The beautiful city of Copenhagen is full of history, people and bikes.
By HANOCH NE'EMANPeople celebrate the liberation of Denmark, in Copenhagen on May 5, 1945(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
I recently stopped in Copenhagen, Denmark, for one day on my way back to Israel. Here are some of my thoughts and impressions.First of all, they do not pronounce the name of their city “Copenhagen” any more than we say “Jerusalem” for our city of Yerushalayim. That was comforting to know. They say something like “Ko-pu-hawn,” with the last part very nasal.In Copenhagen, the bicycles are everywhere, by the thousands! This is one of the main reasons I wanted to see it. That and the fact they helped most of their Jews escape the Gestapo in 1943.The bicycles make Copenhagen human, “heimish.” Real people live here. People I can relate to as humans, because they are on bikes. Windows do not separate me from them. Riding a bike in Denmark is the most natural thing to do. People commute in groups with their friends. They are simple and healthy. I love them. And most of the bikes don’t have motors. Some have carriages for kids.There is a street for cars, a lane for bikes, and a sidewalk for pedestrians. Each in its place. Parallel but separate. All stop for the lights. There are even special traffic lights for the bikes, which if you are a bike rider you can understand the need for. It is civilized, as it should be. Jerusalem, take note.Also beautiful are the buildings, most, but not all, of which are no more than six stories high. Like Washington DC, this makes a much more humane and lovely city.Copenhagen makes good use of water in its cityscape. There are large, rectangular water areas that separate parts of the town, called the Lakes, which give a calming effect on the city. There are also small ponds in the many lovely city parks.
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