Jeg går på cykel i København

I go around Copenhagen by bicycle (that is what the title of this post says in Danish, which I can finally write as a student of Danish for more than 3 months :-). Going around by bus is not only more expensive, it frequently takes longer - so no real benefit. Plus biking is healthier and keeps the carbon footprint low (this combined with the shared shower scenario at our new place means I am doing my share right?).

As I have written in early posts on my time in Scandinavia rush hour in the morning and evening is not just referring to cars but bikes as well. Danes almost always seem to be on the go and in a hurry, and this is evident in how they bike. I am getting into this rhythem myself sometimes, rushing and rushing by bike, but...now that I am a full-time lady of leisure until Sept well there really is no need to rush is there? No.

One afternoon while biking with Morten we were in a rush, mainly because we were hungry but there was no way to speed up the wait time we had on our way from Islands Brygge (my old neighborhood) to Norrebro (the new 'hood). We got to the bike bridge near Fisketorvet Shopping Center and this is what we saw...














Hmm...so what was happening? Well half of this bridge moves to let big ships through. This big ship took forever (probably the hunger pains made it seem so long), ok well at least 20-25 minutes to approach, get through, and the bridge swivel back to the crossable position. As far as I know this is the only bike/pedestrian bridge that does this in Copenhagen, sort of cool, except we were starving!














Given what a biking culture it is in the city there are many styles of bikes. I just bought myself a new swanky bike after riding a cheap crappy bike for 2 years. Its red and shiny and waiting to have its lock attached so I can ride it!

Everything is done by bike, the mail is delivered by bike, paper carriers like this one have a unique style...














Even kids are shuttled around by bike, a great way to limit the need for car once one has kids. This version is probably not the safest, the kid is just in a cardboard box, but the Dad was just biking in and around a water fountain for the kid to play and get wet a little while sitting in the bike.














This is a more standard (and safer) baby buggy bike-mobile. Kind of cool and a reasonable way to get around considering how flat most of Copenhagen is!