Mini-Tour for Denmark: Copenhagen and Roskilde

We came through Copenhagen for a few days of transition from Turkey to Sweden. The first day was all about sleeping late after a post-midnight arrival. When we found out the hotel ran a great breakfast until 11am, we found ourselves liking Denmark pretty well. The streets were clean, the trains ran on time, most people speak English, there is a happy party atmosphere during long days of summer, and you can walk to a big amusement park. And let's remember to mention the beer is fresh and tasty! Copenhagen is reputedly the world's greenest city and most people ride bicycles in the city and even out to the local suburbs. There are entire boulevards that have been shut down to cars here. Denmark has a few dominant colors. Many of the Danes are a pale wheat-yellow blond. This is complemented by a mustardy yellow (the Vikings called poisonous yellow) and a red-orange slate rooftop all across the city. There is also a dusky dark blue that matches up very well. The older buildings are not the same dimension as ours; more cubes than rectangles. This is hard to articulate but unmistakable. Danes are fond of hats and they wear their shorts long or their pants short, depending on how you look at it. I was wondering if this may actually be practical given all the biking they do. Another penchant of the Danes is for licorice. You find many types and flavors sold across the city. We got one bag with a variety of licorice sticks - see the picture. Roskilde is a 30-minute train ride outside the city and quite a pretty town. It sits at the end of a fjord (a long, finger-like inlet of ocean, surrounded by land on three sides) and was the capital of the Danish Vikings for a century or so before usurped by Copenhagen. It has an impressive double-spire church where many of the Danish kings are buried and a superb museum about Viking ships with five restored ships they found at the bottom of the ocean. But the first thing we saw here was actually an outdoor spinning class pumping out rock music and a fun cafe with live blues. It was a Danish band but they wailed away in English! The only non-charming part of Roskilde: on Saturdays the stores all close at 2pm!? Back in the city of Copenhagen we strolled the old city and felt right at home. It feels just like any other European city with a strong outdoor dining scene. We enjoyed our stay and hope to be back someday.