Copenhagen: Initial thoughts

After a long day of flying, I finally arrived at Copenhagen airport on Tuesday afternoon. This gave me a day and a half to informally check out the city before the official study abroad program began. 

I am not sure how much I will be able to write here, but I do want to say that my mind has been blown. I am not sure if I will be able to incorporate everything in here, but I guess we will see how it goes.

First of all, my train from the airport. I was going to take the metro but accidentally bought myself a ticket for the regional rail instead. Luckily I later found out this option is faster and more direct. However, getting into Copenhagen was an interesting experience. My train showed up a few minutes late (no big deal), but one stop down the line the conductor came on and said that a fight had broken out on the train, so they had to call the police etc. 

Before I had even stepped foot in the city I had an interesting experience. Honestly, all things considered, they cleared the situation pretty fast. The police came, the ambiance came, and within 15 minutes we were going. 

Even though I was very tired, the second I got off the train, all I saw were bikes. Honestly, since I got off that train it has basically been impossible to not be within a few feet of a bike, there are that many here. 

Once I started wandering around the city I immediately noticed the diverse groups of people that were out on the streets, riding bikes, etc. 

We're riding bikes! (I don't know any one of these people)

Over the next few days, I had some other thoughts about the city (and maybe these will change by the time I leave).

First the good:

• Bike lanes: they are everywhere. It is not like Oregon where there are certain roads that are a death trap for bikes. Almost every road here has a dedicated bike lane that (while it rides alongside cars still) is much wider and is a few inches higher off the ground, thus making it safer.
• Cars: they drive a lot less recklessly here. Not only do almost all drivers here also ride bikes (so they know what it’s like), I’ve heard a few people say that when a car strikes a pedestrian or cyclist, it is automatically the driver's fault. 
• Bike parking/rental: U-locks aren’t a thing here! You just lock up your back tire and you're good to go. Also, many hotels offer bike rental (and if they don’t, several different companies offer back share services)

The Bridge by Nyhavyn

The in-between:

• Wide roads: while they are still bike friendly, there are quite a bit of 4 or 5-lane roads here. Of course, the space utilization here is much better, and honestly, this is a good example that the US could implement something similar with their existing infrastructure. 
• Right turn on red: it’s not allowed for cars, and supposedly not allowed for bikes (although we have heard mixed things about it)
• The two-step left turn: It's how you have to make a left turn on a bike here. Not all intersections are designed for it and it can be kinda awkward.

The bad: 

• Cycling directions are not available on Apple Maps here, but they are in the city of Eugene, why? 
• Cobblestone everywhere: I understand it’s an old city, but I was still a little surprised by how much cobblestone is here. I feel like this would make it hard for those in wheelchairs to get around.
• Bikes with pedal brakes: many bikes here use pedal brakes. Even after a few days, I can’t say that I’m a fan. While it’s nice to have your hands free, it means you can’t backpedal without braking. Anyways, this is more of a culture shock than anything. (also my chain broke on the first day, and then I had a minor crash on the second day, so that’s been fun!)

Anyways, I realize all of that may seem like a lot, but all of these aspects are important in realizing just how different the transportation network is here compared to back at home! I’ll be interested to see how this compares to when we are in Sweden or the Netherlands (stay tuned!).