Journal no. 3

we flew from Arlanda to Copenhagen via Norwegian Air (USD 284 for 2 return tickets) and arrived at 2pm. it's efficient and no frills.

i had a good feeling about Copenhagen from the moment i arrived. it's just a feeling. and first impressions were helped by the nice and friendly counter staff when we got the 1 day transport pass and 3 day Copenhagen Card.

upon arrival, the first stop was the Airbnb apartment at Fuglebakken station, where the hostess was out of the country but tried her best to be helpful.
we had to take the subway from the airport to Flintholm and transfer to the line where Fuglebakken was, but the line was under going maintenance and we had to get out at Fredriksberg and then a metro bus to Flintholm.
we didn't know where the bus stop for the metro bus was, but before we asked anyone, a Chinese lady talked to us and was so kind to help us out, helping us all the way to Flintholm.
:D

then we got to Fuglebakken, a quiet residential area where the apartment was near to the station.
hostess Louise stuck the house key under her bicycle parked at the main door.
the apartment is in a plain brick townhouse, maybe built in the 1930s, very functional. the townhouse was like a long brown barn, where each main door led to the stairs and upon each landing were 2 apartments.
Louise's one had cheery little flags over the door and a post-it that said "welcome home, c".

 the spacious bedroom for us. but no tv. :(
 the kitchen
 tiniest tiniest toilet + shower ever.

and her apartment was very small and adorable, with artistic vintage chests and cute kitchen and 1x1 metre shower/toilet. there was also a lovely balcony overlooking a common field surrounded by other townhouses.

next was to explore the city.
we went back on the metro to get to Norreport station.
Copenhagen is well known as a city of cyclists but i was really surprised by how their infrastructure supports this culture.

 their trains have dedicated bicycle carriages with super cool wheel-holders.

the cyclists have wide lanes and follow the same direction as the cars on the road.
and boy, were there a lot of cyclists!
it was amazing, so many good-looking people, looking so cool on their bikes.

from Norreport, we could get to the start of the very long pedestrian-only shopping street/maze called Strøget, the first of its kind, which other cities then copied.
i thought Norreport was pretty gritty, with all its renovation work and people milling around.
also, Copenhagen has a lot of ugly graffiti, but everyone is very orderly and everything is well-run, so it's an interesting juxtaposition.

so this is a square along Strøget.
not many people.
some performers.
i like looking into the doorways and finding interesting shops/restaurants.

from Strøget, we ended up at Rådhusplatsen, City Hall Square.

there was a Gaza awareness protest thing there.
and there were a lot of Chinese tourists, getting pictures with the statue of Hans Christen Anderson. lol.

we hopped on the bus A1 to get to Nyhavn, to see the famous colorful houses along the canal.

from one end, near the Royal Danish Playhouse, which is known as the Black Diamond for its distinctive shape, there were public decks for people to lounge around.
they are also building a bridge. maybe so people can walk to the Operaen?


there's Nyhavn, literally Danish for New Harbour. loads of people dining at the restaurants, and people sitting at the edge of the water.
it has been a well-loved area for food, drinks and entertainment since the 17th century.

although C highly recommended us to, we didn't try any of the restaurants, since it was a little intimidating and nothing looked like it was within our budget.
instead we took a lot of photos, people watched, boat watched, and generally enjoyed ourselves just strolling the area.