We spent our final three days in København, also known as Copenhagen. Because of a contact made through Craig's List, we shared an apartment in Nørrebro. Nørrebro is located outside the historic central city, the area in which the main palaces, museums, and tourist attractions are located. Nørrebro is a multi-ethnic, diverse community living in large apartment buildings with small appartments that are affordable and increasingly hip. The area is noted for a series of riots, mainly inspired by left-wing activities, over the years that continue to give, particularly to Danes who do not live there, the region an edgy character. As opposed to the downtown public art which tends to follow a classic format (isn't that David supposed to be in Italy?), public art veers strongly toward graffiti.
But Nørrebro provided us with a much fuller sense of the city than had we stayed only within the confines of the canals, the packed streets and bars of Nyhavn, or the city's monuments. It provided a sense of a vibrant city, struggling with issues of diversity and giving voice to those who would question if Denmark is really the "happiest country" in the world. Denmark is a dynamic and changing country with some, if not all, of the tensions that arise from being part of a global world while trying to maintain one's sense of the village. Beyond the monuments are the people: brides celebrating marriage at the new opera house, commuters on the "S" train with their bicycles, couples rowing across the canal to grab lunch at a restaurant...all these form part of the fabric of which we, for a short time, have been part.
