童话王国丹麦哥本哈根 (The Fairytale Kingdom of Copenhagen, Denmark)

10.18.21-10.20.21 阴雨绵绵的10月 (Rainy October)

出了从机场到酒店的地铁，初见的哥本哈根是一个阴雨绵绵的清晨，“国王新广场”静悄悄的，没有多少行人，行李滑着铺着鹅卵石的小路，格啦格啦的声音分外悦耳儿，敲打着我激动的小心脏，经过了一年多的疫情居家隔离，居家工作，终于又可以出来见见世界了。

When we emerged from the airport to hotel subway, the first sight of Copenhagen was a rainy morning. The “King’s New Square” was quiet and there were not many pedestrians. Our luggage skipped and bounced on the wet cobblestone path loudly welcoming our arrival. The sights and sounds, beating my excited heart, and after more than a year of home isolation and work from the pandemic, we can finally come out to see the world again.

Torvehallerne市场里的 Smorrebrod

入住了酒店，睡了两个多小时后，外面还是下着绵绵细雨，这个时间来哥本哈根就是会遇到这种天气，要享受在这里的分分秒秒才是正道。起床，顶着时差的疲惫，第一个地方去的就是一个网红市场 – Torvehallerne, 那里有一家卖哥本哈根著名的丹麦特色食品 Smorrebrod. 这个丹麦词太难发音了，英文叫Open Faced Sandwich. 它真的是名副其实，不仅味道好吃，又像是一件艺术品，在一片丹麦特有的黑麦面包片上，可以创造出不同的口味，口感和造型，每一口都会让你意犹未尽。

We checked into the hotel and after sleeping for more than two hours, it was still raining outside. This is the kind of weather you will encounter when you come to Copenhagen at this time of year. It is the right way to enjoy the minutes and seconds here. Wake up, with the exhaustion of jet lag, the first place to go is the Internet-made celebrity market, Torvehallerne, where they serve a famous Danish specialty food called Smorrebrod. This Danish word is difficult to pronounce. In English it is called an Open Faced Sandwich. It’s true, and worthy of the name. Not only does it taste delicious, but it also looks like a piece of art. On a slice of Danish rye bread, they create different tastes, textures and shapes, and every bite leaves you feeling wanting more.

新港 Nyhavn

吃完了午饭，步行回到酒店旁边的著名的“新港 Nyhavn”。新港应该是哥本哈根最吸引游客的地方之一，要是在哪里看到有哥本哈根的明信片，就应该是新港。这里是建于17世纪的滨海运河娱乐区，曾经的聚集世界各地船只的繁忙的商业港口，现在变成了世界各地游客的打卡胜地。运河两旁的彩色的老建筑，酒吧，饭店，停泊在河道旁的帆船，勾勒了这个独特的哥本哈根明信片之地。著名的童话大师安徒生曾经住在新港20号，在那里他写下了《火药盒》、《小克劳斯和大克劳斯》和《豌豆公主》的地方。他还在67号住了二十年，18号住了两年。我读到过一片文章说这里直到 1950 年代仍然是一个有很多活动的码头，也是一些水手的宿舍，有大量的纹身店和似乎很蓬勃发展的红灯区。那时候，人们会问住在新港区域的人是否是住在“罪恶”的一边。可惜在这里停留的时间太短，没有更深度地了解这里的历史，只是惬意地享受了一杯当地的丹麦啤酒 🙂

After lunch, we walked back to the famous Newport Nyhavn, next to our hotel. Nyhavn is probably one of Copenhagen’s top tourist attractions. If there are postcards from Copenhagen, they will include Nyhavn. This is the coastal canal entertainment area built in the 17th century. It used to be a busy commercial port where ships from all over the world gathered. Now it has become a place for tourists from all over the world to check in. The colorful old buildings on both sides of the canal filled with bars and restaurants, and sailboats moored by the river, outline this unique Copenhagen picture postcard place. The famous fairy tale master Hans Christian Andersen once lived at Newport 20, where he wrote “The Gunpowder Box”, “Little Claus and Big Claus” and the “The Princess and the Pea”. He also lived at number 67 for twenty years and at number 18 for two years. I read an article saying that until the 1950s it was still a pier with a lot of activities: a dormitory for sailors; a lot of tattoo shops; and a red light district that seemed to be booming. At that time, people would ask whether people living in the Nyhavn area lived on the sun side or the “sin side”. It’s a pity that our time here was too short, we didn’t instill a deeper understanding of the history here, we just enjoyed many glasses of local Danish beer comfortably 🙂

小美人鱼雕像 The Little Mermaid

哥本哈根另一个游客一定会打卡的地方就是小美人鱼雕像，这个雕像是由一个丹麦啤酒制造商于1913年作为礼物赠送给哥本哈根市。雕像采用了青铜和花岗岩，灵感来源于安徒生童话《小美人鱼》。其实这是一尊很小，也不比周围其他青铜雕像更出色的雕像，这么有名就是因为来源于安徒生童话。看着她孤单地坐在运河边，还真是真实地反应了一个美人鱼为王子而放弃一切的感人故事。

Another place where tourists in Copenhagen will definitely check out is the Little Mermaid statue, which was presented to the city of Copenhagen as a gift by the Danish brewer, Carl Jacobsen in 1913. The statue is made of bronze and granite, inspired by HC Andersen’s fairy tale, “The Little Mermaid”. In fact, this is a very small statue, no better than other bronze statues around it. It is so famous because it comes from Andersen’s fairy tales. Watching her sitting alone by the canal really reflects the touching story of a mermaid giving up everything for the prince.

闲逛 Wondering Around

这次旅行的目的是一次完全放松的游走，没有设定计划一定要去参观什么比如博物馆之类的地方，就是完完全全的放松。哥本哈根的细雨恰好适合了这次旅游的步调。

The purpose of this trip is to simply chill. No big plans, no museums. It is just complete relaxation. The drizzle in Copenhagen fits that pace of this trip.

哥本哈根应该是世界上对自行车最友好的地方之一，看到一篇2018年的文章，哥本哈根有675,000辆自行车，却只有120,000辆汽车。为什么当地人这么喜欢骑自行车呢？出了人们的环保意识之外，是因为城市建设中包含了很多专属于自行车的车道，包括创新的桥梁，它们形成了穿越城市的自行车高速公路。所以这里不仅是最方便，也是骑自行车最安全的地方之一。

Copenhagen must be one of the most bicycle friendly places in the world. I read an article from 2018: There are 675,000 bicycles in Copenhagen, but only 120,000 cars. Why do locals like to ride bicycles so much? Outside of people’s environmental awareness, it is because the urban construction includes many lanes dedicated to bicycles, including innovative bridges, which form a bicycle highway through the city. So this is not only the most convenient place, but also one of the safest places to ride a bicycle.

在这里看到了许多各式各样的自行车，有好多有前置车箱的车子，那个车箱里可以装物品，孩子，甚至大人，不知道具体怎么翻译，非常有意思。下面有些是我抓拍的照片 ：）(

We saw many kinds of bicycles here, and there are many with front-mounted baskets. The baskets can contain items, children, and even adults. I don’t know how to translate it, but it is very interesting. Here are some photos I snapped 🙂

丹麦也是世界上福利最好的国家之一，当然福利好，税收也会高，是鸡生蛋还是蛋生鸡？应该有很多地方税收也很高，但是并没有丹麦提供的这么有质量的社会福利系统。我俩和一个酒店旁边的小超市的员工聊了一晚上的天儿。他基本要交大概50%的个人所得税，医疗全免费，大学免费，我还看到有文章说，政府还每月给钱上大学，去年疫情期间关门的时候，政府还给补贴。母亲的产假是9个月，父亲也有三个月的产假。虽然只是一个小超市的员工，他也有各种福利，包括带薪休假。不过他还希望如果孩子的日托也免费就更好了。 我俩还和一个饭店的服务员聊了一会儿， 他说哥本哈根不像美国一样，服务员会期待小费，他的时薪大概120丹麦克朗，所以不需要小费，如果给的话，20DKK就很好了，不需要像美国一样按15%-25%那样给。

Denmark is also one of the countries with the best social welfare in the world. Of course, when social welfare is good, taxes will be high. Is it a chicken or an egg? I’m sure there are many places with high taxes, but not such a quality social welfare system as provided by Denmark. We talked to the staff of a small supermarket next to the hotel one night. He basically has to pay about 50% of his income to taxes. However, all medical care is free, and the university is free. I have also seen an article saying that the government pays people a monthly wage to go to university. When the doors closed during the pandemic last year, the government paid back subsidies. A mother’s maternity leave is nine months, and the father also gets three months’ paternity leave. Although he is only an employee of a small supermarket, he also has various benefits, including paid vacation. But he also hopes that it would be better if the child’s daycare was also free.

We also chatted with our waiter in a restaurant for a while. He said that tipping in Copenhagen is not like the United States. Waiters don’t expect a tip because his hourly salary is decent, about 120 DKK, so there is no need to tip. But on our 498DKK meal, he said 20 DKK would be good, which is about 5%; we gave him 40DKK.

在哥本哈根的时间很短，由于每天几乎都下雨，我俩并没有去更多的地方，但是非常享受在这里的每分每秒。比如天气冷，这里的饭店会提供电热暖器和毯子给喜欢坐在外面的顾客。

Our time in Copenhagen is very short. As it rained almost every day, we didn’t go to many places, but we enjoyed every minute and every second here very much. For example, in cold weather, the restaurants here provide electric heaters and blankets for customers who like to sit outside.

用在哥本哈根吃到的不同食材搭配，最有特色的Smorrebrod作为在哥本哈根这次短暂之旅的结束吧，我觉得它完全体现了哥本哈根的精神，充满了人文，创意和对自然的尊重。

I will end this post showing the most distinctive Smorrebrod we had on our short trip in Copenhagen. I think it fully embodies the spirit of Copenhagen, full of humanity, creativity and respect for nature.