I
stayed at the Hotel Carlton because it was close to the train station. My first night was spent seeing the usual downtown
sights which included a man apparently having a heart attack at Tivoli with the
crowd looking on. Tivoli is like a
carnival only classier and cleaner with its open air lights, family friendly
stage shows, and midnight fireworks. I
can remember with regret not seeing Louis Tussaud’s Wax Museum because it cost
too much. As close as I was to it, I
never saw the Kentucky Fried Chicken at 29 Vesterbrogade. I would have made it part of my home base
like I did the hotel. Traveling at my
level, I never tasted the other well-advertised Danish delicacies like Kijafa wine,
Carlsberg beer, and Danish pastries at candlelight dinners. Catch is as catch can.
Walking
down the vehicle-free streets like Vesterbrogade to see Copenhagen’s famous Little
Mermaid, I did notice other sights: bake
shop, newspaper stand, watch shop, tourist office, and Homoland. In fact, I saw two Homolands within two
blocks of one another. It’s the future
that Americans don’t know is coming.
Look east. The huge posters of
“Shetland ponies, etc.” in the store windows were also disgusting. Whatever happened to the guy in Missouri who
tried to marry his horse? Also, I
stopped for a short time at a famous military antique shop until they threw me
out after I said, “Just looking.” They
were known internationally for non-paying customers.
Dare I ask if they are still in business?
Danes
have this thing about socialism and they’re happy to show it off to the
world. I hopped aboard one of
Copenhagen’s two-tiered tourist busses to find out more. First, we visited an old folk’s home where Grandma
and Grandpa were sitting around a table contently beading stuff. My lady guide commented that Danes, from
cradle to grave, are guaranteed peace, security, and contentment. It is demanded and expected with such a high
tax rate (45% or more). Next, we went to
a kindergarten. I was impressed by the
“progressive” playground which included wooden jungle gyms placed in sand.
(Urban America at that time had a market on asphalt, concrete, and steel.) When it comes to training their children to use
tools, the Danes freely allow sharp tools to be handled by toddlers in the
belief that children will listen more when they are young. Still, I thought the idea was ridiculous.
If
I went to Copenhagen again to stay a bit longer, I would have taken a harbor
tour because Denmark
is a seafaring nation and a Midwesterner like me seldom sees the sea. I’ve also learned, after many years, to spend
a little extra on helicopter tours that give a bird’s eye view of cities you do
not want to remember merely as concrete monstrosities. In any event, I’d just arrived and had a long
way to go.
