Bike Like: Foot rests

Because most bikes here have brakes where you pedal backwards, it's a lot easier to start if you don't have both feet on the ground. At most stoplights, you'll see people put their right foot on the curb.

At some stoplights though, there are these handy little foot rests. You put your foot on the orange part and then hold onto the bar at the top. Two people can rest on one of these. This one is advertising a new bike superhighway that just opened, but my favorites are in downtown Copenhagen and say something on the order of, "Hello cyclist! Put your foot here and thanks for biking!"

Although it's the big things that really make Copenhagen great for biking, these litte touches from the city to make a difference.

Distortion

Two weeks ago, Copenhagen’s biggest street party took place. Four nights in a row, there were parties in different parts of Copenhagen. The first two nights there were outdoor parties in two neighborhoods that went from 4-10 pm. After 10, the parties moved inside. On Friday and Saturday night, there were bigger parties on the outskirts of the city where thousands of people partying wouldn’t bother the neighbors too much. 

There was a lot of controversy about Distortion this year because they were moving it out of the city center into different neighborhoods. A lot of this was for safety reasons: the streets in central Copenhagen are really old and small and they got too packed with people. As it was, there were points on some of Copenhagen’s widest streets that were filled wall-to-wall with people. Moving the parties seemed like a wise choice:

I had heard that Distortion is worth experiencing, so even though I wasn’t going to party, I went to the parties on the first two nights to walk around and see what was happening. The streets were blocked off for large parts of the city. There was music at various points around the neighborhoods where people were gathered to dance. There were also lots of people just sitting out in the street eating and drinking.

Here, on one of the main streets in Copenhagen, the street was blocked off and a huge line of tables had been set up:

One of the things that I had been told was interesting about distortion is how people take over the city space. I saw lots of people climbing, sitting, and standing on things that they normally wouldn’t:

There was even a disco ball on a crane hanging over a bridge in Copenhagen.

Distortion was very Danish in a lot of ways. People were drinking a lot. And by a lot, I mean a lot. Still, I was impressed that there was a good atmosphere and that people were out enjoying the long evening and the company of thousands of other people. It was also interesting to see a picture of the streets cleaned up the next day. Distortion organized the clean-up and you couldn't tell that there had been a party. I don’t think that people putting on a street party would clean things up like this themselves in the US.

Bike Fixed While You Work

At the Naperville train station, there is an auto mechanic who will fix your car while you're at work. I recently discovered that in Copenhagen, you can get your bike fixed while you go to work. This is common at many companies, including CBS. However, the national train system also offers this at some stations.

The sign says that if you check your bike in by 9, it will be repaired by 4. It gives instructions on how to register your bike to get repaired and get access to the gated area. Then you park your bike there and it will be fixed for you by the end of the day.

There are bike shops on almost every block in Copenhagen and many offer fast service. However, sometimes you have to wait and the bike shops often don't open until 10 or 11. This is a great way to get your bike fixed without having to be without it when you need it.

Århus

Last weekend, Ziyu and I went to Århus, the second largest city in Denmark. We figured that we should probably see something of Denmark other than Copenhagen and the surrounding area before leaving.

We took a bus to Århus. Going there, the bus went onto a ferry between Zealand (the island where Copenhagen is located) and Jutland (the peninsula connected to continental Europe where Århus is). On the way back, the bus took a different route, going overland from Jutland to Funen (another island) to Zealand via a really, really long bridge. The bus rides were really nice because it was a beautiful weekend and I enjoyed seeing the Danish countryside in it’s full greenery. Taking the ferry was also interesting because Denmark has 406 islands and we could see a number of the smaller ones from the ferry.

Århus has a population of about 250,000 which means that even as the second city, it is much smaller than Copenhagen. There is a large university there, so a lot of people see it as a student town. Ziyu and I both liked Århus. It is like Copenhagen, but quieter. It was funny to compare it to Copenhagen, seeing Copenhagen as the big, busy city, because compared to a place like Chicago, Copenhagen is pretty calm and orderly.

Århus has two must-see attractions. The first I ARoS, the modern art museum. In 2011, they added an installation to their roof, Your Rainbow Panorama. It’s a circular corridor on the top of the building with different colors of glass to make a rainbow. It is striking to see from below and the artist envisioned that it could be used as a means of navigation within the city because people could say, “I see the blue side which means I’m north of ARoS.”

Inside was also beautiful. First, there was a nice view of the city. Both because Denmark is an old country and there are building restrictions, there are very few tall buildings. It doesn’t take much you get you above the height of everything else. But it was also interesting to walk around and see the city through the different colors. As you walked through and looked around, your perspective on the city changed.

Overall, ARoS was a really good art museum. They also had an exhibit on the golden age of Danish art. I really appreciated that exhibit because they provided historical information about how Danish culture and history had affected art during that era. The other exhibits of Danish art that I’ve seen haven’t been as helpful with providing context.

After the art museum, we found a nice place to eat dinner outside. It was a beautiful sunny day and we have been loving the long summer days here. Århus has a lot of nice cafés and cute streets to sit outside and enjoy the atmosphere. After dinner, we saw a movie at a small theatre nearby. The theatre had a number of screens, but they were all for small audiences: there were only 12 seats for the movie we saw.

On Sunday morning, I went for a nice run along the coast. There was a beautiful biking and pedestrian path going along the coast. When I got back, we had brunch in the sun next to the river.

Then we set off for the other main tourist attraction in Århus, Den Gamle By (The Old Town). Like Skansen, the historical village I visited in Sweden, it is a sort of Danish Naper Settlement. However, at Skansen, they had lots and lots of buildings, but you could go inside very few. In Århus, almost all the buildings were furnished and you could go inside.

We finished our time in Århus by going to a new exhibit of artwork along the water appropriately called, “Sculpture by the Sea.” We went the second day that it was opened, so there were lots of people out to see the artwork. A lot of the art was very surprising and was integrated with the natural environment. There were over 80 sculptures in the exhibit. We didn’t get all the way to the end because we had to get back to downtown Århus to catch our bus.

It was nice to see something of Denmark besides Copenhagen and Århus is a really charming city. However, the trip also made me aware how small Denmark really is and how many Danes live in Copenhagen.

Gro i Byen (Grow in the City)

Coming home one night last week, I had to wait on an island in the middle of the street while crossing. I noticed this little planter that someone had put up on the backside of a street sign.

There's a little thyme plant inside. "Gro i byen" means "Grow in the City." I loved finding this little spot of guerrilla gardening.

Also, I should note that it was round 9:30 pm when I took this picture. I'm loving the long days!

Better than the Prairie Path

On Saturday, I visited Arken, a modern art museum southwest of where I live. It's located right on the beach and getting there was about an hour bike ride each way. The museum was good, but what I really enjoyed about the day was the bike ride. Making scenic bike paths usually isn't a priority in Denmark, but this one was beautiful. Most of the ride I was on off-road, paved, multipurpose trails. A large part of the trails went alongside old fortifications that were built at the end of the 19th century and were manned during WWI. Currently, the fortifications are being restored and a park is being developed along them.

Some fortifications.

Some sheep.

Fortification + Sheep.

At one point, there was a little park for mountain biking. It even had a nifty bike repair station.

Mountain biking park with different ramps for practicing.

Bike repair station with tools attached to cables so they can't be stolen.

After riding along that trail, I turned and went on another one that goes parallel to the sea. There are some protected manmade saltwater bays there and the trail went along those, which were calm and beautiful.

Swans galore!

There were houses along these protected bays (the bike path ran between the water and the houses) and almost all the houses had a little dock. 

I went to the museum, the I went and hung out on the beach for a while. The day had started rainy, but had turned nice. I had brought a picnic and I sat on the beach for a while and read. People had told me the beaches were actually pretty nice, but I was a little skeptical. Nice beaches? Denmark? But, I was pleasantly surprised.

After enjoying the sun and sand for a while, I had another beautiful bike ride back home!

Helsinki

As I mentioned, I spent a couple days in Helsinki over the weekend. I had printed out a walking tour to do in Helsinki and the author wrote that Helsinki is a city of second glances. You don't fall in love at first site, but when you take a careful look, you really like it. I think that was an accurate description. It doesn't have the glamour or charm of Stockholm, Oslo, and Copenhagen, but it's an interesting city and it has a lot of character.

I spent a lot of time walking around and looking at the interesting architecture in the city. The city is known in particular for both its Art Nouveau and more contemporary buildings. There is also a design district, with a lot of stores featuring Finnish design. I had a list of stores to visit, and enjoyed seeing their wares. Going to the different stores was almost like visiting museums devoted to Finnish design.

The other main thing I did in Helsinki was visit Suomelina, a large former fortress on an island outside the city. The fortress has been held by Russia, Sweden, and Finland and had an interesting history. I enjoyed the museum there as well as just walking around the vast fortress. At one point, it was the second largest town in Finland.

I enjoyed my little trip to Helsinki. I love seeing the subtle differences between the different Nordic cultures and appreciated the Russian influences on Finnish culture. I loved walking and running around the city and experiencing Finnish design.