Copenhagen Photo Stories

Photos from the Air

2015-06-07T08:38:00.000+02:00

It's not hard to find photos about Copenhagen. But finding good photos can be a challenge. I recently stumbled upon interesting blog, which pictures photos of Europe taken from the air baloon.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12796910/Europa-Iz-Balona
If you ever stumble upon similar blog or website, but showing photos of Copenhagen from the air, please share below in the comments. I'd greatly appreciate that resource!
Marjan

Character of Copenhagen - part 3

2015-06-07T08:25:00.001+02:00

Here comes the 3rd post about "Character of Copenahgen".
This week we talk about:
Learning Danish
Good Times

11. Majority of people find Danish language very difficult. Main reason why people get that impression lays in the fact that pronunciation of some words and sounds is quite different. I've heard some of them saying they'd need jaw reconstructing surgery in order to achieve it LOL.
Anyhow, I do believe that Danish is yet another language that anyone can quickly master if one is studying hard and using it everyday.
Good news is - Danish government is sponsoring language courses for every newcomer.
As there are numerous schools offering language courses, it's your call where you wanna study.
Classes are usually organized 2 times a week, each time lasting for about 3 hours. And yes, you are expected to do plenty of homework in between classes. Sigh, but that part never worked for me :)

Challenging thing with learning Danish is - if you are working professional, spending everyday 8-10 hours, you don't feel like spending 3 more hours studying Danish, as you easily get spoiled with enjoying life around Copenhagen.
Another challenge would be, even when you try to practice your Danish with natives, they keep answering you in English. They simply enjoy practicing their own foreign language skills.

And one somewhat bad news is - once you've started your government sponsored Danish language courses - you have to reach level 6 within 3 years from that date. if you haven't master Danish after the initial period of 3 years you will have to finance Danish classes yourself!

In addition, if you wanna study on your own, there are some resources on the web. Try to google some of the next terms and you'll find some useful stuff:
Duolingo, byki, myhappyplannet, kiss, danish MP3 lessons, danish language for beginner,

And the best thing is: translate.google.com I can't imagine my day without using this great service. It is not 100% accurate, but you can quickly figure out what is said in any Danish text or website.

Good luck learning ...

12. Danish society is seen as relaxed - in Danish it would be "Slapper af".
Danes, and people living in Denmark for some period of time, are seen as easy going, happy and relaxed. That all comes as consequence of several factors:
- high standard of living
- continuity of high prosperity in the country,
- and a very Danish term "hygge".
"Hygge" stands for good times, great atmosphere, being positive, happy, relaxed and full of joy.
Everyone enjoys it, and nobody wants to break it. But once you go back home, that won't stop you from bragging ;)

"Hyggelig tid" - happy times are great concept which is impossible to describe in words. You have to live it up for some time in order to feel and understand the real value it carries inside. There for you are all more then welcome to try it and experience it yourself.

To be continued ...

Character of Copenhagen - part 2

2015-06-07T08:17:00.000+02:00

This is a second part of the "Character of Copenhagen". Please leave your comments below! Thanks!
6. Famous Friday nights! Once the work week is coming to an end, everybody is suddenly so happy and excited cause TGIF! Private life begins! It's extremely hard to find sober people on Friday nights at the streets of Copenhagen. Everyone is drunk and happy! You can find so many talented singers among the drunken danes. Most of them you'll run into when walking by the pedestrian street "Stroget".
The only way to understand all this people is you yourself getting drunk as well - then you'll be on the same frequency. In case you decide to stay away from the alcoholic experience, you'll have even more fun as all this drunk people will try to communicate with you - and - yes, that's much more fun that you can imagine!

7. Once we are talking about drinking nights we have to mention a Danish beer culture. Everybody in Denmark drinks beer. No exceptions. That should be quite expected as Carlsberg and Tuborg are produced right here. But beside this top brands, you can find a huge number of not so popular brews, still offering some good stuff.
Interesting thing to mention is that depending on the period of the year you will get different offers from breweries. In example, if you are here around Christmas, I am sure you'll get a chance to taste so called Christmas beer - "Jule Øl".

8. Danes, especially ladies, are very well organized nation. A lot of people are organizing them selves using small calendars and personal notebooks. It's not a surprise if you try to schedule a meeting with some of your friends and you get an answer that they can't go for a coffee for next two months, but you can do it at some certain date at certain time and place, two months from today ;)
Even though this might sound very unusual to some people, I think it's very practical and aligned with todays pace of life. Time is money, and you always want to have good times!

9. I've recently had a lunch together with a colleague, and he made a funny comment about dinning habits of Copenhagen people: "We all gonna turn into rabbits after all this green food :)"
Yes, people here tend to eat healthy food. But they also know how to enjoy in good bites!
In-spite the fact that Danish national menu is not so reach, there are still some good dishes that I always enjoy!
I will follow up more thoroughly on food in upcoming post ...
In a meantime, keep in mind that for the past 3 years, famous Copenhagen restaurant "Noma" was voted as the best Michelin star restaurant in the world. 3 years in a row is not a flow, it's something special!
10. Denmark belongs to the group of countries with highest living standard. There are countries like Norway, etc. with higher GDP, but they cannot compete with Denmark with quality of everyday life where Denmark is so convenient.. There are plenty of foreigners who come to Denmark just because they feel so safe around.

To be continued...

S-Tog

2015-06-07T08:02:00.001+02:00

One of the most popular means of city transportation in Copenhagen, are so called "S-Tog" aka "S-Trains". The are well known as they are all red color. They start running outside Copenhagen and go all the way to the city. My guess is they're not called metro as they don't cover only metro area. Anyhow, most of the time they run on time. But there are occasions when they're delayed. The good part is - every stop has a monitor telling you when then next two are coming. The bad part is - that system runs on windows, and that can fail - as pictured below:

Copenhagen Boat tours around Christianshavn

2010-07-17T23:45:00.001+02:00

If you ever end up as a tourist in Copenhagen, great way to see the city from a different angle, and in a very short amount of time, is to take a boat tour. There're 2 main companies that offer this service, and it super simple to find them via google. Good parts are:
- you can hop on/off at multiple places
- you can seat inside/outside
- they visit all the main attractions and stop for photo opportunity
- they are worth the money
- even Danes use them from time to time

So if you ever end up in Copenhagen, don't miss your opportunity to jump on a tour. And please comment below with your experience and photos!

http://www.canaltours.dk/

Tivoli lakes by night

2010-07-06T04:45:00.001+02:00

Any visit to Copenhagen usually leads to short stop at Tivoli. And it should, as it's so convenient to get there. Tivoli is awesome amusement park located in the hearth of Copenhagen. It offer cool rides, popular concerts, fun games, and amazing light shows and fireworks. My favorite is the light-show at midnight. If you get a chance, go for it - and post in comments below what's your favorite Tivoli moment.

http://www.tivoli.dk

Around Copenhagen's Forum - Sankt Markus Kirke

2010-06-27T08:58:00.001+02:00

http://bit.ly/SanktMarkusKirke

The Duck family at the "Sortedam so" - Four lakes Copenhagen

2010-06-24T00:09:00.001+02:00

http://bit.ly/4Lakes

New Copenhagen Opera House

2010-06-20T05:55:00.001+02:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_Opera_House

Spring day in Copenhagen

2010-06-19T01:02:00.000+02:00

Cinemaxx - Cinema at the Fisketorvet shopping mall

2010-06-16T09:32:00.001+02:00

http://bit.ly/Cinemaxx_Copenhagen

Det Kongelinge Teater - New Royal Danish theater

2010-06-15T05:39:00.000+02:00

http://www.kglteater.dk/

Which vine people drink at the world's best restaurant Noma?

2010-06-14T03:53:00.001+02:00

Welcome to Bakken park

2010-06-07T22:40:00.001+02:00

Fency Copenhagen canals

2010-06-06T03:12:00.000+02:00

Models and Photographers at work - Magasin entrance

2010-06-02T22:43:00.001+02:00

Copenhagen modern architecture

2010-06-01T08:52:00.001+02:00

Remembering Danish winter and Frozen lakes

2010-05-17T19:11:00.000+02:00

Clouds over Copenhagen

2010-05-17T00:07:00.001+02:00

Queens guards exchange - this guys are serious

2010-05-14T17:48:00.000+02:00

Noma - The Best restaurant in the world

2010-05-09T04:00:00.001+02:00

Getting into Kongens Nytorv metro station

2010-05-07T17:04:00.001+02:00

A view on Nyhavn from Kongens Nytorv

2010-05-06T02:47:00.000+02:00

Kastrup today - Copenhagen airport

2010-05-04T10:29:00.001+02:00

10 minutes walk from Copenhagen center - Colony houses

2010-05-03T15:34:00.001+02:00