On this trip, we've spent more time on two wheels than on two legs. CPH seems to have been built for biking. A perfectly sized portion of the road (about as wide as the sidewalk) is dedicated to bikers. As a result, rarely do motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians interrupt each others' flow.
Biking in CPH is unique. It's unlike the leisure or commuter biking that we do in NYC or Seattle. And it's unlike the pedestrian-biker-sidewalk-hybridization in Japan. It's lovely, but more important, it's efficient. In fact, thanks to this mode of travel, we've slept-in everyday and still managed to see most of the City.
CPH is divided into several neighborhoods, all different but with a common streak. In NYC, for example, the pace of the people---the traffic, the subways, our know-it-all attitude, the sirens, the horns, etc.---feels like our defining quality. I haven't yet felt the pace of this city, but I am struck by its appearance. The structure of the city and its people are...well...striking. On first glance---that's all we've given it---the former seems to be a response to the latter.
The great majority of the Danish people that we've seen are homogeneous in their physicality. Tall, thin, and blond. (Although we're told that there is an obesity epidemic looming.) The architecture and design of the built environment, however, are as diverse as it comes. Large black boxes, jenga-style school dorms, trapezoids turned onto their heads, glass structures enveloped in fabric (for projection purposes), subsidized housing with balconies larger than most West Village apartments, cavernous courtyards for housing bicycles and for meeting space, and floor-to-ceiling windows everywhere! In most of the major cities that I've visited there are impressive buildings and structures strewn about, but here they're everywhere. It's too much, really. The Danes could use a blah period.
There is no mistaking that there's a socialist foundation to this city, but class still exists. It's obvious in the luxury (architectural flair or private green spaces) of some of the neighborhoods. We keep meaning to stop people ("Excuse me. I understand, unfortunately, not Danish.") and ask them about class and taxes and social capital and xenophobia and why they still permit smoking (this policy runs counter to the other advancements). We're waiting for just the right person.
Thoughts on Freetown Christiania later. We're off to photograph rush hour on the world's most cycled-upon bridge.
P.D. Two nights ago on our ride home, Matias and I stopped on the path along the canal and just relaxed. It was a beautiful night, for those with sweaters and hoodies. It was one of the more romantic experiences that we've had...maybe for as long as we've been together. I felt a security that I don't usually feel in the States or anywhere else. I attribute it to the political climate, to the drinks we'd just had, and to Matias wearing his hoodie, which made him gender non-specific.
PPD: Copenhagen isn't paradise, despite my raving. It has all sort of immigration issues and the resulting white supremacy movement (Anya says: It's a Europe thing). Hope to post about that soon.
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