Introduction
The main part of the title is the name of a Danny Kaye hit from 1953 – that’s before my time, but I remember hearing the song as a small child. Copenhagen will always occupy a special place in my memory, not because of the song, but because it was the first capital city that I visited outside Scotland. That’s right – I walked the streets of the Danish capital before those of London, or indeed any part of the UK outside my native Scotland! To put it another way, it was my first visit to the capital city of a sovereign state.
With a population of over 800,000, the city lies on the east coast of the Danish island of Zealand (Danish: Sjaelland). A momentous event for the city occurred in 2000, when the new Øresund Bridge linked Copenhagen with the Swedish city of Malmö by both road and rail, creating a new transnational economic area.
Arrival
Our base for the entire long-weekend stay was the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers, situated at Ørestad, about 7km from the airport. Although this is an out-of-town site, the location enjoys excellent connectivity with both the airport (train, many of which continue to Sweden) and the city centre (choice of train or metro). The hotel prides itself on its sustainability credentials.
Initial city centre visit
We used the remaining time on our arrival day (Friday) to make an initial re-familiarisation foray into the city centre, beginning at Kongens Nytorv (“King’s New Square”).
Copenhagen Contemporary
We began the weekend proper with a visit to Copenhagen Contemporary, an industrial-chic gallery for modern art. The capacious, almost oversize building in its dockland setting is a former welding shop, presumably for ship repairs.
Waterfront Walk
In this section we call at a microbrewery, take a ferry ride, visit the city’s most celebrated landmark, explore a citadel, view an English church and a dry fountain, and wind up beside a bare-faced (actually, bare-bodied) copy of a world-famous sculpture.
