Copenhagen, Denmark 2025 - A Critical Review
I seem to get along quite well with the Danes. However, having spent the last 35 years of my life in the ever-evolving chaos of NYC, I am unable to wrap my brain around the universally recognized social contract that the Danes have all made with each other concerning etiquette and public codes of conduct. Even the punks and the very rare homeless folks wait for the little green light to flash at a street crossing before passing on. If you Jay Walk here, it’s a dead giveaway that you’re a tourist. Not that there is any ignoble aspersion to foreigners. In fact, the Danes seem to really enjoy interacting with out of towners. It doesn’t seem to matter either if you are from Africa, Asia, Europe or the Americas, in the eyes of most Dane’s you are all equally extraneous and tolerable just so long as you pay the King’s taxes and acknowledge the superiority of his subjects above all other Scandinavians. This is of course an exaggeration. Denmark is a constitutional Monarchy and parliamentary democracy supposedly founded by King Harald Bluetooth in the 8th century for its ideal geography and natural seaport. You might recognize that King’s name from the wireless earbud pairing app on your mobile phone. Copenhagen is of course Denmark’s greatest legacy with its masters of the fine arts, architecture and maritime innovation peppered throughout history. Kirkegaard, Tycho Brahe, Nieles Bohr, and Lars Ulrich from Metallica are all celebrated here in a city that surrounds itself with public sculpture and dedications to influential dignitaries either larger than life or just local, hometown heroes.
From my Scandic hotel room in Sluseholmen I downed several lattes and chowed many wads of Danish gabagool for breakfast. After a digestive walk to the Metro station across the street, it was a quick hop to Kobenhavn City Center. Subterranean navigation is easy in Copenhagen because all the maps & ticket booths are in both Danish and English lingua franca. Up on the surface bicycles abound so be on the ready. They have the right of way in most cases and will gladly pay you no attention if you trespass the exclusively designated bike lanes. With my sweetheart by my side, we followed a good friend over to the Rundetårn in Old Town. From the top of this place, you get the best 360-degree views of the city and its various canals weaving through every pocket neighborhood. Constructed in 1642 by King Christian IV as an astronomical observatory, it is high enough to see Sweden from and when I asked to be sure it was confirmed. Most of the city is no higher than 5 or 6 floors. Of those few structures that jet up into the sky far beyond 6 floors, there are many spires and steeples that serve as both secular and religious heritage sites as well as easy landmarks to navigate from one neighborhood to the other. To describe each one as uniquely stunning would be a disservice to the word stunning and to the many artisans, engineers and masons who constructed them over the centuries.
From street level, the only way to take in the complex Copenhagen cityscape is on a boat through the waterways and canals that shape this ancient natural seaport. It’s a must for those who have little time to spare and want to get the most bang for the Kroner. Tour boats and ferries are plentiful and appeal to all sorts of various tastes and intentions. It is from the water that you will see the true nature of the city. Wedged between the North and the Baltic Seas, Denmark’s cultural history has always been bound to this distinctive geographical location. Wars have been won and lost over its strategic locale on the Oresund strait connecting one sea to the other. Although often contested, control of the strait has historically been dominated by this small island city, earning it the debatable title of the capital of Scandinavia. Ask a Sweed though, and they’ll tell you otherwise. It’s also from here upon the canals, that you can see the thousands of summertime quayside sun worshipers soaking up rays along the waterfront like harbor seals. It is honestly more people than you are imagining and a site to behold for sure. A sizable percentage of the population must be out there on any given day and that’s understandable considering how few long hot days of summer there are here before the winter sets in, and the snow comes and then there are only about 6 or 7 hours of sunlight each day for the rest of the year.
Native legend and children’s book author Hans Christian Anderson once wrote, “There's plenty of time to be dead.", and you can’t argue with that kind of logic, so make the most of your living years and visit the great canal city of Copenhagen- and do it in the summertime. Kick back at a café with a cool Carlsberg draft and lunch on herring and garden market fresh raspberries of every conceivable variety. Walk around with a pair of comfortable shoes with wide-eyed wonder. Take a boat trip down one of the many canals. Interact with local denizens and make note of all their recommendations. Go here they’ll say, do this they’ll say, eat that and drink this they’ll say, love this and love us they’ll say, and you will. I did, and I do.
5 Stars to Copenhagen, hope to see you again next year.