There were a few things that I noticed pretty quickly upon my arrival yesterday morning. First is Danish design which is evident everywhere, and since I’m a fan it’s appreciated as well. After passing through immigration into the customs hall, I noticed that the monitor which indicates the belt on which your luggage will come out, there is also a countdown timer to let you know when that will occur. Mt flight was scheduled for a 14 minute wait, and that’s exactly how long it took. Plenty of time to look around at another unusual feature – a shop in the customs hall featuring primarily perfumes and cosmetics, still at duty free prices. The last feature I noticed in the customs hall were “smoking cabins”. These are literally little booths about double the size of a telephone booth that fit about 4 people who can’t wait until they collect their luggage and get outside to light up. This phenomenon made more sense later when I noticed that many more people smoke in Denmark than almost anywhere else I’ve ever been, including the Middle East and China.
After checking into my hotel where I was upgraded to a water-view room overlooking one of the primary canals, and taking a short nap to try and overcome jet lag, I went to get something to eat and a nice long walk around central Copenhagen. First stop was for lunch - a smorrebrod – probably the most Danish of dishes. It is an open face sandwich consisting of buttered hearty dark brown rye bread with an assortment of toppings, usually fish in nature. I had a selection of herring prepared 3 different ways with a great cup of coffee. The Danish have nothing on Starbucks when it comes to a great cup of joe, confirmed by my not seeing a single Starbucks yet.
The weather here has also been a treat. Daytime highs are usually in the upper 30's this time of year, but it hit the low 50's yesterday and today, and it is supposed to continue that way until I leave on Friday. It was sunny yesterday but drizzled a bit today while I was at the conference center, though that is supposed to be the only precipitation expected.
Walking around, one cannot help but notice the number of bicycles (An estimated 160,000 in use every day!). They are all sturdy upright touring bikes. Nothing fancy (I saw a shop selling them for between $300 and $500), nor does anyone lock them up. They just park them outside shops, along the sidewalk, or in the many bike racks. The only time I saw a lock being used was where some people locked their helmet to the bike. They obey the rules of the road very strictly and have their own lane between the sidewalk and cars on every street. In many cases the bike lane is slightly lower than the sidewalk, slightly higher than the street, lending a tiered look to it.
Copenhagen is a charming old city and very clean. No tall buildings except for a couple of modern hotels. It did not take long to realize, however, that something was wrong. Not wrong really, just unusual, and it was that it is incredibly homogenous. Everyone looks Scandinavian, or at least northern European. With the exception of one person at the conference that I’m speaking at who is from Ghana, I have not yet seen any black people, very few Asians, Middle Easterners and eastern Europeans, and certainly no Latinos. I am so used to the diversity of New York and other major cities that I travel to, that it was quite noticeable.
My walk took me along some pretty canals and then to the Stroget – a collection of interlocking streets that are for pedestrians only and where most of the shopping is located. It was there that I passed the Museum of Erotica. It wasn’t the museum I found so interesting (no – I didn’t go in), but rather that right next door was a French Connection UK store with their ubiquitous “f c u k” sign prominently placed right next to the Museum of Erotica sign. Coincidence or brilliant marketing by the clothing retailer?
Another noticeable fact is that Copenhagen is very expensive, and that’s coming from a New Yorker. $4 for a 750ml bottle of water at 7-11 (Yes, 7-11. They’re everywhere here), $30/day for internet access in my room, $5 to check your coat at the convention center. Food is a little better, but it all adds up.
I also passed a childrens’ book store and on the rack was the book shown below. That word in the title means “to travel” in German, and I guess has a similar meaning in Danish as the book is all about types of transport. Couldn’t resist taking the picture with my phone though.
Public transportation is quite good and I rode a combination of a bus and Copenhagen’s new Metro system over to the conference center last night for the opening reception. Buses are big, on time (a novelty for a New Yorker!) and drive very fast which means that if you’re standing, as I was, you really have to hold on tightly. They can move so fast because on downtown streets, they too have their own lane. It goes sidewalk, bike lane, bus lane, car lanes.
After the reception, I attended a dinner at a local restaurant, the intention being to introduce Danish food to conference participants who chose to attend (there were about 50 of us at dinner, with 2,000 attending the conference) and who were from all over Europe. The food was good, but the company better. I was at a table with a whole bunch of Norwegians from Tromso, the largest town in northern Norway which is about 2,000 km from Oslo. Although the population is only 64,000, it is also known as the Paris of the North. They were a great bunch and the 3 women I was seated closest too – Siri, Tove, and Gerd - were particularly fun. I now call them my Viking friends.
With such an international crowd, it has been quite interesting and I’ve had some brilliant conversations with colleagues from Poland, Norway, Finland, Egypt, the Netherlands and more. Everyone asked if I had already voted, and then asked for who. When I said Obama they were thrilled (one even called over her friend, saying “Hey come over here and meet this guy from New York – he voted for Obama!!!") as they truly regard McCain as George W. Bush, The Sequel. I endured several tirades about Dubbya, especially in regard to the damage he has done to America’s reputation in the international community. What can I say – I was with kindred spirits.
Well, time to try the party again. More later.
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