Tourists in Denmark

With the summer sun and the holidays, tourists flock to Europe's capitol cities and Copenhagen is no exception. This weekend I ended up being one myself - so here is the top-three for rookie tourists in Copenhagen.

1) Cafés. If you want to be social during the Danish summer, unless it is raining cats and dogs it is going to take place outside. The weather is pleasant, and if the sun does happen to shine through the clouds you will have made the most of it. So to catch up with an old friend from my time as a conscript, we had a burger lunch in the city and an afternoon beer in Nyhavn. Nyhavn is literally the "new" harbour, and its colourful buildings and old, docked ships makes it resemble Amsterdam. It is a tourist magnet located at the end of the pedestrian street Strøget, and although prices are accordingly, the cool Hoegarden + lime and the hour of sunshine was totally worth it.

2) Tivoli. An amusement park to the untrained eye and anyone with a child's mind (myself included), Tivoli also boasts eateries, parks, concerts, and exhibitions. It is ripe with a hearty atmosphere, and is a great place to get real, first-hand impressions of what Danes are like. I was invited by my aunt's family, who were tourists in Copenhagen for the day. I happily accepted, enjoying dinner with them as well as letting my 7 year old cousin sail me around a pond in an amusement ride.  While they took rides together as a family, I watched their bags, listened to the marching band which paraded around the park, took photos for middle-aged tourists, and enjoyed the view of a park submerged in metropolis.

The photography-obsessed Asians and the young families with children high on a sugar rush are naturally also there, but it is a place for old as well as young. Tivoli has history since 1843, and it retains a great deal of culture, such as the pasts fascination with the orient or typical Danish cuisine. But it has found its modern side as well, with more thrilling rides and events such as "Friday rock".

3) Christiania. The self-proclaimed autonomous neighbourhood on Chistianshavn has been full of controversy since it was established as a freetown in 1971. Christiania was seen as a place where one could build a new society, and popularised by the hippie-movement, it became synonymous with collectivism, activism, and hash. Although the place does have open hash trade (which is illegal) and therefore has much of the same fame with tourists as Amsterdam, people also go there for the nature, the cafés, and the alternative and slightly weird culture. A beer outside Cafe Nemoland in the sun can be recommended, but last week it was the scene for an afternoon stroll with my girlfriend. An inspiring moment was watching a 6-7 year old blond girl with a wreath of flowers in her hair dance alone in front of a stage where 3 heavily tattooed men where performing a rap-concept for the 100-odd people crowd - enough said.

Cycling back home last night, I realized perhaps the best thing about Copenhagen: everyone can get by here, because so many people speak English. I overhead 3 Americans bicycling beside me, and struck up conversation with them. They were hungry for local knowledge, and I was keen to offer it. Having spent so much time in foreign cities the past 6 months not knowing the local language, I see this as a blessing. My uncle disagreed, stating he was slightly offended when his waiter didn't speak any Danish. I smiled and shook my head at his comment, finding it charming that everyone can get by here and that language is not the most important trait. But it also shows that rural Denmark is nothing like its capitol. So for new visitors to Denmark, there is no place like Copenhagen.