Heading home from work last Wednesday, a woman stepped out of the bicycle path as I was turning a corner. 10 seconds before I had had full visibility of the next 200 yards of the bike path, which was deserted, so I had slightly more speed than would be recommended. As I see the woman I slam my brakes, causing my tires to skid and me to body check the metal fence just of the bike path. My bicycle fork took a beating as well, so my bike was set for some time in the shop.
With Copenhagen's bicycle-craze, repairs shops and bicycle stores are available, literally, on every street corner. But where demand is high, parts are priced accordingly. Rent and labour are not cheap either in central Copenhagen, so the best thing is often to do it yourself. Bicycle forks, however, are devious contraptions. They come in a variety of sizes, both regarding wheel length and frame size. The variation between sizes is 1/8 of an inch for the steerer and it must match the frame perfectly. Since they start at around 300 DKR when ordered online, I decided to drag it down to my local "pedal-pusher".
With the high prices for new bikes in Copenhagen, a large number of entrepreneurs have set up used bicycle shops and cheap repairs in small hole-in-the-wall joints. A majority of these seem to be people of other ethnic origin than Danish, perhaps due to the relatively low start-up costs and their greater work ethic. They have lower margins, but work longer hours and compete with higher volume. My guy is Sami, a 50-something year old guy from the Middle East with rusty, but understandable, Danish. He gave me a new fork (aluminium forks risk snapping if they have been bent and subsequently straightened), repaired the front brake, oiled it, as well as the whole bike, made sure the gears were working, and he did it all in a day. Price = 500 DKR.
I also bought a helmet. Having previously cycled as a sport, I am well aware of the need for head protection when blasting down a main road with 40 KPH. Copenhagen, however, has a vast network of bicycle paths and bicycle traffic lighting, as well as much more relaxed speeds. Not even 10% of the cyclists here wear helmets (not that that makes it ok), so I never valued it important. The bruises and cuts from this episode are enough to convince me otherwise, even though it (luckily) only affected my thigh, ribs, shoulder and collarbone.
Finally, a remark on not using a helmet. When asking why I am limping, and I respond that I hit a fence, most people ask: "Did you wear a helmet?". When I say no, they have a superior look on their face and say "ahhh", inferring that my lack of helmet was the cause of my injuries. This is retarded. Yes, wearing a helmet is a good idea, but the idea that a helmet is equivalent to not getting injured on a bike is excruciatingly poor logic. It also removes the uncomfortable notion that there is a degree of uncertainty in our lives by creating a causal story - you didn't wear a helmet, you deserved your accident - as well as implying the opposite: I wear a helmet, I'll never have an accident. Humans are programmed to construct causal stories, part of the reason why we are so bad at learning from statistics. We all know that cycling is dangerous, but to quote the social psychologist Richard Nisbett: "[Our] unwillingness to deduce the particular from the general is matched only by our willingness to infer the general from the particular". A moronic logical fallacy, but still the reason why I keep my skull safe for the next 3 weeks of cycling.
mandag den 23. juli 2012
søndag den 22. juli 2012
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.
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.
mandag den 16. juli 2012
Copenhagen summer
Copenhagen is probably one of the best capitol cities to spend a sunny summer. Part of the reason is undoubtedly the Danish weather the rest of the year: either depressingly dark and cold for 6 months, or chilly, gusty, and raining for most of the remainder. Granted, sunny weather is still a rarity, and showers are frequent, but some days are unbeatable. Last Sunday was one, and my girlfriend and I made the most of it - Copenhagen style.
Embarking from Frederiksberg, a 15 minute bike-ride took us to Vesterbro. The former market place, still bearing names such as "hay market", "meat town" and "fish market", used to be a rough neighbourhood some 30 years ago, but now hosts small, quirky coffee shops and hipster venues, as well as some great outdoor cafés. Only a stone throws from the bustling central station, Halmtorvet is a quiet, relaxed square with a handful of eateries on the old cobbled roads. We parked the bikes, ordered brunch, and I spent the next hour and a half happily eating watermelon, croissants, and scrambled egg in the cool, sunny early afternoon.
Vesterbro, due to its new trend as very alternative, is the place to go exploring. Right across from Halmtorvet, outside the older slaughterhouses of the meat market, there was a flee market going on. Rural flee markets as I know them are full of rubbish, but here it was everything from fashion clothes to old lamps to books and art. It was stuff people sold to create space, but it was not sold old that it was junk. We wandered around, and I took a liking to a stall selling male clothing, mainly from Filippa K. The two guys in charge were basking in the sun and were happy to let me try on shirts, suits and shoes. They told me this was a weekly event all summer, and that they were just here for the day. They turned out to be a couple, with one of them worked in a store (explained the abundance of Filippa K) and they were just clearing out their closet for winter season. I bought a white and grey striped shirt and a blue pair of chinos for 150 kr. - retail price: at least 1000.
From Vesterbro we biked down to the waterfront and north east up along the new buildings on Islands Brygge. Passing the old palisades, which are now a great walk in greenery, we kept going till we hit the canal on Christianshavn. Parking our bikes, we strolled between the small 17th century merchant houses along the old cobbled roads. The Eastern edge of the island provided us with coffee, a spot in the sun, and a view of the opera house, the new actors school, and Nyhavn, as well as of kayakers and rowers enjoying a day on the canals.
As it got more overcast and the clock neared 6 PM, we headed back and reclaimed our bikes. We took the direct route home, passing the characteristic Copenhagen architecture of the stock exchange, Christiansborg, and the town hall. We headed over Dronning Louises brigde on the lakes, calmly reflecting an increasingly magenta sky, and rolled into Frederiksberg. A cool Ale nr. 16 from a local brewery on Fünen in the garden, a light dinner, and Aftentouren (the Danish coverage of the Tour de France), and that candidates for the best day of the summer.
Embarking from Frederiksberg, a 15 minute bike-ride took us to Vesterbro. The former market place, still bearing names such as "hay market", "meat town" and "fish market", used to be a rough neighbourhood some 30 years ago, but now hosts small, quirky coffee shops and hipster venues, as well as some great outdoor cafés. Only a stone throws from the bustling central station, Halmtorvet is a quiet, relaxed square with a handful of eateries on the old cobbled roads. We parked the bikes, ordered brunch, and I spent the next hour and a half happily eating watermelon, croissants, and scrambled egg in the cool, sunny early afternoon.
Vesterbro, due to its new trend as very alternative, is the place to go exploring. Right across from Halmtorvet, outside the older slaughterhouses of the meat market, there was a flee market going on. Rural flee markets as I know them are full of rubbish, but here it was everything from fashion clothes to old lamps to books and art. It was stuff people sold to create space, but it was not sold old that it was junk. We wandered around, and I took a liking to a stall selling male clothing, mainly from Filippa K. The two guys in charge were basking in the sun and were happy to let me try on shirts, suits and shoes. They told me this was a weekly event all summer, and that they were just here for the day. They turned out to be a couple, with one of them worked in a store (explained the abundance of Filippa K) and they were just clearing out their closet for winter season. I bought a white and grey striped shirt and a blue pair of chinos for 150 kr. - retail price: at least 1000.
From Vesterbro we biked down to the waterfront and north east up along the new buildings on Islands Brygge. Passing the old palisades, which are now a great walk in greenery, we kept going till we hit the canal on Christianshavn. Parking our bikes, we strolled between the small 17th century merchant houses along the old cobbled roads. The Eastern edge of the island provided us with coffee, a spot in the sun, and a view of the opera house, the new actors school, and Nyhavn, as well as of kayakers and rowers enjoying a day on the canals.
As it got more overcast and the clock neared 6 PM, we headed back and reclaimed our bikes. We took the direct route home, passing the characteristic Copenhagen architecture of the stock exchange, Christiansborg, and the town hall. We headed over Dronning Louises brigde on the lakes, calmly reflecting an increasingly magenta sky, and rolled into Frederiksberg. A cool Ale nr. 16 from a local brewery on Fünen in the garden, a light dinner, and Aftentouren (the Danish coverage of the Tour de France), and that candidates for the best day of the summer.
søndag den 8. juli 2012
Roskilde Festival
Being caught up in corporate life and Copenhagen summer has sapped my proactive blogging. A lazy Sunday on the couch with Tour de France on the TV and the Wimbledon final on live-update changes that! Granted, a 50-55 hour work week doesn't allow for much fun during the week, but weekends are up for grabs: Yesterday, Saturday was spent at Roskilde Festival.
Roskilde Festival is Denmarks biggest music festival, and one of the big 6 annual European music festivals. The music lasts for 4 days, but it is customary to "warm up" from the previous Saturday, effectively giving 9 days in rural Danish summer. People pitch tents, bring a truckload of alcoholic beverages (as the actual festival site is not yet open, and it is cheaper than buying it in there during the 4 days), and "hygger" (enjoy themselves). Its 1971 hippie-origin is still visible, both in the crowd that the festival attracts, but also through the humanism and culture which permeates it: there are organic eateries, vegetarian is on equal terms with meat, shops and stores are run by non-profit organizations and NGO's, and there is a large focus on sustainability and environment. It is, however, a festival, so it is also muddy, full of drunken, dirty people, and permeated in a musty odour of beer, urine, soil and dried shrub.
I really enjoy music festivals, but they also come with a cost. Not only are tickets expensive (1800 DKR for the full 4 days), as is eating and drinking there, but they also imply that one can spend the following week recovering. Sadly I am not in such a position, so a full-on single day was enough for me, but perhaps I'll be back for more next year. My (Roskilde-savvy) sister couldn't dream of me being at Roskilde, but then again, no-one says you must go all out 9 days with no shower, tuna fish sandwiches, and cheap, warm, canned beer. Getting old? :)
On a final note: my girlfriend didn't enjoy Mew as much as I did, seeing as she had never heard of them. To everyone else out there: their album Frengers is a must-hear, as is this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sgJbm1g8f0
Roskilde Festival is Denmarks biggest music festival, and one of the big 6 annual European music festivals. The music lasts for 4 days, but it is customary to "warm up" from the previous Saturday, effectively giving 9 days in rural Danish summer. People pitch tents, bring a truckload of alcoholic beverages (as the actual festival site is not yet open, and it is cheaper than buying it in there during the 4 days), and "hygger" (enjoy themselves). Its 1971 hippie-origin is still visible, both in the crowd that the festival attracts, but also through the humanism and culture which permeates it: there are organic eateries, vegetarian is on equal terms with meat, shops and stores are run by non-profit organizations and NGO's, and there is a large focus on sustainability and environment. It is, however, a festival, so it is also muddy, full of drunken, dirty people, and permeated in a musty odour of beer, urine, soil and dried shrub.
I got two tickets for the full 9 days from work, but since I actually had to work during the week and Friday was a near-monsoon, my girlfriend and I decided to push our Roskilde adventure to Saturday, which conveniently also had the best artists by far. After lunch and armed with a six-pack of Carlsberg and wellingtons, we took a 20-minute train to Roskilde and the festival site. The afternoon was spent wandering around in the sun, lazing by the lake, soaking in the Roskilde atmosphere and listening to the impressive funky band The Roots from a distance. By 9 PM we were parked (with everyone else, see photo) to enjoy the highlight of the week, Bruce Springsteen, as he played the concert of the festival for two rock 'n' roll hours. This was immediately followed by the American indie-folk band Bon Iver, who won two Grammys this year and is a personal favourite (the album Bon Iver - best last year). A 30 minute break later and we found ourselves up front to watch the Danish alternative rock band Mew. They finished at 3 AM, and then it was a direct train back to Copenhagen.
On a final note: my girlfriend didn't enjoy Mew as much as I did, seeing as she had never heard of them. To everyone else out there: their album Frengers is a must-hear, as is this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sgJbm1g8f0
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