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 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.

 

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.

 

A never ending story

 

Don't get me wrong, I like the fact that Copenhagen is changing, and I really think that the many constructions will make the city a better place to live for all. But like many other Copenhageners I'm tired of having to change my routines and my way of getting from A to B on a daily basis. And I'm really looking forward to the day where the metro construction, the roadworks and the building constructions have been finished so that it will look like a city again instead of one big construction site. I also wish for the day where the constructors and city planners will show due consideration to the locals here. This dump truck driver is one of those that should have been taken on a lenghty course on how to behave when in close proximity of a busy station; he was reversing at speed into the construction site at Nørreport Station without a safety guy behind him. No one was hurt...this time!

 

Are we anarchists?

 

 

With the renovation of the Nørreport Station in central Copenhagen the many bicycles there pose quite a problem as they're placed everywhere. And it certainly doesn't help that a large portion of the bicyclists seem to have an anarchistic streak in them. To many Danes seem very ordered and regulated but this is one instance where many of us couldn't care less about order and others, as long as we can leave our bicycle as close to the station as possibly.

 

Have a fantastic day

Thursday morning this guy greeted the people at Nørreport Station in Copenhagen. Copenhageners are very used to people with signs so most just ignored him, until they realized that he didn't want money, he just wanted to wish them a fantastic day. All smiles and nice greetings to everybody, he sure spread a lot of nice feelings. Knick-named the Good-morning Man Kim Fyrst is best known in his home-town of Ringsted for standing beside the roads with his sign in the mornings, greeting people in all weather. And spreading the word that it is free to be nice. So have a fantastic Sunday.

Beware of the rear

The Copenhagen Carnival is due next weekend. After having been cancelled in December it was saved but scaled down from three days to one. So they apparently felt some advertising was needed, hence the ads on these buses. The text in Danish goes: Beware, the rear swings out.

How to mark your bicycle

With thousands of bicycles being stolen each year in Copenhagen, many try to make sure their two-wheeler is not among them. You can lock it with multiple locks of the heavy kind, you can use a very old rusty one or you can make sure your bike stand out in the crowd. This one is even easy to find among the hundreds of other bikes at Nørreport Station.

No service or delayed

These days are not good for the commuters in Copenhagen, as construction works on stations, railway lines and roads make travel around the city more than just a bit difficult. Trains run after a new timetable with fewer trains, closed lines and busses as a substitute, and busses change route and stops pretty arbitrary, so use rejseplanen.dk to plan your travel and expect extra travel time. The photo shows the busiest station in Denmark, Nørreport, that is being renovated while in service most of the time.

 

Bike parking

Nørreport station is currently undergoing a major renovation. It is the busiest train station in the country, serving 165,000 people daily. The rebuilding will take place between 2011 and 2014.

While this is happening the streets around the station has been closed of to traffic and parking has been made for bicycles as this photo shows.

-RS

All dressed up...

Earlier this month I showed you the bicycle with knitting on it I came across in the city centre. Near Nørreport station there is construction happening on Kultorvet (tr. The Coal Square) and new trees are being planted.

Someone has also covered these with knitting. I love how Copenhagers make public spaces their own in ways other than with graffitti!

-RS

How far is it?

There are at least three distance markers in Copenhagen, one on Rådhuspladsen, one near Østerport station and this one at Nørreport station just as you exit the Metro station. The 1distances to the centre of certain towns are shown from these points.

-RS

Knitted

This decorated bicycle was spotted near Kongens Nytorv. Recently the street art of CPH Knitters and Knit Bitch has been adorning many public spaces and trees in them. Anyone going past Nørreport station would have come across their work.

I wonder if this bicycle belongs to one of them?

-RS

Taking precautions

The one downside of living in Copenhagen is bicycle theft. I know of very few people who have not had their bicycles stolen.

This store owner is taking no chances with this demonstration item! Even though it is near Nørreport station and quite high up on the building the store has had several attempts at theft.

-RS