The Copenhagen Report

the ice rink at Kongens Nytorv - overlooked in the background by
Det Kongelige Teatre (The Royal Threater) and Magasin (a big
department store, on the right)

After warm temperatures for the past 2 months, for a brief moment there, we had a little bit of (true) winter in Copenhagen. It started early last week with a light frosting of snow which stayed on the ground thanks to cool temperatures throughout the week.

But the real fun was waking up on Saturday morning and finding a good 10-15 cm of snow had fallen during the night. It's even nicer when these days line right up with the weekend.

That gave us a few hours on Saturday to get down to Kongens Nytorv in the center of town, rent some skates (the ones I own are unfortunately in a box in the basement at my parents house in Canada - an issue anyone who has adopted a second country as home is likely familiar with) and enjoy a couple hours of skating (too bad the snow was gone Sunday - even if the ice rink at Kongens Nytorv will remain for at least another month).

Now, the rink at Kongens Nytorv is a pretty fair sized circular track, not a bad size for something in the middle of the city. Sure it pales in comparison to such ice rinks I have experienced in the past - for example, when I lived in Ottawa in Canada many, many years ago now. The 8 kilometer long frozen canal running right through the center of the Ottawa, maintained as one long skating rink for 2-3 months every winter, is pure joy to skate on - and it was practically in my back yard (well, down the street, at least). I remember was even skating home from a job interview once...

Anyway, this is Copenhagen, and it is the best outdoor rink that I've come across anywhere in Europe. So that is saying something.

And I don't think I could come up with a better theme for pictures showing a bit about life in Copenhagen at its best during the winter months...


lining up to rent 'em...






'oops!!' ...incidently, that's the French embassy (flying the flag)
in the background)

An edited version of this article can be found on Shortcut - A European City Blog. Wanna see it? Click here: Copenhagen: Get your skates on.