Copenhagen Get Your Mind Together then come on across

Copenhagen is a flat sea-level port city on the eastern side of Denmark. Denmark ranks at or near the top around the world for bicycle-friendly city and bicycle as primary transportation. Watch out for those cobblestone trips!

Walking is a safer way for me to travel when taking photos with my camera.

That’s the way you do it in Copenhagen! Coast down the middle of the street on your bicycle in central Copenhagen, line up the site in camera viewfinder and snap the photo.

Rundetaarn – Round Tower – Europe’s oldest functioning observatory

My ground level photo of the Rundetaarn gives it a leaning tower look. This is Europe’s oldest functioning observatory built 1635-1642. The current observatory was designed in 1929. You can pay 25 DKK and walk the wide spiral stairless path to reach the observatory deck up 35 meters from ground level.

The wide spiral path is the unique feature of the Round Tower with a storied history of Czar Peter the Great ascending the tower on horseback in 1716. A car ascended the tower in 1902. In more recent times, cycling races within the tower have timed the ascent in 50 seconds (1993).

Rundetaarn Round Tower interior pathway. Source: Wikimedia – Manuamador

Rundetaarn is part of a complex with Trinitatis Kirke

Art outside Rundetaarn and Trinitatis Kirke.

I am reminded of all the skateboarders I noticed last July in Copenhagen as a skateboarder rides past me on the street.

There is an urban playground barricaded space on a city square. There is a couple with three children under the age of five playing in a part of the elevated playground dominated by geometric shapes, with little grass mounds and a sort of domed mound object their toddler runs and leaps upon, almost grasping the steepest point to maintain a grip near the top, but then sliding back down off the object’s surface. I walk past before he has time to make another leap.

At the end of the street, past the playground, there is a skateboard shop window.

On cue, roll film, three skateboarders enter scene with sound of wheels on pavement growing increasingly louder as they ride up to and around corner of street intersection. Reduce volume as skateboards round corner. Cut to guy with camera standing outside skateboard shop window in Copenhagen snapping photo. Jump shot to close-up on skateboards in shop window. Fade shot.

Skateboards are popular in Copenhagen.

I walked beneath a room window on an upper third floor of a residential building and heard a women’s choir singing. Reminded me of hearing a women’s choir sing at a church in Bergen, Norway last month as I walked casually along a street.

I saw Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton in Copenhagen.

  

Kongens Have – King’s Garden, Copenhagen’s oldest park (1606)

Kongens Have or King’s Garden is a popular royal gardens space for the public. It is the oldest park in the city, established in 1606, and Copenhagen’s most visited park with 2.5 million visitors annually coming to the 40-acre space.

An apparent cultural tradition is how locals take advantage of warmer weather and hours of daylight to spend time together outside. City squares, parks and canals are filled with people in good weather who gather together outside to socialize, play games and music, drink and eat.

Rosenborg Castle

Rosenborg Castle 1606-1624 was the 17th century royal residence in Denmark, built by Christian IV. Many of Copenhagen’s architectural and landscape designs seen as a visitor today are from his reign. He was regent during Rundetarne-Round Tower construction.

Rosenborg Castle is a state run museum with a 90 DKK admission price. The Dutch Renaissance style castle was the royal residence until 1710.

  

Danish crown jewels are housed in the castle and on display. Link: Visit Copenhagen – Rosenborg Castle.

King’s Garden is park adjacent to Rosenborg Castle.

Nyboder Row Houses designed for Royal Danish Navy residences

Nyboder is another Christian IV project from the early 1600s to build row houses as Royal Danish Navy family residences. The distinctive yellow row houses standing today were built from 1756 to 1796. Much of Nyboder today is still used to house Danish military families.

  

The Citadel of Copenhagen

Kastellet, Copenhagen’s Citadel designed 1626 by Christian IV is still used as a military barracks and retained as a historic five point star moated fortress.

  

Kastellet is a popular jogging trail and strolling walk for couples, families and friends along the grass surrounded ramparts on good weather days.

The National Monument of Remembrance, a soldier’s memorial is seen behind the cannon below the ramparts. The most recent names listed are 2014 Afghanistan deaths.

There are only two bridges on opposite sides of Kastellet crossing the moats surrounding the fort for public access. The gates are closed at night.

Google Maps Copenhagen Kastellet. The fort ramparts are near open water for Copenhagen harbor.

The 1909 statue created to honor the 1837 fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen – The Little Mermaid is near Kastellet on the waterfront.

Copenhagen’s Little Mermaid as you hope to see her in art, out of context to the tourist attraction spectacle.

Little Mermaid in real context as tourist attraction.

If you can just get your mind together
Then come on across to me
We’ll hold hands and then we’ll watch the sun rise from the bottom of the sea
But first,
Are you experienced?
Have you ever been experienced?
Well, I have

Jimi Hendrix – Are You Experienced?

 

Copenhagen 5-Hour Tour

Part 1 – You may find yourself traveling to Copenhagen Airport. Part 1 – Are you experienced?

Part 3 – Copenhagen on the waterfront

 

Netto Market and Copenhagen beer prices

My first hour in Copenhagen was spent taking a shower, shopping for groceries and beer at Netto Market and eating a quick lunch of smoked peppered salmon 100 g for 20.95 DKK ($3.18 USD), a chunk of bread from an unsliced half-loaf 4.00 DKK ($0.61 USD) and a banana 1.95 DKK ($0.30 USD).

I bought four bottles of Harboe Pilsner to place in the hotel room refrigerator and drink cold by the time I returned from a 5-hour walk (2.30 DKK/bottle or $0.35 USD/bottle, 4.6% alcohol). That is 75% less than the lowest priced beer I purchased in Copenhagen last July.

View from Netto Market by Hotel Skt. Petri looking southeast down Fiolstrade to Copenhagen University, the old brick building distant right in photo.

The 50% factor in first time visitor cost

A couple decades ago I came up with a general theorem of travel.

You will spend 50% more money on your first trip to a place due to not knowing how to find cheaper options.

50% is obviously a big over-generalization, but in all likely probability a traveler will spend more money on the first trip to a place. That money wastage is reduced on successive trips as you become more familiar with various purchase choices for cheaper transportation, cheaper food and drink and cheaper activities.

Netto Market open everyday 8am to 10pm. Many bikes have baskets.

Netto Market is a chain of grocery stores in Copenhagen, typically with long opening hours and low beer and wine prices. There is a Netto Market around the corner from Hotel Skt. Petri. The Netto Market seen in photo above is a larger Netto Market store, about six or eight blocks away from the hotel. I came across several large markets in at least five different brands while walking across several square kilometers of the city, about one to two miles north and northeast of the train station.

I spent five days shopping in Copenhagen during July, mostly around the Copenhagen train station and Radisson Blu Royal Hotel. There was not any beer I could buy for under 8 DKK per can or bottle. 12 DKK was the more common price. Within an hour of being in Copenhagen on this last trip, I found several stores with bottles of beer selling for less than 3.00 DKK per bottle walking around areas of the city more than a couple of kilometers north of the train station. Copenhagen has a 1.00 DKK bottle and can deposit fee.

Dansk Pilsner, 33cl bottle, 4.6% alcohol for 2.30 DKK each = $0.35 USD.

The advantage of returning to a place is the daily cost for your stay often is less than your previous visit as you learn to be a better consumer spender in the foreign environment. I would have saved about $50 USD last July if I had found these beer prices.