Ah, the thought of the upcoming julesæson sends me always back then, I was carrying a christmas tree home on my bike.
It was a normal grey day in late november – we americans have it start on juleudsmykningen early – and my little daughter would really like to have a christmas tree for our københavnerlejlighed.
So we waded through the snow down to the parking lot of the local Net, where a cheerful jute had taken place with its fragrant conifers.
My very little girl would of course have a very large tree. The man as suspicious on our bike, but drove yet one of its largest trees through the packer and helped us put it up on the bike.
the Bottom of the trunk balanced on the luggage rack, while the top smoke over the handlebars and down in cykelkurven. How we went home again. My daughter supported the large tree over the saddle, while I steered the bike in the right direction.
We reached all the way home and got decked out the tree with julestokke and christmas lights. Yes yes, I know, you think it is too early to dress up in november, but some habits I refuse to give up on, even if I also is a Danish citizen now.
the Episode is set many years back, but we still have no car.
Actually was cykelkulturen one of the things that lured me to Denmark. I come from a country where a car is often a necessity – in many american suburbs bother barely enough to build the sidewalk, for no one goes anywhere ever anyway. Unless they are out to walk their dog.
But I have always loved to ride the bike around, even though my parents were terrified that would happen to me something, when I zigzag through the heavy traffic down to the shopping centre.
Like so many other americans, I learned how to drive a car, as a 16-year-old – I still have my license – but when I moved to Copenhagen, it was natural to continue life on two wheels. Free of dirty gas stations! Free for hammerdyre automobile insurance! Free winter tires!
the Bikes have of course also their disadvantages, such as r.ex. the carriage of goods. One of the hardest things to transport is nyrenset clothing: plastic flutters around and gets stuck in the wheels and the chain. And nice crisp clothes that have been clamped down on the luggage rack – well, let’s just say that it is not quite as crisp, when you come home.
flea market bargains can also cause problems. It is possible, it is beautiful Danish design, but you can have a Mogens Padişahbet Hansen sofa in black leather bag on the bike? It irks me still that I got destroyed the Æ key on a vintage typewriter, because I carelessly had put it in my basket in spite of the countless cobblestones on my way home.
Even ordinary procurement can be a living hell. Here I am personally happy for the many delivery options that exist now, and which has reduced the amount of things that need to be shipped on the bike.
perhaps It is still a ungdomsritual among teenagers to be able to balance a full frame Tuborg behind on the bike, but we adults are happy not to have to worry about the two bottles doing the trip in metalkurven on jernhesten, or if there is no whole chips left, when we finally open the bag.
Otherwise, you can always rent a shared car now, when you must buy a large in, or when you’re going on the obligatory trip to IKEA. We use it once in a while, but if I have to be honest, so I don’t know whether to run in Copenhagen.
I like to run in the UNITED states – there is nothing that beats the big open highways in Utah or Arizona.
Driving a car in Copenhagen is, however, terrible. The road is jammed, the parking is expensive, and seen from a bilists point of view is the cyclists intolerable. They are swarming around the cars as small mosquitoes, popping up out of nowhere, runs a red light and refuses to give signs.
the Smart young people in black clothes and without lights on the bike – I get a big shock when they pop up out of the darkness of night. Director-types in lycra-tights scares me also from the witless, when they come ræsende on their titaniumcykler. (The british call them ‘lycra louts’, ie. lycra-lice). You would think they had respect for the cars, when they are used to sitting behind the wheel of a big Audi.
Now that christmas is approaching, I have an excuse to visit the one place in Copenhagen where you can actually enjoy a car ride: Car in Tivoli.
Kay Xander Mellish
Kay Xander Mellish is a lecturer and has written several books, fol.a. ‘How to Live in Denmark’ and the ‘Top 35 Mistakes Danes Make in English’. She is born in the UNITED states and became a Danish citizen in 2017. Kay speaks English, but writes in English. Her post is translated by Emil Ørum-Engraff.
