City Cycling: Copenhagen, Denmark

Stopping at junctions or demounting for intriguing looking cafes required quite the trick. A memorising flurry of jumping, hopping, skipping, and juddering all thrown together. To her credit, it looked well-planned and even scientific. Following a ceremonial traffic light changing, or a warming coffee stop, climbing back on the bike was no smaller feat. Like an unorthodox, though not unattractive gymnast, she ran, hopped, jumped, and finally pedalled away. Sooner or later the secret is bound to come out, so we may as well share it now. Yup, Emily is only 5'2". And when the hotel only has city bikes designed for Danish men of 6' plus, that represents a challenge. So, amidst the order and serenity of cycling in Copenhagen, Emily's 'off and on' technique provided some colour and chaos to an otherwise well organised and plain palette. 

Many travel articles describe Copenhagen as something of a slow burner. Somewhere to persevere with, take time to get to know, and a city to slowly fall in love with. And that's a tall order for a quick weekend visit.

We're all about coffee, food, and cycling, so we'll start with food. Denmark, and particularly Copenhagen, is well-known for it's restaurant scene and wider culinary cultures. It's seen by many as the perfect marriage of the traditional, and the new age faffy, exquisite, delicate, modern, almost scientific approaches in the kitchen. Our budget sadly doesn't stretch to the Noma's of this world, but we did read a a lot about it. After a particularly interesting read in the February 2015 edition of Norwegian Air's in-flight magazine, we sincerely hope that Wassim Hallal finally gets his Michelin Stars. Anyway, I digress. Yes, food. After arriving slightly later than planned, and not had time to research any late supper spots, we strolled and found what looked to be a homely Danish restaurant. 'De Lille Apoteke', homely it was. Homely in the sense of a family Sunday lunch. The food might have been a little sloppy, but it was all very well-meaning. 

After a night's rest at the hotel, we set out on foot. The weather was inclement at best, and drenching everyone to the core. Having noted the contrasting forecast for tomorrow, we declared ourselves 'fair weather cyclists' for the day, and explored parts of the city by strolling, rather than pedalling. Our plan was to 'sound out' and map out highlights for a full day of city cycling the next day. Granola was the starting point, and we did fall a little bit in love with this trendy, yet retro bar/cafe. It's not the kind of kitsch retro, very tasteful, and has the feeling of a Milanese Grand Cafe without the snobbish-ness. It's a great spot to start a days physical activity. Lots of healthy and filling breakfasts served till 12.00, all quite reasonably priced (for Denmark), and they serve great coffee. Perfect fuel for the next 8hours ambling and diving into cafes for some respite from the weather.

Breakfast/brunch filled us up till dinner, and after retiring to the hotel room to dry off, build a den, and watch half of a terrible movie, we were back out on the hunt for dinner. Having spent a whole day and a whole evening in the company of those sensible and logical Danes, we fancied something Italian. A magical sprinkle of chaos and disorder is good for us all, and after hearing those sentiments in a recommendation or two, we sounded out the cities best pizzeria, Forno al legno. It was authentically full of chaos and order, and a very healthy mix of the two. Pleasingly popular with locals, and many local Italians, we enjoyed a birra morretti and watched an epic order of take-away pizzas being compiled next to us. While the wait for one pizza was long, we didn't mind one little bit, and a very genuine tasting pizza proscuitto soon landed on our table. Located in the Federiksberg neighbourhood, Forno al legno is a little jaunt outside the true centre, but entirely worth the detour.  It was loud, messy, and a small tv screamed out a Spanish football match in the corner. The pizzeria apparently looks out on to one of the busiest urban cycling streets in all of Europe. We were skeptical of this, but the homely atmosphere and condensation meant we couldn't prove it either way. By the time we departed, happy, and full of food, it was just about bed time.

Greeted by blue skies and dry cycle lanes the next morning, we awoke and hired two great Danish classic city bikes from the hotel, and departed on the hunt for the Nyhavn area, and breakfast. Now, I love breakfast, and i'm pretty sure i'm not alone in that adoration. It's my favourite meal to eat out, and a good breakfast menu is heaven and hell to me. Heaven because of the endless potential deliciousness and possibility, and hell because unless you're really greedy, there's a choice to be made. Thankfully, at Bistro Heering they offer a very good brunch platter for two. Furthermore, Emily has less of an appetite for pre-noon eating, so it was a win-win situation. Our platter included cold cuts of salami, cheese and chives, forest fruit pancakes, sausages, scrambled eggs and bacon, grilled tomatoes, natural yoghurt and muesli, and salmon.

So... sitting comfortably with happily full stomachs, we settled the bill, and it was out into what looked almost like an early spring afternoon. Looks can be deceiving, the wind-chill told it was still very much winter, but with a good hat and scarf, nowhere is too cold. From Nyhavn our route took us east to the freetown of Christiania where we got dismounted and walked around. No photos allowed just in case you get a picture of someone buying soft drugs. It made is grateful to live in Amsterdam. From the town within a city, we crossed back onto the mainland of Copenhagen, and followed the water back past Nyhavn, and north towards the mermaid.

Granted, it was a Sunday, but the quietness of the city was noticeable. Not much in the way of bike traffic, and of what traffic there was, it mostly seemed to be made up of tourists like ourselves. Do the Danes abide by a Sunday sleep-in? Anyway, from the mermaid we did a few laps of the Kastellet before continuing our circuit into the Osterbro neighbourhood, and into the Norrebro neighbourhood. Coming back towards the centre, we stopped at another very good breakfast and brunch restaurant, but this time only for coffee. Restaurant O's has an American theme, but don't let that put you off. After a cup of delightfully warming coffee, we were back on the saddles to be thrown majestically back to the UK. Not by means of a rather rapid flight, but by the terraced houses of Copenhagen's 'Kartoffelraekkerne'. Other than a trip to the cities Peak Performance store, it was a non-eventful and orderly cycle back to the hotel in readiness to board the train to board a plane. A wonderful weekend, they always are with Emily, yet something was missing from a city billed as on-par or even standing next to Amsterdam in terms of it's bike culture. Yes, the designated cycle lanes, traffic lights and infrastructure, but it all felt a little too ordered and joyless. Perhaps it's a harsh judgement. Perhaps in summer there are more people on their bikes, more colour, and more life. But Amsterdam is colourful and lively all year around. Maybe we just chose the wrong Sunday. We'll have to return in the summer to compare. Takk, Copenhagen!