I woke up early keen not to waste a minute of precious time.
I jumped up, opened the curtains – yeay, sunny – and promptly jumped into bed to finish the last 20 pages of the book I was reading. (The Appointment by Katharina Volkmear – incredibly written btw). Job done, let’s get on with the day…
The hotel I’m staying has bikes for rent so today I decided I was going to cycle around and get a feel for the city, well the harbour part anyway. I headed first thing for Lille Bakery, a quick 5Km away in the area called Refshaleveøen, a former island now annexed to another, and former industrial area now home to food stalls, upmarket restaurants and art galleries.
Along the way there were so many gorgeous sights and for a while I kept stopping… but it was getting ridiculous so after a while I simply looked around trying not to crash the bike into anyone. I might have got beeped a few times… maybe.
Such diverse images all in a space of a few miles.
And then I got to Lille Bakery… the coolest place:
I ordered a coffee, a chocolate cookie (omg) and scrambled eggs on rye bread with tarragon. Delicious.
After this very filling brunch I cycled around the corner to the Copenhagen Contemporary, house in a ginormous hangar type building.
The main hall had an installation by the English artist David Shrigley called ‘Don’t touch the worms’, playful and well… all about worms!.
While in the next hall there was a video installation by the Danish artist Christian Falsnaes titled ‘Look at me’… quite intense and unsettling.
I strolled around the place for quite a while, it was very quiet and it felt safe, away from people and potential germs… you know how it is these days…
The wind had picked up when I got back on the bike and I realised that walking muscles are totally different from cycling muscles… I must have been the slowest cyclist in the whole of Copenhagen. Everyone was faster than me, but it didn’t matter, I struggled on, the giant Amager Bakke (a combined heat and power waste-to-energy plant and sports facility – a ski slope on top of an incinerator… genius) kept a watch over me.
I wanted to see the new Opera House building… but it was closed so I took a photo from much too close an angle and snailed on..
I had a delicious fresh juice on the way in a cute place near Christiania (Freetown Christiania, is an intentional community and commune of about 850 to 1,000 residents according to Wikipedia), called Sweet Retreat
My next stop was going to be the little mermaid… but frankly… I’ve seen it already and I don’t think it would have changed much since 1989 (certainly less than I did) so changed the plan and headed to Rosenborg Castle instead. Set in a beautiful park…
It is also incredibly well preserved and sumptuous and so ornate and old and detailed that was just the perfect antidote to the ‘worms’ of the morning. A good balancing act!
Let all agree that Scandinavian minimalism wasn’t a thing back then…
After, because I’m fundamentally a geeky tourist I wanted to see the inside of the new library, which I had passed from the opposite side of the water first thing in the morning.
I love libraries.
It then started to POUR right as I got back on the bike so I hid in BLOX but I didn’t have the time to visit it properly. It looks like an amazing place for kids with great interactive spaces where they can run free.
And then I tootled back, I had cycled over 20Km and I was a little pooped.
Excellent day though.
while you're ahead... 