I have breakfast at the Sleep In Heaven youth hostel, and explore the neighborhood a bit (Nørrebro). I find a great little children’s clothing store called Ubercool and buy a gift for my friend’s newborn Max. I bike to Frederiksberg to do some shopping. I have lost my sunglasses (probably in Christiania or perhaps at Det lille Apotek where I was rummaging in my bag). I am also in desperate need of sunblock, as my head and feet are pretty burned. After purchasing some Ray-Bans and suntan lotion, I check out the huge park and summer palace at Frederiksberg Have. The specialty cuisine of Copenhagen is Smørrebrød – little open face gourmet sandwiches on dark rye bread. I stop in a likely looking deli to sample some on my way to Tivoli Gardens. They are delicious! I stop at the bike rental place because I forgot to give back the key to the first bike, and to see if Henrik wants the ticket. He says he got a free ticket to the Roskilde Festival and will be seeing Neil Young that night instead. Seems reasonable to me! If I didn’t have three Neil shows coming up I would do the same. I email Andy and tell him the LC ticket is his. He responds he is coming from Munich, and I agree to meet him at the train station at 10:00AM when he arrives. Onward to Tivoli! Tivoli Gardens is the second oldest amusement park still intact, opened in 1843. Walt Disney is supposed to have modeled Disneyland after it, and it is quite similar in some ways. In other ways it is very different: for instance you can smoke anywhere on the grounds, by the rides or in the pleasure gardens, anywhere outside. There are also a lot of wooden and metal structural elements that are a lot more dangerous than anything at Disneyland. For example, I see a small boy swinging from a broken rusty chain that was hanging down from a rafter. First I ride in “The Mine” – a small track running through a dark maze passing little animal miners and dragons. In a dark passage you hear the sound of a sneeze and are sprayed with droplets of water – Dragon snot! The models are old and quaint and vaguely psychedelic. Then I ride the little balloon ferris wheel (Ballongyngen) and the Galley Ships, a whirling ride with pirate ships. The Dragon Boats are little bumper-car style boats in a pretty lagoon with a great view of the Rådhus. I ride the Rutschebanen (rollercoaster) twice – this one has been operating since 1914, the oldest wooden coaster to be in continuous service. It is themed after a mountain, and probably inspired the Matterhorn in the Disney parks. I also try the Odin Express, a more modern coaster, but a small fast one that races through the trees on exposed rails. Fun! But my favorite ride is Den Flyvende Kuffert, the flying chest. This indoor ride has you sitting in a car shaped like an open trunk or treasure chest, flying by models of intricate detail showing little scenes and vignettes from the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen. There is narration in English (or Danish if preferred) and there must be 100 stories rolled into a 10 minute ride. Hilarious, trippy, exquisite. “It’s A Small World” eat your heart out! Today is the first day of the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, so I leave the park to hear some of the open-air concerts in the squares throughout the city. I find a little basement butcher shop with gorgeous looking fritters in the window. I try one made of pork, one vegetarian, and one fish. The pork one, Rødfrikadeller, is scrumptious. I plan to come back tomorrow! I go back to Nørrebro to visit the grave of Hans Christian Andersen in the beautiful Assistens Kirkegård – an old cemetery that is commonly used as a park by the neighbors. I check out the site of our planned meeting before the Leonard Cohen concert tomorrow, Props Coffee Shop. It is a quiet place on a shady and distinctly bohemian side street, Blågårdsgade. In Blågårdsplads square there are a lot of locals picnicking and a guy playing Pink Floyd songs on his guitar. I find a strange structure built into a mound – it looks like a community center with grass on the roof. I later learn these were made as bomb shelters during World War II. I shower at the hostel and change for the evening. Maceo Parker, the funky saxophone soul-man, is playing at Tivoli Gardens tonight. Around sunset and before the concert I ride the “Star Flyer” – those swings on long chains that circle high above the park. A group of dark-skinned young footballers here for a match are in line with me, flirting with all the passing girls and showing off their uniforms. Their youthful good humor is infectious. One chickens out at the last minute and doesn’t take the ride. Although they promised not to laugh, they tease him mercilessly. Maceo Parker takes the stage at 9:00 PM and I stand near the front to dance and watch. A middle-aged couple beside me is clearly grooving to the tunes, and I dance with them and smile. Between songs I notice the guy is wearing a Neil Young shirt! I ask him if he is going to see him in Roskilde tomorrow, but he says no. He saw him on the spring tour in a small theatre, and those festivals are too much work. I go for a beer, and when I come back, the lady says “we thought we lost you!” The Danes have a habit of clapping in a weird time, during certain songs, and at one point Maceo is visibly upset by this. These guys are the masters of rhythm, and the crowd is really screwing it up. Anyway, the concert is very fine, and I enjoy moving with the crowd when they are not clapping. After the show we all flow out into the main square and I head to the Strogade. By day it is thronged with shoppers and tourists but at night it is mostly empty except for gangs of drunks and girls in cocktail dresses – it seems a bit sketchy. I find a Croatian street musician entertaining a small circle. When he pauses I ask him to play some Neil Young and he makes a medley of Heart of Gold, Comes A Time, Like A Hurricane, and bits of other tunes. He also knows a lot of Bob Dylan, and likes the album Time Out of Mind very much. He does a sweet version of Make You Feel My Love and a few others. He gets hired for 30 minutes by a small group of drunks camped outside a nightclub and I say farewell. I want to see Christiania by night, and although it is already 1:00AM I go back. At the Woodstock Bar I take a high stool at an outside table on Pusher Street and watch the action. I find a lighter on the table, it has the graphic and the name of the Woodstock Bar and Christiania printed on one side, and “Say NO to hard drugs” on the other. I am stoked, and pocket it as a souvenir. Smoking from my little Amsterdam pipe, I am approached several times by people looking to score. It’s funny how people often turn to me for directions, etc. even though I am a tourist too. I must look like I know what I am doing, ha ha ha. There may also be something about the location of this table... I decide to leave around 2:15 but as I am heading towards the gate I pass the Christiania Jazz Club, and the music coming out sounds sooooo good. I stick my head in the door, there is a quintet playing, young guys, Americans, very good musicians. I pay the cover charge and take a chair at the front. Have a Christiania beer and let the music wash over me… It’s so good I buy the CD: “Music Needs You” by Ryan Blotnick (with his quintet). I know I need sleep, big day tomorrow, but I stay until the very end, about an hour. By 3:30 or so I am back at the hostel, unwinding on the patio. Sleep only from 4:30 to 9:00, because I have to meet Andy as he gets off the train from Munich.
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