Korsor Turns Out
Denmark has no sharp edges.
Granted, judging an entire nation after only 3 days can be a tricky business. But I won’t let that stop me. I like Denmark – quite a bit. So do other voyagers with whom I’ve talked. And so far, Denmark seems to like us.
The love fest began on a drizzly Tuesday morning, when we backed into place at the Korsor dock. After the majestic mountainous backdrop of Bergen, Norway, and the daunting industrial landscape of St. Petersburg, Russia, the gentle warmth of this town of about 20,000 people took us by surprise. As we crowded by the railings on the ship’s decks, a rock ‘n’ roll band, positioned on the wharf under a tent, banged out Beatles tunes and theme songs to American television shows (for example, “Friends”). Locals clustered about – I’d guess 200 or so – to welcome us. We waved at them, and they waved back. Local officials then rolled a red carpet up to the gangway and placed several large pots of cheerful red geraniums alongside.
Why all the fuss? Because Korsor isn’t Copenhagen, where large ships arrive daily. Here, a ship the size of the MV Explorer comes into port infrequently – once or twice a year. For Korsor, this is a big deal. Through the grapevine, I heard that docking in Korsor rather than Copenhagen costs much less.
As soon as the ship was cleared by customs, voyagers poured out to catch trains to Copenhagen. As with Norway, the weather in Denmark can turn on a dime. The drizzle ended, but 10 minutes later — just as we had hit the sidewalk for the 30-minute walk to the train station – the skies opened up. My group ducked into a convenience store, and I saw another group huddled under trees till the rain passed.
At the train station, we lined up to buy tickets with SAS students, many with backpacks and duffle bags packed to the gills for one- or two-night stays in Copenhagen or beyond to Sweden. The automated ticket machine preferred debit over credit cards, which briefly thwarted some voyagers’ efforts to pay their fare. A one-way ticket to Copenhagen costs roughly $22 dollars. It’s a cost that many of us hadn’t foreseen, but there wasn’t much grumbling.
We arrived at the main station in Copenhagen in little more than an hour. Across the street are the famed Tivoli Gardens and the dense section of the city where tourists go. I can speak only for my little group: the day was a moveable feast, with stops for lunch, dinner, coffee and ice cream. We also visited the Round Tower, with a 210-meter stairway that winds up the street to a dazzling open-air view of the city.
After lunch, we headed to the Kings Garden, where a jazz band played to several hundred people swaying to the beat and soaking up the sunshine. The garden dates from the early 1600s, during the reign of King Christian IV. At the nearby Rosenborg Slot (Castle), we gazed at the glass cases holding Denmark’s crown jewels. For a commoner like me, unused to seeing rubies, diamonds and sapphires the size of key limes, the jewels looked fake. What would it feel like to have one of the diamond-encrusted necklaces slung around my neck? One pair of earrings, with fiery yellow diamonds, caught my eye. They had curved wire hangers to place over the tops of the ears. That made sense. No ear lobes could possibly support their weight.
Throughout the day, we glided along. Very few hitches. Here, life feels easy and happy. Because tourism accounts for a significant chunk of Copenhagen’s economy and Danes begin learning English in the 3rd grade, communication rarely posed a problem for us. Also, I’ll say that I’ve never seen so many blonde, blue-eyed people.
Denmark redefines what it means to be “bicycle friendly.” The bike lanes are wider than in most U.S. cities. You see cyclists everywhere. Young and old, in suits and dresses as well as casual wear. During rush hour, they queue up at the traffic lights and stream forward with the cars. We made the mistake of drifting off the pedestrian sidewalk into the bike lane. Behind me I heard the r-r-r-ring of a bell; a cyclist was politely saying, “Get out of my way, please.”
Lasting impressions of Copenhagen: big without being intimidating to a first-time tourist. It’s a feast for the eyes, with gabled roofs, medieval stone churches and ultra-modern buildings happily cohabiting. The city blends old-world enchantment and contemporary hipness. Denmark exudes congeniality.
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