We have had the good fortune to rent a lovely apartment in the Islands Brygge part of Copenhagen, just a 10-15 minute walk from the famous Tivoli Gardens and the downtown area, and just a block away from the waterfront along the canal.
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| Jumping into the canal from one of the elevated walkways |
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| Kayak water polo |
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| A young family enjoying the morning |
Copenhagen's canal system is surprisingly clean and is used as both a waterway and a giant recreational area. Tour boats are all electric so as not to pollute the water.
The Islands Brygge area is lined with raised walkways filled with people sunbathing and jumping into the water for a quick dip, as well as roped off recreational areas and children's paddling pools.
We even saw a young man on a sled much like the red saucers we used to toboggan down the snowy slopes of Canada in the winter, fly down the wooden ramp shown above and shoot out into the water to the delight of his friends.
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| Grads having fun. |
Residents of Copenhagen seem to be very family oriented. The city teems with bikes, baby carriages and pregnant young women, and it is not unusual to spot two or three generations of family picnicking together. This even extends to the wildlife, which doesn't seem to be bothered by the milling throngs
One of the liveliest weeks was graduation week for the high schools. Every day large trucks would drive by loaded with kids hooting and hollering and singing and dancing in celebration of the end of school. They looked like they were having so much fun we just wanted to join in the revelry.
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| A street musician in front of City Hall |
The activity is not just confined to our section of the waterfront.
Copenhagen may just be the most walkable city on earth as it is very flat and we find that simply crossing a bridge or wandering through a park will bring us to new sights and sounds.
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| People friendly sculpture |
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| More people friendly sculptures |
We could discover an interesting street musician, or pause to people watch while resting on one of the sculptures designed for climbing or sitting.
We could find ourselves laughing in delight as people young and old bounced along a sidewalk embedded every few feet with a mini-trampoline.
Our daily wanderings often take us several
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Bouncing your way home.
Trampolines embedded in the walkway. |
kilometers from home and we have yet to be bored by the sights.
Of course we have also been to many of the typical tourist sites.
We have visited The Little Mermaid, famous for losing her head on at least two occasions, and surprisingly small for such a famous sculpture.
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| The Little Mermaid with her fans - a little smaller than expected. |
We have gazed upon the sculpture of Hans Christian Andersen located outside City Hall on Hans Christian Andersen Boulevard. Although his coat and hat are weathered, his knees and toes have been buffed to a smooth shine by the many tourist who stop to take "selfies" with this icon of their youth.
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| Hans Christian Andersen with his shiny knees and toes |
Copenhagen is by design one of the most eclectic cities we've experienced to date. It is a city rich in modern architecture and historical buildings, waterways, parks and attractions built to suit modern life, and those designed by Kings. But that's a subject for another post. Skal!
