The land at the top of the above picture is Sweden across the Oresund Sound from Denmark.

After seeing everything at Louisiana Museum for Modern Art (Moderne Kunst‎) we spent a few hours at the beach right next to the museum (and visible from many locations in the museum). We exited the beach by going up a long flight of stairs to the south. This put us on a street called Gammel Strandvej.

The homes on this street started out small and cute and then went on to become large and opulent.

Humlebaek, where the musuem is located, turns out to be a rather wealthy community. Gammel Strandvej is loaded with amazing houses overlooking the Oresund Straight.

Instead of heading for the main road back to train station we opted to walk Gammel Strandvej to check out the dwellings of Humlebaek residents. At the end of the street you make a right and you’ll be at the train station anyway. In other words, if you visit Louisiana don’t just take the main road (with nothing interesting to see) to and from the museum. Get off on a side street and see how the affluent Danes live.

The above house had garages for three cars and a Mercedes parked in the driveway. That may not seem like much to make a deal about in the U.S., but you have to realize that most people in Denmark don’t have cars (nor do they need them). Those that do usually only have one for an entire household. Having three is really unnecessary and seems to be saying little more than that the owner has money to burn.

A tax of sorts is placed on purchased cars in Denmark at almost 200% of the auto’s purchase price (which is already ridiculous in U.S. dollars). In other words, these cars cost over US$100,000 each, maybe over $200,000 each. Some luxury cars in Denmark, after the tax, cost over $300,000 even though they would be well under six figures in the U.S.

And if you think gas prices in the U.S. are high, you should also consider that Danes are paying almost three times as much for gas as Americans.

Further down the street there was a house with four garages, each with an identical Mercedes parked therein. I couldn’t believe it.

This last picture has a sign saying “Lille Hus” or Little House. I guess they want their neighbors to think that their Big House is somewhere else. Maybe it is.

Posted on August 9th, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: beach, pictures. Comments: None

Purchasing tickets for Denmark’s train system is one of the more unusual things about Denmark. There are so many different ticket options and prices to go from Point A to Point B that it leaves your head spinning. You never know if a given trip on the train will be cheap or expensive. Copenhagen Business School was paying for our trip to Louisiana so I didn’t have to worry, but before I found out they were paying I did a little research.

We could buy an all-day pass for 115 DKK each (about US$25). We could purchase one-way zone passes for 80 DKK each way. Or we could purchase tickets along with an entrance to the museum for 160 DKK round trip. I’m sure there were a dozen other options using other passes or klip variations or . . . The bottom line is that you never know how much a trip will cost, if you may get lucky and get a special that is going on that day, or if you go to a different ticket agent they may know of another less expensive way to get to your destination. It’s a crap shoot.

I prefer the Japanese system in which you always know the price and the price is much cheaper than in Denmark. For instance, to travel the distance we traveled to Louisiana from Copenhagen we’d pay no more than about US$5 in Japan. Here the price, again depending on the ticket agent of the day, ranges from about $12 to about $20.

Louisiana Modern Art Museum (Moderne Kunst in Danish) is in a beautiful setting in the town of Humlebaek (also spelled Humelbaek). I’m not a big fan of modern art; in fact, much of it does absolutely nothing for me. However, the settings for some of the pieces here really do make the works far more interesting than they would be on their own.

My kids pushed a button near the above work. Nothing happened. Then, about 10 seconds later, the bell started slamming the metal man in the head over and over again causing a huge noise that seemed totally out of place in this quiet museum. My kids freaked out. They thought security would be all over them. I’m not sure how this is art, but it did make things interesting.

You never know which of the museum’s Andy Warhol collections will be out on display. They have three. One is the “Marilyn” collection (which we’ve seen examples of in a museum at BYU). Another is “Flowers” (which we have seen examples of at the Smithsonian in DC). The third is what we saw at Louisiana, “Mao.”

I thought this last one was going to have a different title than it did. This work is called “Eyes.”

When my kids could take no more (actually they had a great time on the very long slide here and there is a workshop with lots of stuff for kids to do) we headed to the adjacent beach. More on that in tomorrow’s entry . . .

Posted on August 8th, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: beach, copenhagen, living in copenhagen, museums, pictures. Comments: None

Our third beach adventure in Denmark was to Bellevue Beach just north of Copenhagen. You could probably ride a bike there as it’s only about 10 miles north of the city center, but we took the train to Klampenborg Station. The beach can almost be seen from the station. It is a very short, 2-minute walk to the east from the train.

You can see the Oresund Bridge, linking Denmark and Sweden, in the background of the above picture.

There was lots of nudity but I don’t think this is technically a “nude beach.” Most of the people there were young, but the naked people were mostly old–not a real pretty sight. I say nude, but it was mostly just topless individuals.

The beach itself was nothing special. The sand is better at Gilleleje. The crowds are usually smaller at Amager Strand. If you like a crowded beach, to people watch, or to be watched, then this is the beach for you. Otherwise, there are probably better choices on Zealand. What helped to make this beach special, though, are the things you can do nearby. Stay tuned to tomorrow’s entry for more on that subject.

Posted on August 3rd, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: beach, copenhagen, living in copenhagen, pictures. Comments: None

Summer in Copenhagen is not what you may expect. We’ve been here more than a month now and I’ve yet to be really hot. We may have hit 80 degrees only once or twice and haven’t come close to hitting 90. Most days top out in the low 70s. I like it. But if you enjoy hot summer days on the beach or turning up an air conditioner, other places in the world may suit you better in July.

We have been to a few beaches. One of them is fairly new and goes by the name Amager Strand. (I think strand means “beach” in Danish.)

We rode our bikes to this beach even though it is seven metro stops away. Biking in Copenhagen is very easy. Bike lanes exist on nearly every street. The lanes are more substantial and respected by autos and pedestrians alike–far more so than in the U.S. There are three signal lights to look for in Denmark at each corner–one for cars, one for walkers, and one for bikers. It is confusing at first, but once I got used to it I find it to be a superior system.

The ground is flat in Denmark. There are no hills to speak of. The only time effort is required on a bike is when you have wind in your face or are going over a bridge. Basically, biking is never tiring (even for the kids) so seven metro stops worth of biking isn’t a problem. Plus, we’d miss much of the landscape and neighborhoods along the way if we rode the metro.

I only got in up to my knees, but my kids went for it. They saw lots of jelly fish in the water.

20 percent of energy used in Denmark comes from wind. The turbines in the Oresund are not an eyesore in my opinion.

The Copenhagen clouds once again gathered on this day. They turned black and we made a run for it. Within minutes of our departure we got drenched on our bikes though. It was actually fun getting caught in the storm. Soon after the rain stopped we were dry again.

Posted on July 29th, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: beach, clouds, copenhagen, living in copenhagen, pictures. Comments: 1