We bought our new car in September 2019 but we hardly ever use it except for that fun trip to Germany to break in the motor. Click this link in case you missed that blog. Shortly after we bought the car, I had to switch to winter wheels. Now that the temps are rising, I wanted have my summer wheels put on again. But they stored in the tire shop and everything is closed. At least I thought everything was close. When I was on the way to the market the other day, I saw customers getting their summer wheels put on. So I did the same thing just yesterday.
This is our baby boy.
When the wheels were put on, I had to go into the shop office and pay for the work. I pulled a typical Eddie - my wallet was in my shorts and my shorts were on my bed. I sincerely apologized to the shop owner and said I have to go quickly back home and get my wallet. I handed him my drivers licens as proof that I would come back. No worries, he said, see you soon. Wow, very trusting.
So I zipped back and ran up the stairs to grab my wallet. But instead of driving back to the shop, I walked back. It was such a beautiful and warm day. The tire shop is just a 10 to 12 minute walk away from home. On the way there, I passed these 2 unusual apartment buildings.
Just in front of me is this one, which is still under construction. I think it's rather ugly but it must have some amazing views of the huge nature area to the east which is just across the street and the harbor which is just a 2 minute walk to the west. But it looks so thin and skinny and like the wind could blow it down during the next wind storm.
And just to the right of the ugly building is this one that I could imagine myself living in. It is almost all glass and the structural beams are exposed giving it a very high-tech look.
Here below, is a photo showing the building being built which took forever as the construction company went bankrupt. The second company that took it over, also went bankrupt. It stood half completed for nearly 2 years.
You wont believe it, but the tire shop is really a fantastic building. You should have seen the original building - a total dump. This tire hotel, as it is called, is really a work of art. Hard to tell from this photo, which is from a google search, but the building has a low-to-the-ground profile so it looks like a small building and the roof is grass so it blends in with the nature. The brick work is amazing and if I was going to have a custom home built, I would have the brick work done like it is on this building.
from google
After I paid to have my wheels switched, I continued on with my walk through the nature reserv or Amager Fælled as it is called. Amager is the island that we live on. Amager is also the island that the Copenhagen airport is on - which by the way, is not in Copenhagen. And Fælled, is an old Danish word meaning - grazing field for cattle.
To pronounce Amager, say: Ah-mah.To pronounce Fælled: put a dirty sock in your mouth and say whatever you want.
Very good - Amager Fælled - Soon you'll be speaking Danish like a pro. It's that easy.
Just 50 steps away from the tire hotel is an entrance to the Fælled. Since we are supposed to stay at home due to the virus, I thought the Fælled would be empty. But it was loaded with people. I kept my distances from everybody. Here now are just a few pix as i walk though the grazing fields.
I'm only 2 minutes into the fælled and in the photo above, looking north to the left, in the red square, is the bubble roofs of the building that is across the street from where we live.
When I look to the right, to the north, I see the truly bizarre Bella Sky Hotel. And just beyond that are 2 Crown Plaza Towers for business and hotel. The towers mark the half way point from our home to my job at the airport. Half the way is surface streets and the other half is the motorway. It takes only 13 minutes to get from home to work.
In the photo below, #1 is the apartment building kitty-corner to where we live.
#2 is the Royal Scandinavian Hotel which is just across the street from Tivoli.
In the rectangle is one of the tower rides.
#3 is the Town Hall tower.
There are 10 cranes just in this part of town and they are putting up several more hotels.
Below: There are lots of water streams in the fælled.
The blue block building in the background is where I am headed.
It is the "new" music center called DR Concert House.
It is the "new" music center called DR Concert House.
But before I go on, let me just give you some kind of idea of how big Amager Fælled, the nature area, is.
Central Park in Manhattan is:
½ a mile wide X 2½ miles long
(800m X 4km).
The Fælled is a little bit harder to measure because it is not square.
But roughly it is:
1 mile wide X 6½ miles long.
(1,8km X 6,3km)
It is the length of the red lines.
The pink line is more forest and farming fields and there is also all the green area that is outside of the photo. But where I am snapping all these photos on this day is from the route I walked which is the purple line you can see above and below. Just over a 3 mile walk. (5km)
#1 - shows where I started and ended.
It points to the apartments with the bubble roofs which are across the street from where we live.
#2 is where the tire hotel is.
#3 DR Byen metro station.
#4 DR Concert House.
#5 DR studios and offices.
#6 ice-cream shop.
#7 university dormitory.
DR stands for Danmarks Radio. It's the national television and radio public broadcasting service. It is here where they have their studios and offices.
"Byen" means "the city"
So you could maybe, kind of, sort of, compare it to Radio City in NY but it has more of a set up like The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion - Mark Taper Forum - Ahmanson Theater in LA.
At least this is the best way I can describe it to you.
This entire area was originally part of the nature reserve. Where the metro line is today, Jens and I would pack up our bikes in the summer and ride from our apartment on Vesterbrogade to the fælled and have picnics. But the edge of the fælled was bull-dosed away and the metro line was put in and then all of the buildings and apartments and even a huge shopping mall and stadium were slowly added along the line and it is still being added to.
This metro line was officially opened in October 2002. It started in the center of town and ended up in the middle of nowhere - in the nature area of course. And now there is a huge new city at the end of the line.
The DR Concert House was nearly 2 years delayed in completion. It finally opened in January 2009.
From the tire hotel in the west, I strolled east through the fælled and come to the end of the trail in the at DR Byen. The DR Byen metro station is the first station from the city that is above ground. Here are a few videos of the metro in action.
Then I crossed the street and walk under the tracks towards the station and the DR city.
Up ahead at the M sign is the metro station. I walked down the street and just around the corner I can see there are some very nice apartments which maybe one day I will move into because from there it is just 50 steps to all of Denmark via public transportation and in the opposite direction, it is just a 10 minute walk to the senior health care facilities where Jens is on a waiting list to get into.
In the next video, if you take a good look at the end of it, you will see that I tried to focus in on some buildings. You may notice the apartment building with the bubble roofs that I made mention of in the above numbered map. That is where we live and that is why I pointed it out. It is just a hair over 1 mile away (1,6km).
Now I head straight for the DR Concert Hall. It is a fascinating building. From a distance it looks like a big blue solid block. But it is actually a concert hall covered in blue net. The nets can be rolled up like window shades. And of course, you can look through the net.
Concert Hall on the left. DR on the right.
Looking up and thru the blue net.
As wild as it is, at night it is even more amazing.
The following is from google search.
I've been there only once and it is for sure time to go again.
also from the google is this photo of the inside.
But what is most wild about it, is that the concert hall is not on the ground. This huge gigantic hall is actually floating inside of the blue block. You have to take an escalator to get up to the hall.
Back to my pix......
Between the 2 buildings is a canal and a beautiful glass sky-walk.
With the beautiful sunshine shining through the net, it makes it easier to see the unusual structure of the building. And surprisingly many of the net panels are rolled up.
The revolving front door to the DR building was spinning round so I stepped inside to snap a photo just for you.
At the far end of everything is part of the Copenhagen University. The university is actually spread throughout the city. This is just one small part of it and it's huge. Huge because everybody is entitled to higher education.
Above: The cream colored buildings are part of the university. The round brown building is a dormitory for the students. The crane is building eithers offices or apartments. I'll find out and bore you with it in another blog. Now I am headed to the right side of the bridge in the photo but first I make a left to see the other side of the DR Concert House because, you know, a block has 6 sides and...…...
It's warm. So I decide to add to this story, the square in front of the dormitory, where all the students hang out. There is an ice-cream shop there and I'm on my way to treat myself to an ice-cream. It's a very popular place. But when I get there, there is a huge covid-19 line.
Below: Standing on the bridge that I talked about crossing. It's a cheap phone camera so it's slow on adjusting between the bright sunlight and the deep shadows. My reason for spinning so slowly.
So I dropped the Corona flavored ice-cream plan and headed back for home. The ice-cream shop is just steps away from where the students live but I step back from the building so that I can get a nice photo of the dorms for you.
This is a map of the area to help people find their way around and of where I have been today.
Before we bought the home that we are in now, we had considered this place. At the time when it was new, you really got a lot more for your money.
And of course I am now heading back to the Fælled. But I first have to cross under the metro tracks again to get back, so naturally more pix and video.
There are a lot of large fish in the canal and lots of geese everywhere. They are very territoral so you have to be careful. Not just of an attack, which can easily happen but also of the goose shit. It's everywhere and can easily be the size of a small dog poo. The goose there on the end, gave me a dirty look as soon as it notice me. Let me tell you, I treated it like it had Corona and I stayed far away.
Now I have crossed the street and walked back into the Fælled. This trail is paved. All the others trails are dirt. This one is paved because it is part of the bike path which leads from one of town to the other. Bikes are a major mode of transportation here in Copenhagen.
It is also an equestrian area.
This sign says to give way to frogs crossing the path and it's not a joke.
You can see I am approaching the end of the fælled.
The white building at the end is where we live.
I have numbered the buildings so you can see that we just practically step out of our apartment complex and we enter a huge nature reserve. We are just 2 apartment complexes away. We live in building number 2. Number 1, the building with the bubble roofs, is in front of #2 but also more to the left. #1 is at the waters edge which means we are the second building away from the harbor. The building you can see at the end is actually on the other side of the harbor.
So just let me know if you want a personal guided tour.
I can print this out and send you on your way.
;-)
