Today's Place to Daydream About: Copenhagen, Denmark

Today for some reason I find myself thinking about Copenhagen, where I have never been. It always ranks as one of the world's most livable cities, and it certainly sounds like a nice place. Above, the famous Nyhavn Canal; many of these buildings date to the 17th century. The perfect place to drink away a long summer evening.

The city's Latin name is Hafnia, and the element Hafnium is named for it. The City Hall. The city is medieval, but not much is left of its oldest center, since the British reduced it to rubble in 1807.

There are still lots of Baroque and neoclassical buildings.

And for those who like that sort of thing, there is the whole Scandinavian modern business.

Copenhagen is always ranked as one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world, and the official statistics say that 36% of commuting is done by bicycle. In June, maybe, but can that really be true in January? Besides the cold, you'd be going both ways in total darkness.

Rosenborg Castle, built in 1606 as a summer cottage for the king.

Rosenborg Castle is surrounded by the King's Garden, now a public park but still kept up in the rigidly geometric seventeenth-century style.

Of course, if I were in Copenhagen I might never get out of the National Museum, home to the Gundestrup Cauldron, the Vekso helmets, and so many other Bronze and Iron Age wonders. There is also a full suite of other museums, from Louisiana, a famous museum of modern art, to the Viking Ship Museum a few minutes away in Roskilde.

The city has many charming neighborhoods.

Ordinary denizens seem to live mainly in small townhouses or apartment blocks grouped around courtyards, which they use instead of private yards. Above, google image of one neighborhood and picture of one courtyard. It strikes me that this private yard vs. shared courtyard thing would be the big divide between American suburbanites and European city dwellers.

I hope I get there someday.