Paddocks to come

Behind the Danish parliament of Christiansborg something new is happening. The old riding court for the training the royal horses are being made into paddocks for the horses instead. Gone is the fountain and soon there'll be green fields instead. The reason is that in Denmark all horses are entitled to some time every day in a paddock instead of having to be locked up in a stable, and that goes even for royal horses,

Open for business

 

After having been closed for renovation for a couple of years the most prestigious hotel in Copenhagen, the Hotel D'Angleterre is (almost) open for business. Some renovations still remains but it has opened its doors for guests.

 

For the future

 

Two years ago Copenhagen was hit by torrential rain and thousands of cellars were flooded. The work to try to prevent that in the future has already been under way in many places and now the time has come to my neighborhood in Valby. For the next couple of years a 2.5m wide and 2.5km long tunnel will be dug from the lake Damhussøen under the park Vigerslevparken to the beach at Åmarken. When finished it should be able to transport a huge amount of rain water, when (not if) Copenhagen is hit by a new rain storm. As a bonus it also should improve water quality at the beach, so maybe it will be possible to dip your toes there in a not too long future.

 

Upgrading

 

When the inner Copenhagen harbour along Klavebod Brygge was closed down for shipping, the area was turned over to free enterprise, and the big corporations and hotel chains quickly put up a lot big new buildings. With little or no regulation this area is devoid of people outside of business hours and it's without any soul. Now the authorities have realized their mistake and they're trying to do a bit of an upgrade to make it more people-friendly. The new boardwalk called Copenhagen Wave will be ready for the public by the end of August.

 

Water bus time lapse

 

If you want to see the Copenhagen Harbour you can either take one of the sightseeing boats that will take you into the canals and the main harbour, while giving you a running commentary about what you're seeing. Or you can take the cheap way by using the water buses that run between Teglholmen in the south and Refshaleøen in the north with quite a few stops during the trip. And you'll get the whole trip for a single bus fare. You'll have to make your own commentary, though.

The video here is a time lapse I did the other day while taking the whole trip, and then some. And to the other passengers; sorry if I hugged the railing, but I didn't want to risk loosing my camera overboard.

Locks of love

I've noticed these locks on bridges in many places in Europe and in the beginning they baffled me, I must admit. Apparently couples put them up and throw away the key to symbolize eternal love. Now the locks have come to Copenhagen, though not as mainstream as in i.e. Eastern Europe. These few locks have been placed on the bridge across Nyhavn, but who knows, it might catch on here in the next few years. We have enough bridges to last a few lifetimes.

C.F. Tietgen House

C.F. Tietgens House from 1904 is the former head office of the bank Privatbanken. It lies on the site next to the Old Stock Exchange and was built to replace 6 old houses called the Six Sisters. The public outcry causes by the demolition of the old houses was the reason that the law was changed, so that buildings can be protected if they are of a architectural, historical or cultural interest.
Privatbanken, founded in 1857, came under the directorship of the young C.F. Tietgen. The bank's head office was located in the Christian IV stock exchange building for more than 40 years. In 1904, the bank relocated to monumental, Baroque-style premises on the site behind Børsgade. The bank founded the Copenhagen telephone company, and was therefore assigned the simple telephone number of 1. Privatbanken was the first bank in Denmark to introduce the use of cheques. In 1990, Privatbanken merged with two other banks, and following a major Nordic banking merger in 2000, the new bank was named Nordea and moved out of the Børsgade premises.

Swallows 4

The last of the swallows pics i'm going to show for now is this flyby.

Swallows 3

It doesn't take long for the parents to stuff some food down the throat of the chicks so it took some patience to get this one.

Swallows 2

Out in the garden the day after yesterday's photo, the chicks were getting flying lessons while still being fed by their parents. This chick just screamed for a mouthful as the swallow dived in.

Swallows 1

While visiting family in Bogense on Fünen I noticed the swallows in the gateway just outside the kitchen. Having hatched five chicks, but loosing one the parents were busy feeding them. They were more or less oblivious to me standing there trying to get a few pics of them, so I managed this one that I quite like. The next day was a big day in these chicks life, and I captured that too as I'll show you tomorrow.

Sunrise 6 - and last

The last of the photos from Klintebjerg, that I'm going to show you here is this one. With the low tide I could get some rocks and seaweed in the foreground and the sunrise just behind the boat in the background. Tomorrow I'll show you that you don't have to travel to exotic lands to get interesting pics of birds.

Sunrise 5

Dialling the exposure down you can get the sun nice and round, while still catching a few details. Klintebjerg offered a few boats as foreground attraction.

Sunrise 4

The swallows were up so I catched one of them sunbathing on a wire with the sun in the back.

Sunrise 3

We have breakthrough. The sun is now over the horizon (and the trees) and a new day has come to Klintebjerg. But why stop to photograph now? With the sun this low you can get some interesting backlit pics. See how tomorrow.

Sunrise 2

On this sunrise photo from Klintebjerg I've boosted the colours a bit to get an almost orange glare in the sky.

Sunrise 1

A couple of days ago I showed you a time lapse of a sunrise over Klintebjerg on Fünen. For the next few days I'll show you some of the photos I took on that very early morning. This one is from the blue hour just before dawn. I like the calm on the photos with the tethered boats as focus points.

Cycling in Valbyparken

Close to my home is a nice big park that never seems to be crowded even during the best summer weekends. I often take either a walk or a ride on my bicycle through it, enjoying the different parts of it, from manicured rose gardens to wild nature. This little time lapse show one of the rides I usually opt for when I need a bit of air and exercise.

Jazz for kids

Jazz is not only for old people, it's also for kids, as the Ouagadougou Connection proved in Østre Anlæg the other day. The area in front of the stage was packed with kids itching to dance to the African inspired rhythms.

Copenhagen Jazz Festival

 

These days the Copenhagen Jazz Festival is in full swing, so if you're around the city you'll get plenty of chances to listen to some great jazz. And a lot of them are for free as well. This band, the Orion Brass Band, started out near Nørreport Station with a few numbers before they went on a parade through the inner city.

 

A sunrise time lapse

 

During a family visit on Fünen, the island in the middle of Denmark, we ventured out before dawn to the little harbour of Klintebjerg to catch the sunrise. The GoPro Hero3 cam naturally went op alongside the Nikons and the Canons and this is the result of that little experiment. A truly glorious sunrise.

The Round Tower

 

One of the must-sees for many tourists in Copenhagen is the Round Tower, Rundertårn in Danish. Built by Christian IV in 1632 it is still used as an observatory, though much better ones has replaced it, so it's now mostly for show. The view from the 30m tower is a nice one as most of the buildings in the inner city is lower than the viewing platform.

 

Outdoor service

 

The church seems to have been moved outdoor here to attract new customers in Ørestaden. It is of course nice with some life in the new areas, but I don't think many of the local residents were attending this service on this Saturday.

 

Where to put the bicycle...or not

 

Yesterday I showed you one parking solution for the bicycles of Copenhagen. This is another one, albeit probably not an approved one. Placing you bike where everyone has to squeeze pass it with prams, shopping backs and the like, will certainly earn you some nasty remarks.

 

Stacking the bicycles

 

Parking is a problem in Copenhagen, not only for cars but for bicycles as well. This is one, maybe impractical solution from Ørestaden.

 

A garden in town

 

Around Copenhagen there's a lot of gardens like this, where people living in the city in an apartment can rent a place to grow some of their own. This plot of land with small-scale agriculture is placed in Ørestaden and is fairly new, but others go back decades. Called kolonihaver in Danish they're are not easy to get, as the waiting lists of the most popular ones are thirty years or more long.

 

Tilting

 

The modern constructions in Ørestaden are nice to photograph as you can always find a new angle to catch. This one is from the Figure-8 building by BIG, and I've tried to catch the slanting lines so that they're horizontal instead.

 

A new station

 

The construction of the new Nørreport Station in Copenhagen is taking shape. Below ground the work seems to have come to an end and above the new buildings that will house ticket office, kiosks and the like are beginning to look good. It will still take a year or two before the whole station is finished, though.

 

Grey Copenhagen Time lapse

 

This summer in Copenhagen has yet to show some real summer weather for more than a few days. This time lapse was filmed over a few days of grey in the end of June.

Walking on water

Wherever new buildings rise in Copenhagen, canals and ponds are sure to follow. We like water in our cities in Denmark, maybe because we're used to having water around us all the time from an early age. Denmark is after all a country with a couple of thousands islands, and there's nowhere that is further away from the sea than an hours drive at most.