Copenhagen

Copenhagen is a city like no other, with a drinking culture like no other. No place else in the world have I been able to have conversations, intellectual or otherwise, on a city’s streets with a drunken 16 year old who also happened to be sporting an open bottle of Jägermeister. For that matter, few places in the world have I been able to stand on a busy street corner, chatting with new friends, and be approached by several cordial drunk locals who simply want to practice their English. The people of Copenhagen, though, are much more than their Carlsberg and schnapps. They have an odd sense of humor that carries into every part of their life. Their sarcasm is almost more fluent than their English, and their English more fluent than some Americans’. You also certainly won’t catch them wearing bright colors. Taught from birth not to stand out from the crowd, the Danish people have an abundance of grayscale to their wardrobe which only contrasts their colorful lives and adds to their seemingly poetic nature.

The Danish lifestyle also seems to be one that embraces the things that truly matter and forgets petty squabbles. Despite having their own share of notable and outspoken designers, no place in the world have I better seen the embodiment of Charles Eames’ “best for the most for the least.” A majority of people’s lives are focused on their families, and because of that,

workdays are short. Healthcare, childcare, and higher education are all socialized as well. In many ways, Denmark runs on the honor system and the cooperation of its people … and it somehow actually works for them. Train tickets often go unchecked and children are allowed to freely roam throughout Denmark’s well-kept parks and suburban neighborhoods. After a couple of unaccompanied young siblings approached my friends and me in a park (three seemingly strange men with beers in our hands) we quickly realized that “stranger danger” wasn’t something taught at the local elementary schools.

It would be rather inept to write about Copenhagen without also mentioning its bicycle culture. It was one of the first cities in Europe to incorporate a public bicycle sharing system, and some days it seems that the city’s biggest problem is where to park all of its bikes. Copenhagen is, inarguably, one of the most environmentally friendly cities in the world. A walk to the top of Christiansborg Castle will show you Copenhagen’s slightly disappointing skyline and reveal little but windmills in the distance. Most, though, wouldn’t cite the environment or even their health as the reason they ride a bicycle. Most simply ride their bikes because, like other facets of Scandinavian design and problem solving, it’s the most practical solution to the problem at hand.