Sunday, June 30, 2013

A matter of taste


The new residences in Ørestaden in Copenhagen divides people. To some it´s great with something different, to others it´s horrible. Taste is so difficult to discuss, but as long as there´s something for all people, and that is the case in Copenhagen, why go to such great lengths to discuss what's good taste and what isn't? People who live here love it, and if they don´t, I'm sure they'll be able to find something else.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Nature at the gate


If you live in the southern part of Ørestaden in Copenhagen, this is view you can get on a daily basis. Nature is literally at the gate, as Vestamager unfolds before your eyes.

Friday, June 28, 2013

Nature is just around the corner


This might not be true nature as defined by an area left alone by man, but it sure feels, smells and look the part. Just south of the newly developed area of Ørestaden in Copenhagen on the island of Amager is an area called Vestamager. With wide-open fields, meadows and small clusters of trees and bushes this reclaimed land is a popular area to go to if you need something green and unkempt around you.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

For sale


One of the most recognisable buildings in the inner city of Copenhagen, the Old Stock Exchange, has been put on the market. Built in 1619-1629 by King Christian IV in Dutch renaissance style, it has only been sold two times before. The current owner, Danske Erhverv (Danish Chamber of Commerce), has been using it for conferences and offices, but they've been moving their activities to other locations. It hasn't been used as a stock exchange since 1974. The location can't be better with parliament and the National Bank within sight, but you'll need a big wallet to buy it. Hopefully it won't be sold to a fast food chain...

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Locks of love


The tradition where couples place locks on a bridge as a symbol of their undying love has also hit Copenhagen, though it's not as massive as I've seen in Vilnius, Budapest and Frankfurt. These locks are placed on the bridge crossing Nyhavn.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Urban growth

 

Even in the middle of the city you'll get wild flowers like this. It seems like the city gardeners are following a new policy as these pockets of explosive growth are left to their own devices, where they would have been mowed rigorously and savagely been kept down a few years back. And good it is, as they don't hinder traffic and actually give joy to most, except of course those with severe hay fever.

 

Monday, June 24, 2013

Not a UFO

 

On my way to work I often see this one going at speed down the bicycle lane. And it is a kind of bicycle though more streamlined than most. Perfect for rainy days, I guess, but I'm not sure how comfortable it is.

 

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Use it, please!

 

This oversized trash can is part of a campaign to get people in Copenhagen to use the trash cans instead of littering. I hope it's going to work because, as I've told about before, the city has become increasingly dirtier over the last ten years. And the main reason is that people just don't seem to care about their trash. Somebody else will pick it up, right? Well, yes it's going to be picked up eventually by the municipality but it costs the taxpayers (that's all of us, remember) a bundle each year just because a lot of people, young and old, can't be bothered to walk a few extra steps to the nearest trash can.

 

Metro timelapse


The Copenhagen Metro is a great place to make a time lapse video with the GoPro Hero3 camera if you have a suction cup. Gaffer tape can also be used, but then be prepared for some odd glances from your fellow travellers.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Rain and thunder


With the coming of summer in Denmark, you'll also experience a few battles between cold and warm masses of air, so expect some summer thunderstorms with heavy rain. Well, I know heavy rain in Denmark is nothing compared to other places, but to Danes 24 mm rain in 6 hours is considered heavy rain. And it seems like these thunderstorms are more frequent and more severe now than just 10 years ago. So the communities has to prepare for it with better drainage and reservoirs for the overflow. This little time lapse video was shot out my window Wednesday when most of the country was hit by a series of thunderstorms.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Smile!


With the many cruise ships in Copenhagen, large groups of tourists are hard to miss. And around the tourist hot-spots like the Gefion Fountain, you'll see group photos like this one all the time. To get a tourist-free shot, you'll need to get here at the crack of dawn.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Segways


Yesterday I showed you tourists in golf carts, today it's tourists on Segways. For 66 Euros you get a two hour sightseeing tour around the inner city and see the sights that all the rest of the tourists see as well, except you will be on a Segway.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Getting around in Copenhagen

 

The tourists in Copenhagen gets more and more options to get around. I haven't seen these golf carts before, and they might look a bit flimsy in the heavy traffic of the inner city, but they seems to work fine here.

 

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Yet another project


It seems like there's no end to the number of construction projects in Copenhagen these years. This one on Kvæsthusmolen, Danish for Naval Hospital Quay, is going be a combined underground car parking house and a square with buzzwords like "an attractive framework for urban life interacting with surrounding local area". It's scheduled to be finished by 2015.
an attractive framework for urban life interacting with the surrounding local area, including the Royal Danish Playhouse and the Opera

• to expand urban life to include activities on the water - in particular in the Kv - See more at: http://www.kvaesthusprojektet.dk/english.aspx#sthash.dIrzp8ov.dpuf
an attractive framework for urban life interacting with the surrounding local area, including the Royal Danish Playhouse and the Opera

• to expand urban life to include activities on the water - in particular in the Kv - See more at: http://www.kvaesthusprojektet.dk/english.aspx#sthash.dIrzp8ov.dpuf

Monday, June 17, 2013

More litter - more raving


Yesterday I raved again about the litter in the streets on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Today's photo shows you how one of the central parks, Kongens Have, looks like after a sunny day and evening. Even though there's lots of extra garbage cans, it seems like many really can't be bothered to put their trash in them. Tons of leftovers are removed here each weekend in the summer months and if you like to visit parks, wait until after noon as they're not done cleaning up before that. It's no wonder that many tourists find that Copenhagen is really dirty.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

More litter


I know I've been raving about this before, but it strikes me each time I'm in Copenhagen early on a Saturday or Sunday morning. The amount of litter left over from the night's partying is just too gross, and even though the municipality try the best they can to keep up, it never seems to help. Why aren't the youths (and adults, btw) that litter not fined on the spot? Why are many of the fast-food joints, 7-Eleven kiosks and bars not fined when they don't even try to maintain their own part of the street? It's not about the law, as the fines for littering are actually very high when given, but it seems like neither youths, adults, shop-owners and the police just doesn't care about it.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Time lapse again

 

My latest time lapse from Copenhagen is this one. Taken on Constitution Day, which in Denmark is the 5th of June, it starts very symbolic at the Danish Parliament Folketinget at Christiansborg Palace with the statue of King Frederik VII in the foreground. He was the king that decided to give Denmark a Constitution based on democracy in 1849. The rest of the time lapse will take you through many of the squares in the old park of the city.

 

Friday, June 14, 2013

Dogs and bicycles

 

Copenhagen is renowned for its bicycle culture, and with more bicycles in the city than people, traffic jams are not only evident in the streets with cars, lorries and buses. It's also a problem on the bicycle lanes during rush hour. People here seems to be transporting anything possible on their bikes; groceries and kids are high on the list, but even man's best friend seems to enjoy a ride.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Plug n play

 

One thing often criticized about the newly developed area of Ørestaden on Amager is that it lacks facilities for the residents. Now at the southern end a play area for the young and the young at heart has opened. Called Plug n Play it has a speed skating rink, a parkour area, a street soccer field, a dirt jump area and numerous other activities. And it's free for all to use.

 

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Deer me

 

No, it's not Dyrehaven but Ørestaden, even if these deer seem a bit misplaced. This is part of a new trend in Copenhagen. Instead of having a long and boring fence that begs the local youth to be creative with a spray can, artists are asked to use the fences as a big canvas. I haven't been able to figure out who is behind the deer on this fence, but it is nice. The deer progress from an open white field to a dark forest as you pass the Bella Center.

 

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Behind the ferns

 

Hidden behind these ferns in the Open Air Museum in Brede north of Copenhagen is a house from the former Danish areas in what is now Sweden. A simple wooden structure that would fit perfectly in those large forests our neighbour has.

 

Monday, June 10, 2013

Big farms

 

Some of the farms at the Open Air Museum in Brede are huge, and it must have been quite an undertaking to get them to the museum and rebuilding them. And then they've had to get the right surroundings too.

 

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Open Air Museum

 

A great place to spend a summer day is the Open Air Museum in Brede just north of Copenhagen. Here a host of buildings and farms from all over Denmark and southern Sweden has been moved and rebuilt. Walking around there will take you on a time travel to the 19th century, and it will show you now the people lived, how the land was farmed and lots of other stuff. With animals and poultry, fields and orchards, guides in costumes and lots of informations, the day is well spend here. And it is all free.

 

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Looking at Tivoli

 

The statue of Hans Christian Andersen is looking at Tivoli. The statue is one of the most popular in Copenhagen as tourists flock to pose next to it, or on it.

 

Friday, June 7, 2013

When they do it right...

 

Yesterday I showed you one of the instances where the city planners of Copenhagen haven't really used their head. Today's photo shows you the opposite situation. After a couple of years of construction, the street Vester Voldgade has changed from a traffic heavy street to a quiet street with a broad sidewalk lined with trees and with room for outdoor-serving. Really nice that the city planners get it right from time to time. More of this, please, and less of the idiocy from yesterday.

 

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Confused?


I must confess, I'm mightily confused. In the end of February the redoing of the pavement in the pedestrian street of Frederiksborgvej was finally finished after two years of work. And all applauded the new pavement and the new street. A month later it was ripped up again to make way for a new entrance to the metro in the middle of the street on the narrowest point where thousands pass each day, cutting the width to a third. A lot of protests followed, not least from the neighbours that only got one month of warning, and from the shops that would have their access almost blocked. But the people behind the decision didn't seem to be budging and most people seemed to accept the fact that the construction would go on. Yesterday I passed again and woe and behold, they're apparently re-doing the pavement again. First I thought that they had finally come to their senses again, but alas no. They're just moving the construction site so it will be to the right instead of in the middle. So they will only redo the pavement to the left. The result is that for the next two years it will still not be easy to pass here during rush hour. And even when they're finished, this will be a major bottleneck. I (and many others, I'm sure) can only wonder at the way construction in this city is run.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Delayed

 

The Inner Harbour Bridge and the three other smaller bridges that will connect Nyhavn with Holmen and Christianshavn are delayed. They should have been ready in February but it will be at least October before pedestrians and bicyclists can make use of the shortcut across the harbour and canals. Apparently the construction of the steel elements has been the big stumbling stone for this 200 million DKR project.

 

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Re-thought

 

When I was a kid the Armoury (Tøjhusmuseet) was a place with row upon row of cannons, muskets, sabers, pikes, helmets and a plentitude of other weaponry displayed in great halls. After a year-long redecoration and rearranging it is now a modern museum with audio-visual displays, a few but great focus points and up-to-date texts. It's well worth a visit, even to someone who has been there only a few years ago.

 

Monday, June 3, 2013

Here, there and everywhere

 

I spent Saturday testing the GoPro Hero3 cam that I told you about yesterday. And I did really get around; Amaliehaven, Gefion Fountain, Frederiksberg Have and Copenhagen Zoo. But I think I got a nice result, even if Windows Moviemaker and I will never be friends.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Curious penguin

 

I got the action cam GoPro Hero3 Black Edition a few days ago, and to test it I went to the Copenhagen Zoo. Here a very curious penguin tried to connect but didn't seem to understand that there was a thick glass wall between photographer and beak. The Hero3 camera is small, it's very easy to use with only three buttons, it got wifi so you can operate it with an app, and its 12Mp sensor can record both still, bursts of up to 30 shots in one second, time lapse and up to 4K video. But best of all, I think, is the frame rate, if you shoot in rather low resolution; 120 frames per second in 720 pixels. So if you shoot a clip with that and slow the frame rate down to 25 fps, you get a smooth slow-motion. Tomorrow I'll show you the whole video I shot yesterday.

 

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Struggling to bloom

 

The flowers in Valbyparken was struggling to bloom the last time I was there. Now I'm sure they're in full bloom.