Meandering toward destinations (Denmark Day 3.5)

The instructor for this course, Rebecca Lewis of University of Oregon, wisely sets our agenda so that every day of this learning abroad course has a group activity, yet most days have only one such structured activity. This allows us to experience the city at our pace (and recover from jet lag). It also mirrors what I can see of the Danish approach to learning.

Kids here in Copenhagen seem to spend a lot of time running around and climbing all over at parks. The younger the target child age group of the space, the more likely there's a fence that has a gate that can't be opened without two hands and a bit of height. Inside the structure of the fenced area, it's pretty much anything goes. A parent is there (dad or mom or both) at a distance if needed but the kids get to experience freedom of movement and play. The older the kid, the greater the distance. This approach provides just enough structure and connection to provide a sense of safety while learning and expanding personal limits, much like our college course.
On Day 3, the structured activity was to meet and tour Copenhill in the afternoon. How we got there and where we went afterward was up to us. We all had two days of biking under our belts, mobile phone service in a pinch, and paper maps of the city. I feel fairly comfortable getting around in a city if I've a map and the location has landmarks that I can recognize. Copenhagen is fairly flat. It has a height limit on new build in the city center as to not overwhelm the old city architecture. This means buildings at 4-5 stories on average--the height we built things in cities before elevators were a thing. It also means that anything tall--like Copenhill or church spires--make great landmarks. (Copenhill is the triangle shape in the horizon to the right side of this pic. I can make it the vapor tower at the top.)
I also tend to use water ways as landmarks. Copenhagen has a lot of those, so the trick is to know which water body one is near. That day, I thought I could use some quiet time in the morning, so headed out to Langelinie. On my paper map, it wasn't clear if a bridge connected that area to Refshaleøen, which had paths and roads that I could ride to Copenhill. Alas, no bridge that far out. I had a calm, quiet, and relaxing ride out to the end of the Langelinie and back to the Kissing Bridge. 
Then I turned generally north and east with the general directions in mind and keeping an eye out for Copenhill's incinerator vapor tower. With cushion built in to backtrack as needed (AKA get lost and find my way again), I took the time to enjoy the ride and take pics. Same on the way back to the City Center after the hike up Copenhill.

Having the freedom to go at my own place and the challenge of finding my way greatly increased my sense of relaxation and achievement. I knew I could text or call for help if essential, but I appreciated the opportunity to try it myself. It increased my confidence for exploring other parts of the city on my own.

But, for now, a bunch of pictures! This set is from the ride out to Copenhill.

On the way: A residential building next to, you guessed it, a park! People clearly use their bikes for day to day errands in this neighborhood. It's easy to see how that's the sensible mode of getting around in the area.
Some cool old building a short distance from the residential area with the park.
Farther out, a pair of ducks building their nest.
An intersection on the way that shows how simple the design can be to make a place more comfortable and safe to bike.
The routes:

Next up: Parks and playgrounds 

Random pic of the day: A flock of two lambs (?), and a train on my ride back.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Out n About (Day 26 Netherlands)

Image
I woke up with a plan, a very good plan, to take every form of non-automobile transport easily available in Amsterdam. Bike to Rijkmuseum Bike to the bookstore district  Take the ferry from behind Central Station  Bike around Noord Amsterdam  Ride Metro back with my bike before rush hour  Drop my bike at the hostel Take a bus out Take a tram back What I actually did: Slept in too late for the art museum Biked to the bookstores Ferried to Noord Amsterdam  Biked up through Noord to a Metro station ...and realized I missed the last train before rush hour that would allow bikes on board. So, I biked around Noord Amsterdam neighborhoods for the rest of the day, ended up at a light industrial waterfront area that had been redeveloped into design offices, restaurants, and what I think of as "the usual" attempts to spruce up an old port or industrial area to attract high income people to work and visit in an ar...
Read more

European Cyclist Federation (Day 22 Netherlands)

Image
We met with the board chair of the European Cyclists' Federation, Henk Swarttouw, to learn more about how bicycling advancements work at the EU level. While the Dutch approach to cycling as a normal part of transportation, rather than viewing it as an "alternative" transportation, exists in their own forms and histories in other countries of the EU (such as parts of Denmark and Germany), expanding infrastructure to increase the utility and ease of cycling varies widely across the union. When a country or region within a country wants advice on network design, they sometimes turn to the European Cyclists' Federation for guidance.  The European Cyclists' Federation also works as advocates at various levels. At the EU level, the ECF works to improve cycling across all of the union. For example, they try for policy to ensure that biking and rail connect networks and work together. They also work on tax policy that would categorize bikes as basic needs. Whe...
Read more

Transit, a piece of the pedal puzzle (Day 21 Netherlands)

Image
It's a bit startling how easily people can get around here in the Netherlands. Short distances or long distances, we can move about without a ton of planning.  We met up with Bradley Tollison, a former participant of this learning abroad program, at the Driebergen-Zeist train station to learn more about how cycling complements transit more than it competes. When a region makes an ongoing effort to make a less-car life a real possibility, it pays attention to human behavior. In the Netherlands, the city planners noticed that a large portion of bike trips went to or from trains.  (Photo from Cuijk Station near Nijmegen) Turns out, people living in Denmark can participate in a program where they use the same card as the train trips for a bike share bike. So, they can bike to the train (possibly on their own bike), park it, take the train, then borrow an OV fiets (bike) to complete the journey on the other end. I'd noticed these bikes at the stations near Nijmegen (lik...
Read more