On foot

Walking makes your spirit soar in Copenhagen

Author: By Jan Shepherd, Globe Staff

Date: SUNDAY, March 9, 1997

Page: N1

Section: Travel

Rush hour has its share of speeding cars and crowded buses, and the pedestrian shopping streets are always a sea of humanity. In summer, sidewalk cafes and parks are lively scenes as people of all ages revel in June and July nights, when it seems as if the sun barely sets. Year-round bicycles are a popular mode of transportation, with bike lanes marked on most city streets. On my visit, I seriously considered renting one for tooling around, but I ended up primarily getting around on foot.

Walking is the best way to get to know a city, particularly this city with its interesting cityscapes and neighborhoods. How else can you stare at window displays of stunning Danish designs, admire unusual florist shops like Tage Andersen, covet the beautiful porcelains at Royal Copenhagen or the stylish jewelry of Georg Jensen, or experience Tivoli Gardens?

How else are you going to eat street food like those famous red or neon pink hot dogs topped with crunchy onions? Or ice cream in a waffle cone? Or handle a crepe slathered with chocolate sauce from Cafe Robert's stand? Or get a close-up view of the Gelfion Fountain? Or people-watch at crowded sidewalk cafes at Nyhaven, the old sailors' quarters where colorful tattoo parlors dot side streets? Or watch the jazz bands entertain in the town center? Or hear the clicking of the royal palace guards' heels at 11 at night when no one else is around?

How else would you get to take in street performers who entertain deep into the evening? David Andrews, a busker who's a one-man band, said he loves Copenhagen crowds for their generosity of spirit and kroners. He should know. The 30-year-old Dublin native has been entertaining on these streets year round for more than two years. The evening I watched, he had about 50 people gathered around, listening to his funny music and jokes in which he made fun of every nationality. The listeners were from all over -- Poland, Japan, England, Germany -- and he cleverly drew them into his routines.

Walking is also the best way to take time to look up. This old coastal city has some of the most interesting spires, domes, windows, brickwork, and artwork high above street level. I walked by the Marble Church every day, watching its dome -- Europe's third-largest free-standing dome -- change as the sky changed. One of my favorite spires is the Stock Market building -- three dragons' tails twist together, spiraling upward to the peak.

Some of my walking was a tour with Hannah Harhoff, a guide from the Tourist Center and Danish Travel Board. A guide for 12 years, Harhoff knows her city and country and shared scores of facts about historic sites, palaces, museums, squares, statues. We also visited several contemporary arts-and-crafts galleries.

Galeri Norby displays beautiful clay designs by Danish artists who work in a variety of styles; an artist of the month is shown in the larger gallery space up the stairs. At a glassblowing studio, artist Peter Svarrer works in the furnace room, blowing vases and other glassware. If he's not in the midst of a creation, he'll answer questions and explain the process. Galerie Metal, a 19-year-old jewelry cooperative, features original designs by five members, one of whom is always at the store-gallery. In the heart of the pedestrian area, I fell in love with the glass gallery of Hinz-Kjaer, a husband-and-wife team whose studio is in another part of Denmark.

Harhoff also was a guide at the refurbished Amalienborg Palace, a tour offered so the Danes could see the handiwork of Queen Margrethe II in overseeing a $135 million restoration of the 1750 palace to its original style inside and out. Harhoff reminded visitors that the queen is a painter and artist, so she's quite capable of overseeing selection of window treatments, fabrics for furniture and walls, and artwork. I was lucky because the interior tours were only for a limited time, but during other times,visitors can still admire the exterior renovation.

The palace complex also houses the Amalienborg Museum that re-creates palace rooms of the past and shows historic photos and portraits. If you're into royal things, it's a good stop. The changing of the guard ceremony -- performed whenever the queen is in residence -- always draws a crowd and cameras.

The Danes are also proud of Tivoli Gardens, an amusement park in the heart of the city, built by George Carstensen in 1843. An old-fashioned park with rides, candy stands, and almost as many restaurants as Faneuil Hall Marketplace, it attracts all ages. Since I don't speak Danish, I loved watching the Danes in the park, people of all ages and families strolling about, buying balloons, cotton candy, lining up for rides. I enjoyed the pantomime/commedia d'arte stage, where language wasn't important. Outside the gardens, the '90s return with a jolt because that international landmark, the Hard Rock Cafe, anchors one corner of the Tivoli Gardens block. Like the one in Boston, the Hard Rock draws lines to rock 'n' roll memorabilia, but it's not my idea of a Copenhagen landmark.

Not everything has to be done on foot. Another way to experience new and old Copenhagen is on a canal boat tour, usually a 60-minute investment in time for about $10. The late afternoon cruise I chose started in Nyhaven, the harbor section dating from 1673. The flat boat cruises into the harbor, going out as far as``The Little Mermaid,'' the famous statue from a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, before turning back. It then crosses into Christiantown Canal, an old merchants' quarter lined with vintage buildings, docks crowded with fishing boats and remnants of shipbuilding and maritime industries. The excursion then winds through the heart of the city, going under some low bridges, passing the Christianbourg Palace (now the parliament building) and the defunct town fish market. The canal tour also passes all of the famous spires of the city, including the Church of Our Savior with its 400 outside steps spiraling to the top.

Some sites worth seeing are outside the city. An easy bus or train ride north from the city leads to Rungstedlund, the 40-acre estate of Isak Dinessen (Karen Blixen), author of ``Out of Africa'' and other books. It's where she returned after leaving Africa in 1931 and lived until she died in 1962. The tour is self-guided through rooms furnished with her original belongings. The upstairs is a gallery-library with fascinating pictures covering her life. The estate overlooks the beautiful Oresound, the body of water separating Sweden and Denmark.

The same bus route goes to the Lousiana Museum of Modern Art. If you visit no other museum, this is the one, whether you like contemporary art or not. Plan to spend some time because the grounds and sculpture park are relaxing and photogenic. The museum has a lovely cafe with outside terrace overlooking the sound.

A commuter train goes to Roskilde, known for its cathedral and Viking Ship Museum. The church, completed in the 15th century, is the site of royal burials, but I didn't comprehend its importance until I was inside and saw all the side rooms, crypts, and chapels for kings and queens -- Denmark's history all wrapped up in one place. Buy a brochure so you get details on paintings, sculptures, crypts, marble slabs. One side room was a marvel of trompe l'oile. I couldn't believe the walls were painted -- that it wasn't a great marble room. Outside, the clock is known for its chimes and the 16th-century mechanical figures of St. George fighting the dragon.

The Viking ship museum outside looks like a modern Danish rectangular, low-slung building, but once you're inside, it's majestic in simplicity. One wall is floor-to-ceiling glass overlooking the harbor where the five ships, including two warships from around AD 1100, were found in 1957. The restoration took 20 years, and the museum opened in 1982.

The rebuilt boats, though incomplete because not all the pieces survived the watery grave, are proudly majestic in the light-filled gallery. An informative film is shown downstairs and is worth seeing to totally appreciate the discovery and the restoration. Upstairs, side rooms offer exhibits that explain Viking history, their travel routes near and far, and display artifacts.

-- Scandinavian Library and Information Center, 206 Waltham St., West Newton. Telephone (617) 965-0621. Hours: Saturdays 11 a.m.-3 p.m. The nonprofit, volunteer organization is sponsoring a Nordic Travel and Information Day, March 22, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the library-center (behind the Swedish Home for Scandinavians on Waltham Street). Included will be information on Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, and Finland, Nordic organizations in New England, videos, a raffle by Icelandair, and door prizes by SAS. The library center is a nonprofit organization, staffed by volunteers.

-- Scandinavian Travel Information Center, PO Box 4649, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163-4649.

Once you're in Copenhagen:

-- If you're staying for several days, the Copenhagen Card is a good deal because it covers admission to most major museums and sites (including Blixen Museum and Lousiana Modern Art Museum) and transportation. It comes in 1-, 2- and 3-day cards, based on a 24-hour cycle.

-- Tourist Information Center, 1 Bergnstorffsgade, is around the corner from Tivoli Gardens, near the Central Station (train). The center sells Copenhagen and transportation cards, books accommodations, and arranges tours (group and private). Helpful staff will answer general questions.

Renting a bike is easy. The Central Station (trains and subway) has rental stands, or look for what's called ``City Bikes.'' You'll recognize them -- their spokes display product advertisements, and they're racked in various parts of the city. A pay box requires coins/crowns (about $4) for a day rental.