Bikes, Bikes, Bikes!

It's been awhile since my last post - honestly, I'm still in settling-in mode, and haven't done anything too interesting lately. I did go out for my first night on the town this past weekend with some friends of a friend, and I learned two things: 1) I think I'm going to be considered the lame old guy here - we stayed out until past 3AM before calling it quits, but that would still be considered an early night, and 2) I should always carry a camera - on my way home I came across an abandoned car, driven into a sunken pedestrian plaza with its rear end sticking up 45 degrees into the air. Considering that car tariffs are 200% in Denmark, that was a costly mistake. I wish I could have taken a picture!

One of the cool things in Copenhagen I can write about today, though, is the biking culture. Bikes are all over the place - perhaps that 200% car tariff, $10/gallon gas and lack of parking has something to do with it, but it's really easy to get around with a bike in this town. People bike to work, to the grocery store, across town, to a night on the town - I have seen plenty of women in miniskirts and high heels biking on the weekend nights.

A common site in front of a store

I guess the Danes figured out that a painted line on the road doesn't protect bikers so well. Cars get the road, pedestrians get the sidewalk, and bikes get their own dedicated paths separated from the road and sidewalk. I constantly have to remind myself to look out for bikes when I'm crossing the street.

There are bikes for everything - general transportation, transporting goods, and bikes for transporting kids. This is a Christiania bike, which is the coolest thing ever if you are a kid. You get to sit in a big bucket in the front of the bike while mom or dad pedals you along. In nice weather, the canopy comes off so the kids get to bask in sun while being pedaled along.

An interesting site: both bikes and electric wheelchairs parked outside a bar.