The Music of the Spheres

I would consider it Public Art....the street signs and the curve of a walkway....or the way an arch is constructed as one walks between buildings.

             

No where is this seen with greater effect than in Copenhagen. I realize there are world class museums and displays within the galleries of this city but I have spent most of my time walking....wherever I feel going.

              

The multiple arched walkway above...is typical of the buildings that are in the city. There is a sense of style as well as function about them.

                     

Train stations are another fascination of mine. By their very nature...train stations are about strength and power and if you gaze at the superstructure holding the station together...and consider that powerful locomotives are coursing beneath it....you have the makings for a dual set of purposes. Trains and people come and go. Here for the moment...gone the next. 

                   

    

The Copenhagen main train station is also a shopping, eating and meeting place.

Familiar names like 7/11, Dunkin' Donuts, and Starbucks have all colonized most of the Europe I've seen...and they were on display in the Station. McDonalds is everywhere....not sure why such things are noteworthy....other than I suspect our fast-food-on-the-run society has influenced much of the world of travel...like train stations.

                    

Here's what you do: buy a small travel guide to the city in which you find yourself. Put it in your backpack...and then forget to consult it during the day....because you see a sight....like the steeple above....and you wander down the street to see what it is.

             

I did actually have on my list ....The Round Tower.

This is a 17th Century tower...a project of Christian IV of Denmark. It was build as an astronomical observatory. (You see the interior above and the exterior below).

The tower is 36 meters tall....but you walk in a spiral to the top...for 209 meters. As you can see....it's a gentle, flowing walk to the top...though at the very top is a tiny spiral staircase....which is just above some small spiral stairs.

                  

Anyway, the walk and the resulting view of old Copenhagen are worth it. I spent over an hour just walking up....stopping at a couple museum type displays along the way...and finally enjoying the view from the top. Though I have to admit.....the view of Copenhagen is ....rather flat.....numerous church spires dot the landscape. But there are few notable structures to see from that height. Most enjoyable though.

                     

One of the best works of art on display in the tower display room....besides the Tapestry Exhibit....was the window (above) that was simply covered with a light gauze. Not sure if that was created to be a work of art....or just WAS a work of art....in any case.....it's artistic in its presentation....inadvertent or intentional.

             

I've mentioned before the plethora of bikes in this city. Step off a curb to cross the street....but.....don't forget that first you step into the bike lane. These aren't sleek Tour de France racers....these are sturdy bikes. Many have a type of box in front of them for the kids. (Kids wear helmets...must be a law....or perhaps Danes just love their kids). 

              

But for the adults pedaling along alone....the bikers are just like our commuters in our cars. They are listening to their IPod music with headphones. They are talking on their phones as they pedal. Checking their GPS or their Facebook status as they pedal or are stopped at traffic lights. They pedal side by side and converse. Commuters. Students. Even some tourists brave the complex and free-flowing bike lanes.

              

Here's another thing....the bikers actually observe traffic lights...stay in their lanes....give right of way to walkers. And the bike lanes are not just one 6 foot wide lane beside the street...but rather two very wide lanes for bikes on each side of the street....so bike traffic, like auto traffic is separated by the direction that you are going.

Europeans and their bike lanes!

                            

Notice the green spire above.....it's in several of my photos because it dominates much of the neighborhoods where I roamed today. 

Alas.....it was St. Nicholas Church.....the FORMER St. Nicholas church. The building is now a contemporary art center. But the steeple is 90 meters long. The first Lutheran sermon preached within Copenhagen was in here in 1530, and has no longer been an official church since 1805...after a disastrous fire in 1795. It's been used for various things over the years and the repairs to the spire and the later building were financed by the brewer Carl Jacobsen.

(Interesting to note that major repairs to the Catholic Church in Dublin, Ireland were also made by the generous support of the brewer Guinness)

                       .

The exterior of the Train Station

                           

                           Tomb of the Unknown Concentration Camp Survivor.

                              

                 The upper reaches of a Copenhagen church...part of a museum display.

                          

A final note: just in case you think Americans invented the notion of competition-among-and-between-all-things-possible......consider this. Somewhere in the 1800's they had a competition for riding a bike up the inside of the Round Tower....the medal above is one of the prizes of the day.

                          

          I think there is still more to see in Copenhagen....and I'll try to do so today.

           Peace,   Bob