Copenhagen, the little queen of the north

Mar. 20 2013

by misterb&b

Less known than Stockholm, as design asHelsinki, Copenhagen is certainly the most pleasant Scandinavian city for pedestrians and cyclists. For gays too. The kingdom of Denmark was one of the first countries to allow gay marriage, in 1989. And soon, gays will even be able to be married by the Lutheran Church, which until then only allowed the blessing of straight unions.

In short, Copenhagen is gay-friendly by nature. And resolutely turned towards nature. Here, the bicycle is king and the city has 400 kilometers of bicycle paths. These are real lanes reserved only for two-wheelers, not cluttered with parked cars or lost pedestrians. In fact, by 2015, half of Copenhagen's population should be cycling. Because the Danish capital is fairly compact and flat, it is easy to visit on foot and by bike.

The historic city center is crossed by two kilometers of the world's longest pedestrian street, Strøget. It is the kingdom of shopping. Fans of design will not miss Illums Bolighus, the Galeries Lafayette of design with all the major Danish, Scandinavian and international brands. And the nostalgic of the small multiform and multicolored building bricks will find their happiness in the impressive Lego store.

Otherwise, you can also admire the handsome guys that Copenhagen is full of: all tall, mostly blond with looks and haircuts worthy of supermodels. Moreover, they almost only move by bike, they eat healthy and organic food and the fresh air makes them look good.

laurence Ogiela

The Pisserenden district and the Studiestræde street, parallel to Strøget, gather most of the gay establishments like the Cosy, the Jailhouse and the Masken. Centralhjørnet, a real institution in Copenhagen, opened its doors in 1925. If the decor is resolutely retro, the clientele is not very young either. If you want to meet the locals, you can also stroll through Ørstedsparken, just a few steps away. There is always a lot going on here, day and night.

Those who want to venture outside the city center can explore Amager Fælled, a huge park in the south, a well-known intimate meeting place for local gays, and Helgoland at Amager Strandpark, wooden buildings on the water where naturists meet to sunbathe on sunny days. There is a mixed side, a women's side and a side reserved for men. You can easily go there by subway from the city center.

If you don't have time, and you still want to play the little mermaid, nothing prevents you from swimming in the Baltic Sea in the center of Copenhagen. The water of the Øresund, the arm of the sea that separates Denmark from Sweden, is very clean and the boat-shaped Havnbadet pool at Islands Brygge is crowded all summer.

Architectural renewal
Copenhagen has reclaimed its docklands district and transformed it into a modern city facing the millennium city and the famous houses with multicolored facades of Nyhavn. The Islands Brygge district has undergone a serious facelift since the early 2000s, and the old warehouses and disused factories have become modern buildings housing spacious and bright lofts where families of bobos live.

The House of Entertainment, Skuespilshuset

The tone has been set by the construction of the new wing of the Royal Library, nicknamed the "black diamond", the House of Entertainment, Skuespilshuset, as well as the new opera house at Christianhavn. It is also here, in a former salt and fish warehouse on the waterfront, that you will find Noma, the best restaurant in the world according to 800 international food critics and experts. Its chef, René Redzepi, has reinvented the Nordisk Mad (Noma) or Nordic Meal in his sleekly designed restaurant. As it is particularly difficult to get a table here, one can fall back on the old red light district of Vesterbro where the old meat halls, Øksnehallen, have been rehabilitated into a shopping district similar to the Meatpacking district in New York. Bars, clubs and hip restaurants share the place with the few remaining butchers. At Dyrehaven, you can taste excellent smørrebrød, the typical Danish lunch. These are slices of rye or black bread with herring, salmon, cold meat and condiments.

Further north, in the popular district of Nørrebro, there is a bohemian and trendy spirit. An ethnic and eclectic mix of hip cafés and the Assistens cemetery, a sort of park where Copenhageners come to stroll on weekends. On sunny days, they even come to sunbathe among the graves of the storyteller Andersen and the philosopher Kierkegaard. It's like walking in a bathing suit in Père-Lachaise between the tombs of Proust and Oscar Wilde. In short, Copenhageners are natural!

Main photo: © Laurence Ogiela