There, I will cross the bridge over the harbour to Christianshavn to have a coffee, and then I will go back home over Kongens Nytorv, down through Gothersgade, then cross the King’s Garden to get home. Or I walk down to the waterfront, over the pedestrian bridge at Østbanegade down to The Little Mermaid, then along the water until I reach Nyhavn. I walk around the six lakes that define the city’s boroughs.
There are a few things that I will have missed, not least my morning walks – and I have several routes here. I think the moments when I am conscious about what it means for me to live here, is when I return from my travels. Since I do live here, I have routines more than adventures, things that I do without thinking. I have aimed to capture the atmosphere and relate it to the history that I know. I have not mentioned all the places that deserve attention there are a lot of wonderful spots not necessarily on my radar. The restaurant scene has evolved tremendously we now have great wine bars and cocktail bars, food from around the world, street food markets. Whole neighbourhoods have gone through major transformations for both good and bad. While I have been getting on with my life, Copenhagen has become a cosmopolitan city, a place famous for its restaurants, coffee, bicycling culture, friendliness and hygge. So, it is a very personal book about the place I grew up in and still live in. I was born and bred here and most of my history was made in this town. I am not a young hipster I have not just moved here. It is not a general guide book it’s my history of my city. In this book I have described my home town, Copenhagen. I can imagine myself as a child sitting on the chair listening to the silence while I swing my legs in my own rhythm, waiting for something to happen.
Even though this was painted more than 100 years ago, there is something profound going on for me – a sense of belonging.
I like to just sit on a chair and observe quietly with my hands folded in my lap. It is a painting of everyday life which Hammershøi inhabits with nearly nothing, so I look for stories. The picture seems calm, content and lonely, and timeless. Hammershøi painted this apartment again and again.
This painting by Vilhelm Hammershøi symbolizes for me living in Copenhagen: the apartments with rooms en suite, the emptiness and the colours, the Nordic cool.
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