Public transportation in Copenhagen is kind of baller, as my friend Tara would say. It all runs so well, which contributes to the overall low-keyness and pleasantness of the city.** They run several smaller trains on an automated system, so your train is always arriving in 2 minutes or less. People don't crowd around the exits like they do in DC, which made me want to hand out Hershey's kisses to fellow metro riders as a small token of my appreciation. Here's a picture of my metro station in Frederiksberg, courtesy of WikiCommons.
The buses were also very nice and usually full of students or nice old ladies in very serious looking winter coats. I have chosen to forgive the one bus driver who took me to the central train station downtown rather than the metro. It was my fault too, sir. Here is me in happier bus-taking times waiting for the #18, which I took on my way to COP15 every morning:
Copenhagen is also an incredibly bike friendly city. There are bike lanes along what seemed like every street. Tons of residents, from kids to chubby old ladies, hop on their bicycles to get where they're going. Here's a whole blog about biking in Copenhagen if you're interested in learning more- http://www.copenhagenize.com/. In addition to the crazy number of bikes and the fact that I nearly got plowed over by a few after forgetting about the bike lane thing, I was struck by the fact that the vast majority of bikes are left unlocked. Since I didn't see anyone chasing any bike riders with raised fists screaming something like "Jö shtohl mi bikken!", I will conclude that bikes are rarely stolen. Here are some bikes outside of Frederiksberg metro station.
**Have I mentioned in previous blogs that Copenhagen is so nice that it's kind of annoying? Everything is just so... so.... g*d damn pleasant in a totally vanilla way - nothing is super great, but nothing is super awful either. The people are perfectly nice. Trains run on time. Everyone speaks English, making it really easy to navigate. Danish children resembling Precious Moments dolls waddle around in snowsuits. The beer and food are good. The buildings are lovely and very old world looking, but the architecture doesn't totally blow you away. Copenhagen is that polite, even-keeled friend that makes you want to shake them and scream "doesn't anything get to you???!!!"
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