Changing viewpoints, today you get my perspective. Copenhagen is an interesting place to say for sure. Though we have only been to the United Kingdom up until this point, Copenhagen is a very distinct city. This is the first "real" language barrier we've encountered. More on that later. This city is very modern with a historical backdrop. Overall I could say that people are friendly but you most certainly run into a few brick walls.
The city itself is well spaced out and keeps a normal pace of life, not too rushed and not slow either. Once reaching the city center we were able to walk most of the way. Bikes are the preferred method of travel. Everywhere you look you will find a bike. It was pointed out to us that the city is making advancements to its infrastructure to be the friendliest city to bikes in the world. People of all types, shapes, class, and race ride bikes here. Mass transit is modern and quick and moderately available. One of a few bumps in the road today was the purchasing of tickets for the trains. In Europe the "chip & PIN" system is used for credit cards. Though it is growing, most credit cards in the US do not have this capability or they might have a chip but no PIN. The latter was our problem and without a PIN we could not get tickets. Thankfully a friendly transit employee allowed us to ride to the city center to change currency without a ticket.
We were told previous to our arrival that almost everyone spoke English here. I haven't found a native here yet that hasn't, but almost none of the important signage is in English (such as transit information). This created a day full of asking lots of people to explain this to us.
The historical sections of this city are of the most beautiful of Europe yet. We visited one of the palaces in Copenhagen and saw the interior. It was incredible. One of my most favorite historical sites I've visited so far! Though is has deep history the city has greatly expanded out and builds and lives a very modern and contemporary life style.
As I have said before, most people are friendly here, but not everyone is quite as willing to converse. A handful of times when we would ask for some assistance an individual would look and walk off in a different direction. And at times if they did respond, they would have a scarcastic joke attached. Very interesting to interact with. But not all were this way. We spoke with many helpful and friendly people.
Tomottorw we head north in Denmark to see different cities and life outside the big city. What a difference will there be I wonder.
- Brennan
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