Weekend of sightseeing

So far my days have been filled with sightseeing and my evenings reading about the places I went and planning for the next day’s excursions.

My first stop on Friday morning after completing some paper work at IAESTE’s office (the exchage organization) was the tourist information centre where I picked up a large collection of maps, city guides, and brochures. I don’t think I will run out of things to see in Copenhagen anytime soon. The 2008 Guide to Museums in Copenhagen lists 92 museums and many are free. Just to give you an idea of the wide range of Mueusms available, here are a couple I randomly selected with my eyes closed; The Circus Musuem; The Hirschsprung Collection featuring Danish paintings, sculptures and drawings from the 19th Century and the interiors and furnishings from the homes of the artists, and; Sommer’s Automobile Museum featuring 60 interesting cars, marine and aircraft engines.

The weather has been beautiful the last few days with it reaching 30 degrees today. I decided to save the museums for days when it isn’t as nice and have gone on some self-guided walking tours (with the help of one of the tourist brochures) around the various neighbourhoods.

(Above) In the foreground is Sondermarken Park and if you look closely you can see a dog playing in the fountain. In the background is Frederiksberg Castle, which used to be the summer residence for the royal family.

(Above) The top of the gate tower at the Carlsberg brewery. It features Carl and his wife, Otilla overlooking the area from the balcony

(Above) Four stone elephants support the gate tower.

There is no shortage of bikes in Copenhagen. Once source estimates that there are more bikes than Danes in Denmark. I have no doubts about this fact. This picture was taken outside one of the transit stations. Apparently bike theft isn’t a problem. People just put a lock through their back tire so the bike can’t be wheeled away then just leave the bike on the sidewalk attached to nothing!

Copenhagen is designed for cycling. Except for the quietest residential streets, all roads have raised cycling lanes that are separate from the road. (The sidewalks are then raised a bit higher than the cycling lane). At this busy intersection there is actual a special traffic lights for the right-turning cars and left-turning cyclists so the cyclists can get to a centre island and complete a left-turn at the intersection.

On Saturday afternoon, my apartment-mate, Sarah and I went to the local beach with the other IAESTE students. In the background of this photo you can see some of the power generation windmills and the bridge that goes to Malmo, Sweden. Apparently the tops of the towers on the bridge are higher than any point of land in Copenhagen. In three days of seeing the city by foot, I have yet to walk up a single hill!