[dropcap]N[/dropcap]igeria celebrated her Independence Day this week (Oct 1st), and I was able to attend for a few events amongst the once I published on the “6 events to go celebrate Nigeria’s Independence Day post”. Next week, I would write all about the spoiler alerts of some of these events!
Today, I will be giving you an insider’s guide to COPENHAGEN.
Did you know the citizens of Copenhagen were once voted “the happiest people”? Copenhagen does not particularly come to mind as a familiar “name of place” to me, unlike places like- Dubai, the United Kingdom, Scotland and the United States, just to name a few.
Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark in Europe. So, a friend of mine named Erinola recently travelled to Copenhagen for her summer holiday, and she had a lot to say about the city, read her review below; 🙂 “Copenhagen is a very historic city and they have accomplished a lot. They are also very progressive, with the newest technologies, and well-mannered environment. One of the advantages they have is their good culture, coupled with their stable economy. It’s a country where by MOST CITIZENS HAVE A JOB. The crime rate in Copenhagen is low, which makes it a safe place to stay.
Copenhagen has a lot of statues that are figures from history, and most statues are in Kastellet. Kastellet is the city of Copenhagen in Denmark, and it was by The Harbour.
Flight:
I used a flight called Wow Air from Baltimore, Maryland, and the flight had a stopover at Iceland.
Food:
Around The harbour, there is a place called “the street food”, they have really nice food there from different countries- vegetarian food, Korean food, Burger, Falafel.
Tourist attraction:
There was this area in The Harbour which had different tourist attractions like; botanical gardens, Kastellet, a historical and scenic place. If you like places that are green, with trees you will enjoy the site.
Copenhagen is an extremely clean city, and it has a lot of boats and water, and if you love nature you’d like it there, because everything is GREEN. And everything just looks very luscious and healthy.
Transportation:
In Copenhagen, there is a Biking culture. People just bike from place to place, and the car drivers are very careful and conscious of them. I didn’t get a tourist bike, but I saw people get tourist bikes and bike around. Although there are metro buses that go throughout the city and their buses are quite good, safe, clean and reliable.[
Language & Currency:
They speak Danish. The Danish currency is called “Kroner”. 1 USD is approximately 7 Danish krone and 1 Euro is approximately 7.5 Danish krone. (2017)
Weather:
The weather was a little cloudy on the first day I was there. It was a little chilly, so, even in summer you might need to carry a jacket with you, because I feel like Denmark itself is a cold country, so on their warm days it is still a little chilly and breezy.”
That’s all Erin was able share about her experience in Copenhagen. I later did a little research on Copenhagen myself, and here are a few other things you should know about the city;
National Aquarium in Denmark:
The Aquarium is Northern Europe’s largest aquarium and offers a unique experience for children and adults. National Aquarium Denmark, Den Blå Planet has water on all side and is intended to give the visitors a feeling of being under water. The new building has five “arms” from the center of the aquarium. That way the guests can choose their own way around the aquarium to see the exotic animals. – “VisitCopenhagen”
Lifestyle:
Practically everyone rides a bike in Copenhagen, (I know Erin already mentioned this, but its true!). The best way to enjoy the city is either by foot or on a bike! They even have bridges mainly for bikes and pedestrians. “The Harbor Bus” is another form of transportation in Copenhagen. See pictures below;
Shopping:
In VisitCopenhagen.com, I read that the city’s main shopping area is centered on the longest pedestrian street in Europa and the charming 17th century streets surrounding it. The street is called “Strøget” and is well-known by every Copenhagener. At the end of Strøget you find the biggest department store in Scandinavia, Magasin du Nord.
Copenhagen Card:
Copenhagen Card is a 24 or 72 hour card covering the whole Copenhagen region and giving free entrance to 73 museums and attractions; a discount on a further many cultural attractions and tourist services; plus free transport by bus, train and Metro buses. This card helps you save money and makes your stay in Copenhagen as convenient as possible.
Architecture:
I saw beautiful pictures of Copenhagen’s Architecture while doing my research, here are some of the buildings below;
The Black Diamond in Copenhagen was finished in 1999 and is an extension to the Royal Library. The building is shiny, black facets mirror the sea and the sky at the harbour front.
Maritime Museum Denmark. In 2014 the M/S Maritime Museum in Elsinore was listed on the prestigious list of recommendations “52 places to go in 2014”. Looking at these pictures, I am just in awe of how a place can be this beautiful and well detailed.
Amager Bakke / Copenhill
For some reasons, the picture above reminds me of GAME OF THRONES.
The Tietgen Residence Hall
My prayer continues to be that Nigeria will get to this point someday. It is not surprising that Copenhagen has the happiest people in the world when the city has a very low rate of unemployment, beautiful aesthetics, coupled with the beautifully designed city. I can’t just help but think that Nigeria has a long way to go.
Instead of everyone relocating to “the abroad” to work there, the government should empower our indigenes that are specialists in the area of architecture and similar professions. Let us help grow this country together. We need to position ourselves better for tourism, oil is gradually becoming a thing of the past.
Dubai deliberately built her economy on/for tourism, now, Dubai’s Tourism contributes immensely to the GDP growth of UAE (United Arab Emirate), being one of the most visited cities in the world. I believe we can achieve this, our leaders and citizens’ just needs to align her decisions in this path. 🙂
To find out more about Copenhagen and her tour packages, click here: VISIT COPENHAGEN.
Photo credit: Erinola Araoye, Velorbis, Ursula Bach, Cees Van Roeden, Luca Santiago Mora, Thijs Wolzak, Big Bjarke Ingels Group, Ty Strange, René Roslev, Ulf Svane, Edyta Sorensen, Nicolia Perjesi, Stromma.
LIKE IT! SHARE IT! COMMENT!
Leave a Reply