Sunrise over Amager

Another photo from my early morning session at Kystagerparken, this time taken with my "real" camera. This one is a bit untraditional, as most people like to have the sun in focus, but why be traditional?

Maybe not for free anymore

 

The day before yesterday I told you that the National Museum of Art has a free admission, but come new year that might not be the case anymore. Due to budget cuts it looks like it's going to cost money again to visit this brilliant museum. A shame really, as there has been a big increase in the number of visitors after the admission became free, especially the number of young visitors has risen sharply. And the price for the free admission per year? A measly 10 million DKR (2 million USD).

 

Looking at the lifeboat

 

At the National Museum of Art this statue is looking at one of the most famous Danish paintings, The Lifeboat is Taken through the Dunes, 1883, by Danish painter Michael Ancher (1849 - 1927). Painted at the artist hangout of Skagen at the northern tip of Jutland, it shows the hard life of the fishermen at that time and place.

 

National Art Museum

Copenhagen weather might not always be suited for outdoor activities and then it's nice to have other options. One of the better ones is the National Art Museum (Statens Museum for Kunst) where you can marvel at art from medieval times to the present. To visit the collections is free but you'll usually have to pay a fee to see one of the special exhibitions like the one about Matisse that is on at the moment.

Copenhagen Art Festival

 

Friday the Copenhagen Art Festival 2012 opened and with a host of events and exhibitions lasting into the autumn, there's going to be something for everyone. Some of the exhibitions will be held in the public space, like this Running Woman in the central park of Kongens Have, and some will be held at the participating art galleries. For more info visit www.cph-artfestival.org.

 

Sunrise over Amager

 

At this time of the year it's possible to get up in time to watch the sunrise and it's still warm enough that it's a pleasure to do so. This one is from one of the little known parks around Copenhagen, Kystagerparken, which lies with a view of western Amager.

Not the founder of Copenhagen

One of the good things about the construction of the metro and all the digging, is that the archaeologists discover a lot of new things about the old Copenhagen. One of the more interesting new discoveries is that this guy, Bishop Absalon, wasn't the founder of Copenhagen. There had been a thriving town with a church, a marketplace and a major estate in around 1000AD, 160 years before King Valdemar gave the town to Absalon, so now the history of Denmark need a bit of rewriting.

One of the paintings at the Galore Urban Art Festival at Toftegårds Plads in Valby was this huge one by Aryz of Spain. Here he is still working on the finishing touches of his artwork.

A boring square?

 

One of the largest squares in Copenhagen, Toftegårds Plads in Valby, looks more like a parking space without the cars than a place to meet or a place where things are happening. A few years ago it was used as a hub for the bus lines, but after that was changed nothing much has happened there. Or rather, there has been the big new redecorating that the square screams for, because a few things are happening there. At winter there's an ice skating rink there and in summer there's a flea market each weekend. And then there's a thing like the Galore Urban Art Festival last weekend. More than 200 Danish and international artists, music, graffiti and other art was the core of the festival.

 

Shop sign

Why do many shops in Copenhagen insist on having the most hideous and garish signs, when it's so easy to get a nice one like this? Maybe they don't realize what kind of message they send with a nice sign (or an ugly one), or maybe they're are afraid of the customers not being able to find them unless the sign can be seen from the moon. In most cases, I think, it's more a case of them not having given the subject any deeper thought.

From living room to boat

Fancy a boat right outside your living room? Then Sluseholmen in Copenhagen might be a good choice as many of the ground floor apartments are right next to the canals.

A modern Venice

As told before the newly developed area of Sluseholmen reminds me of Venice with its canals, bridges and residences on both sides. There's still missing quite a bit in my opinion, as there's not many shops, cafés or restaurants so it is a very quiet area.

Every nook and cranny

In a city like Copenhagen the people seem very adapt at using every nook and cranny to find a place to relax, to reflect, to read a book or just to get some sun. This place under the Metropolis building in the South Harbour District is perfect for all of that.

Red carpet for the swimmers

The red carpet has been laid out at the harbour bath that I told you about yesterday. Hopefully it will be used a lot this weekend.

Time for a dip

As summer seems to hit Copenhagen this weekend with temperatures of up to 30C, this might be one of the more popular places. It's one of the harbour baths in Copenhagen Harbour that have sprung up during the last 5 years or so. Not too many years ago it would have been impossible to swim in the harbour unless you really wanted to catch more than a cold, but recently the water quality has improved so much that it's now perfectly OK to take a dip. This one is placed at Sluseholmen in the South Harbour district with the Metropolis building in the background.