of Copenhagen, Christiania. Perhaps you've already heard of it even if you have neer been in Denmark ... It is actually a giant squat, which has the singularities of being tolerated and being located right in the middle of the city. Even more than just a squat, it is a village in the city, a kind of hippie self-governed community, I would even say a semi-independent micro-state. The Danes call it "Fristaden", "The Freetown".

Let's look at the map to get an idea of the place:

Christiania is located on the island of Christianshavn (hence its name), and occupies much of the ancient city walls built by King Christian IV in 1617 (the odd pins).

34 hectares still

As you can see, the area forms a green enclave, naturally isolated from the rest of the city. However, there is a surronding wall along Prinsessegade street :

And there is the famous main entrance:

(photo Alex Rosa)

This is how it looks from behind:

And that's the small entrance at the corner of Princessegade and Bådsmandsstræde:

 

Once passed over, we enter in another world. The buildings are former military barracks rehabilitated by the Christianites themselves, or constructions of their own. Absolutely everything is covered with tags, some really beautiful. The contrast with the neat and middle-class city in which we were just 5 minutes earlier is striking. a very short walk and we arrive in Pusher Street, the main arterial road. There is a small market square at the entrance where they sell souvenir t-shirts, various trinkets and all the accessories needed for ...

... making cones. And scattered along the street, small stalls providing the stuffing. At this point, taking pictures is absolutely forbidden as numerous signs everywhere remind, the sellers do not really appreciate that. Though, oh my God, it itches tremendously.

 So I've found a picture from Wikimedia Commons

The vision of this exhibition of substances, these extraordinary murals, these shady guys, these pitbulls and all this in a surprisingly relaxed atmosphere has something fascinating. But most tourists, frightened by this scene sometimes murky I admit, dare not venture further. Even many Copenhageners have only that image in mind.

This is a pity because Christiania is not (only) a haunt of marginals, even if it attracts them a lot, and certainly not a slum. It is a perfectly structured society of people people who have chosen to live an alternative life. It is as if everything subversive and wild in Denmark were aggregated in one place.

The residents have adopted a flag, displayed everywhere:

The 3 dots symbolise the 3 dots on the "i" in "Christiania"

There is some regulation

Cars are banned

 Garbage is meticulously sorted

There is even guided tours (never tested)

Every time I stroll there, I discover new funny details.

 

 

Then of course, because one article on Christiania is not enough, I'm going to tell you more about it in the future episodes:

Part 2: Guided tour of the village (no, it's not just crumbling and yucky shacks, there is an astounding cultural and social life stashed inside)

Part 3: But how on earth the Danish authorities could tolerate such a mess?

Who was talking about global warming in Copenhagen?

Well, the question of transportation starts to become a problem in town, because snow fell at full blast those days, even the subway entirely stopped for a while yesterday.

To be honest, Copenhagen has been non-stop snowy since I returned from vacation in early January. So ok, this is making the city even more picturesque and the lakes ice-skatable (something unimaginable last year). But it is not so compatible with my daily biking practise. I'm getting kind of tired of almost failing whenever I make a turn. And then I found that my bike chain put itself in bright orange alert, do you think that it's a good sign?

The Danes claim that they have never seen so much in the last 30 years. The fact remains that those irreducible Vikings, snow or not, still get on their usual bikes as if nothing had happened.

 

  

 

I've even seen some of them biking with ski goggles!

Cool, we are freezing, let's go out and walk on the water

Yes, it's cold in Copenhagen this weekend, and it's a good reason to rub our hands (with glee). These drags from DMI had however announced snow, and then not, and I prefer it. The reason for this incongruous joy? This is the subject of an article on AOK (Alt Om København), thus my Danish had been useful. For the lazy ones who will not attempt to click + Google Translation, I will explain: yippee, it's cold enough to skate on the lakes of Copenhagen! And I looove skating.

Everywhere but not in Nyhavn

To help you to make to right choice, the Berlingske Tidende has graciously made a list of all the ice rinks available in the city and its surroundings on a beautiful map. There are both artificial and natural. (By the way, if you want to sledge read that).

I went for an exploring stroll on Saturday:


Number 1, at the end of Nyhavn:

Yes, it isn't so big, but it actually replaces the magnificent ice ring that was on Kongens Nytorv the previous years, which has not been installed this year due to the works for the future metro line. Well, it's the waterfront, so it's nice anyway. Skates rental.

Number 2, Kastellet:

That's for those who like skating in the wild
But this mysterious circle seems to be made for skaters

It serves as a swimming spot as well

Number 3, the watering place of Fælledparken:

Well, there was also a similar ring. The immense park was incredibly deserted when I went on Saturday afternoon. Then I told myself that if there was a place where I could see some skaters, it would be on the great lakes.

Number 4, the Peblinge Sø, the lake in the middle:

I was right, you would have thought that all the Copenhageners with blades had made an appointment here. Well, it is understandable, those interconnected lakes make really giant ice rinks. But skating is only allowed on the Peblinge Sø, that not prevents the Danes drunk or not to walk on the others.

So in front of this heavenly vision, my heart skipped a beat. I immediately felt a urge that I had to relieve only Peblinge Sø straightaway: I rushed into the nearest mall to seize the only remaining pair of 41-size crappy hockey skates (*). For only 279 kroner (40 euros), I didn't ruined myself, but I suspect they were running out of skates.

I went back triumphantly the next day to try my new toys. It was the first time I was skating on a real lake. What about the sensations? The ice is naturally bumpy and brown, and the small ice chips we tear off form the surface with our blades are instantly swept away by the wind and accumulated in certain zones it is better to avoid skating on. As a result, the surface is cleaned continuously and we can admire the water content, like algae, herbs, and other plastic bags frozen in their movement, amazing.

Here is myself just above gritting my teeth in my new torture devices

But, there is the snag, no skates rental. And I brought friends without skates. So we came to the spot number 5, just a couple of steps away, on the cute little Blågårds Plads, where we could rent.

Number 5:

Watch out, it is overrun by trolls

I confess I didn't have time to test the rink in Frederiksberg (number 6), but I know that the park next door (Frederiksberg Have) is a good place for sledding. Perched on a micro-hill, this is the only place in Copenhagen in slope.

Otherwise, I presume that the spots number 7 and 8 in Christianshavn are quite delicious, surrounded by nature and funny houses, maybe I'll check it out.

(*) I implore you, if you know a BIG DECENT sports shop in Copenhagen, please tell me where it is.

Weird discovery at the central station

The other day, I was browsing my Copenhagen pictures archive, and I came across this one. So I decided that it was time to show it. It was taken in the ladies room at the central station (Hovedbanegård). Actually, this is the little piece of paper prominently taped on the mirror.

How much to comb your hair? What does "etc" mean exactly?

Tell me, boys, what you have on your side!

And the day when the fat men in red invaded Tivoli

As I promised, I took a look at Tivoli at Christmas time to bring you some pretty pictures just for you (well, what I could, the night falls early at this time).

No, the little hearts are not falling.
They hang to the branches of a tree without leaves just behind.

At the edge of the lake

That is exactly my kind of humor

Of course, there is a Christmas market:

But the most impressive temporary installation is a kind of huge tent, standing on the square in front of the main stage, but a tent with walls and roof, looking like small wooden houses stuck together (I don't know if I'm very clear). Inside, a village of little elves, all animated, has been reconstituted.

Crossed by a little train:

And at the end of your trip in Elvesland, to help you to recover from your emotions, comes the unavoidable seasonal stand, the one that sells the æbleskiver/glögg duo. These are the traditional Christmas delicacies you find in all bars right now so you feel obliged to try it.

Æbleskiver, literally means "apple slices", but actually it is not that at all. It seems that however, it was made with apples in the good old days... Today, it is a kind of small round pancakes, served with sugar and jam.

In their special machine

And glögg is mulled wine with spices.


Here is the recipe if you want to try. For a liter of red wine you need:

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cardamom
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 8 cloves
• a piece of bitter orange peel
• some orange juice if you want
• sugar

Heat the wine in a saucepan with all the spices but don't boil it (watch out the fumes!) Add sugar to your taste. Ready! Actually, it is recommended to prepare it a long time in advance to allow the wine to absorb the flavors of spices. At serving time, raisins and almonds are often added directly into the glass, so don't forget the spoon. The real Vikings even add some vodka.

Then, I wish you a glædelig Jul (a day late) and a godt nytår, a tillykke med fødselsdagen to my original blog (a year already!) and velkommen to its little brother in English. See you next year.

Last news of the summit

Being there, I took the opportunity to go to the big demonstration on Saturday, you've probably heard of in the media last weekend. The procession started under a beautiful blue sky from Christiansborg Palace in the heart of the city, to finish at the Bella Center, a nice little walk. We were between 30 000 and 100 000 according to the sources. Here are some quick pictures:

Riddle: what did the sign carriers get for dinner?

Review: it was a kind of big catch-all, everyone demanded something different. The procession was not only composed of anti-globalization or Greenpeace activists, but of any kind of people from everywhere. The atmosphere was generally peaceful and friendly, unlike what you probably saw on TV, where they only speak about the naughty-masked-guys-who-break-everything.

About the daily life here, I admit that it's special right now, especially this week, the atmosphere of the city is a quite unusual. The first thing one can notice, besides the exhibitions, is the incredible number of policemen patrolling in the streets. There was even some who came to the control center with their dogs for sniffing the server room, in the case of there would be a bomb ... And they are also above our heads! Actually, I'm starting getting kind of tired of hearing this herd of purring helicopters flying over us 24/24. I let you calculate how much CO2 those damn devices will have rejected in the atmosphere by the end of the conference.

Regarding the affrays, they are happening at the Bella Center, which seems to be besieged (*). I talked to people who went there, you have to queue for an incredible time to enter. But I did not even try to check it out, apparently the subway doesn't stop there anymore. And then on Thursday and Friday, with the agglutination of great leaders of this world, the public transportation will have the good old taste of their Parisian counterpart during a strike. So I don't have the choice, I must take my bike. Unfortunately for me, at this very moment, Copenhagen is covered with a brand new white coat. Why did I decide to fly on Friday, uh?

(*) Check your friend G*** instead of believing me!