Why visit Denmark

Even if you don’t have a Danish bloodline, there are some good reasons to visit Copenhagen, the capital of a happy country called Denmark..

I’ll go on with reasons that worth to bementioned but here are just few of them:

Right as Argentina, Denmark has an incredible number of gorgeous people. The truly beautiful part, and unusual differentiator, is that they appear sincerely unaware of the fact. There is little LA-style pretension unless you go to a social climber magnet like Club NASA, which helps to pull the mirror gazers off the streets. Go in the spring or summer and there is no need for catwalks–the sidewalks at Nyhavn are good enough. For those feeling the club or lounge itch, Vega and JazzHouse are hard to beat.

Bill Bryson once observed: you could cast a Pepsi commercial here in 15 seconds.

English movies are almost never dubbed in Denmark. Combined with excellent free education, this results in a high percent of Danes speaking more pleasant English than the average Brit or American.

“OK, I’ll see you for dinner at 6pm then,” you may say  to a friend named over the phone. “You shall. Have a nice evening and see you soon,” he will respond. And you’ll feel like a TOEFL student) You’re more likely to have communication problems in the bayou of Louisiana or in a pub in Liverpool than you are in Copenhagen.

In 1971, a 101-acre place formerly used by the army was effectively seized and converted by hippies into “The Free State of Christiania.” They created their own form of goverment, as well as a rich community of shops, schools and most things you would associate with a normal township–but they claimed sovereignty and paid no taxes. It became a haven for artists, alternatives, and soft drug dealing, among other things, and the Danish government–though allowing Christiania to exist as a proclaimed “social experiment”–has been trying to shut them down for more than 35 years. In 1991, the appointed powers within the anarchist state agreed to pay rent and cover the costs of water and electricity.

Most Danes agree that Christiania’s days are numbered. It’s an anachronism that has somehow survived every attempt to devistate it, but it’s nine lives will soon be up. Get there before it’s gone.

“It doesn’t cost money to light a room correctly, but it does require culture.” This quote from Poul Henningsen, encapsulates the beauty of Danish design minimalism. Much like in Japanese design, form follows function, and half of the time I found myself in a great mood in Copenhagen, I realized it was due to the planned passage of sunlight in Danish architecture, as well as their understanding of interior lighting intensity and placement.

Bigger is not better, as is so often the case in the US, and the tallest building in Copenhagen is a modest 358 feet.

The Danes have a functional and pleasant feast for the eyes almost anywhere you go, whether the renowned Louisiana museum or your hotel lobby.

If you want to go some where on the other side of your map and decicide to take a taxi, first of all – think. The receptionist of your hotel will look at you and laugh: “10 minutes by bicycle.” Copenhagen is probably the most hassle-free capital you’ve ever visited.

Rent a bike for 100 DKK and you can cover 1/2 of the “Barcelona of the North,” as design god Sir Terence Conran calls it, in an afternoon. 1-3-hour bike tours from Central Station are a perfect first-day orientation. The numerous S-line and Metro stations, in addition to HUR buses, will get you where you want to go if self-propelled locomotion isn’t your gig, but the average Dane bicycles 375 miles per year. Get off your cities and join them for the real Danish experience.