THE CITY COPENHAGEN
Copenhagen tells a modern
tale of hip bars and family-run cafes. But in between the PG scenes are steamy
stories of the Vikings, drunk sailors and their Danish girls
Something interesting hap
pens when you bite into a warm, multi-layered Danish pastry, in Copenhagen.
Just when you begin to wax eloquent about the Danes' baking skills, you are
told by the baker that the pastry was, in fact, created by Viennese chefs. The
incident is hardly a one-off. The capital city does have the ability to leave
you surprised with the simplest of things -like trivia.
RISQUÉ IN VESTERBRO
The capital of the fierce
Vikings, Roskilde has morphed into a holiday-town for Copenhageners. The
neighbourhood of Nyhavn was once the haunt of drunken sailors and also where
fairy tales were born.But what really catches my interest is the neighbourhood
with the more raunchy history -Vesterbro. “This neighbourhood made history as
it housed one of the oldest sex shops in the world,“ says Giuseppe Liverino, my
friend and guide in Copenhagen. Aptly named `Blue Movie', the store opened in
the 60's, but closed in 2010. It wasn't the moral police that shut it down -the
Danes are a famously liberal lot and pornography was legalised as early as 1969
-the internet did, by rendering it defunct.
Back in the 90's, the
suburb underwent a metamorphosis. Once a gritty, working class neighbourhood,
the government decided to give it a facelift. Buildings were renovated, and
extensive road-works took place. Subsequently, real-estate prices shot up and
this new swanky address attracted funky cafes and independent boutiques. Today,
as I walk down Istegade Street in Vesterbro, I find tattoo parlours and even
adult stores with window displays of topless women and muscular men flaunting
their well-oiled bodies and mankiniclad bottoms.
A short walk away is Tivoli
Gardens, an amusement park believed to have inspired Walt Disney to get
Disneyland to emulate its `happy and unbuttoned air of relaxed fun'. By night,
Vesterbro takes on yet another avatar. Kodbyen, on the fringes of Vesterbro,
was once a meat-packing district and while some meat-shops remain, is now lined
with hip bars and noisy pubs.
NAVIGATING NYHAVN
My next favourite stop is
Nyhavn, a 17th century water-front district. It looks like its straight out of
a fairytale -with storybook cottages in cheery colours, which are reflected in
the still waters of the canal. “Hans Christian Andersen lived here,“ says
Giuseppe. “It was an infamous redlight district and also the haunt of drunken
sailors.“ Nyhavn, which translates to `New harbour', was built by Swedish
prisoners of wars on the orders of King Christian V in the 1600s. Soon, salons
cropped up around the dock and it attracted the ladies of the night.
Colonial-styled cottages were built around the canal and these attracted many
artists -the most famous being Andersen who lived here for 18 years and penned
The Tinderbox, The Princess and The Pea and so on.
Today, Nyhavn is a buzzing
district with restaurants and cafes thronging the waterfront. Yet, the past
lives on: tourists pose next to a plaque that marks House no 67 where H C
Andersen lived from 1845-1864. Floating down the canal, l spot Andersen's most
famous character, The Little Mermaid, immortalised in stone.
The sailors, who were
exposed to tatoos through their journeys overseas, introduced Scandinavia to
the art. Inspired by what they saw, Danish artists fashioned their own machines
and set-up business by the quay. Legend has it that back then, the most popular
tattoos were names of working girls that inebriated sailors would get inked,
only to regret their action by dawn. Subsequently, one of the first tattoo
parlours in Europe was started in a basement-bar in cottage no. 17, in the
early years of the 20th century. The outfit changed hands, grew in size, but
sits at the same location and is today known as Tattoo Ole. With no
restrictions on the consumption of liquor in public spaces -in fact, there's no
legal drinking age, just a purchase age -teens and adults sit by the canal,
legs dangling over the water, sipping cold beer.
MEET THE VIKINGS
You don't know what to make
of Roskilde, the capital of the Viking Empire when your guide-book advices that
you plan your visit on a Wednesday or Saturday to coincide with the market
days. Roskilde, 35 kms from Copenhagen, was the seat of the feared Vikings;
today it barely makes it to the list of 10 biggest metros in Denmark and feels
more like a township than a city, albeit one with retail prowess. Walking down
the cobblestoned streets, I come across handicraft boutiques, children's stores
and family-run cafes. Even though centuries have passed, it's still surprising
to see how the soul of Roskilde has changed so drastically -people that were once
driven by their quest for power have given into simpler pleasures today. Yet, a
part of the old Empire lives on in the Viking Ship Museum, an open-air museum
where the era is recreated across 106 acres. Here I find men in tunics with
animal-skin pouches hanging from their waist, sporting helmets, and brandishing
swords; women in linen dresses weaving wool to yarn. Despite the theatrics,
it's the five original longships that steal the show.The monstrous vessels were
lost for centuries beneath the waters. They were used to block the Roskilde
Fjord when the Vikings expected trouble from enemies. These armours remained
hidden till 1962 when a dam was built. Despite the damage, they were pieced
together.
From the ships it's clear
that Vikings paved the way for modern naval-engineering. For instance, they
invented ships where the bottom (bilge) didn't go too deep, and this allowed
them to sail right onto the shore, an advantage when plundering towns. Recent
research also suggests that the Vikings stumbled onto America 500 years before
Columbus, but didn't publicise their discovery.Yet, what they are most
remembered for is their ability to defeat any opponent. In fact, the Nordic
term for `Cheers' is `Skoll' translated as skull.It comes from a time when the
Vikings used their enemies' skulls as wine-glasses! Hours later, I step out of
the time-warp and look at the locals, most of whom can trace their roots to
Vikings. Thankfully, they come armed only with shopping bags.
FACT FILE
GETTING TO COPENHAGEN:
Fly from Mumbai Delhi to
Copenhagen, via Dubai, on Emirates
GETTING TO ROSKILDE:
Take the train from
Copenhagen to Roskilde, which takes approximately 20 minutes. Alternatively,
you can hire a car and drive. The ride takes approximately 40 minutes
ATTRACTIONS IN COPENHAGEN:
Take a (free) walking tour:
A great way to get your bearing in a new city is to hop on a complimentary
walking tour.There are many different types of tours that introduce you to
different parts and aspects of the city. (http: http:www.copenhagenfreewalkingtours.dk).
Remember to visit the National Museum of Denmark.
|
Kiran Mehta
|
MM13MAR16
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