21st Century Copenhagen: How a Bridge Changes a City

My first visit to Denmark's capitol was a very exciting event. It was my first taste of European travel mixed in with a visit to the "old country" that had long since become a family memory. Even the four-hour stopover at the airport in Reykjavik, Iceland, seemed exotic, for here I got to wander among the gift shops and food stalls in the pre-dawn hours, looking at the various handmade crafts and food items.

Copenhagen was quite a surprise, for I was really quite unprepared for the hustle and bustle of this clean, modern city. Located at the western edge of the Baltic on the Danish island of Zealand, this city has been the Danish capitol and home to kings and queens for many centuries.

Actually Copenhagen sits on the Oresund, a small body of water that separates Denmark from Sweden. Take a boat out on the sound and you can make your way onto the Baltic Sea, which is only a short ways away. In 2000 the Oresund Bridge was completed linking the Danish city with Malmo in Sweden. These two places combined now form Scandinavia's largest population center and have transformed the general area into a bustling cultural and business hub. Take a bus from Copenhagen to the popular, coastal, village of Dragor, where you can view the shiny, metal structure as it shimmers in the afternoon sunlight. This former fishing village is also a nice place to relax and enjoy a fresh, fish dinner.

Even without an over the road connection to Sweden, Copenhagen has always been a center of innovation. Just take a walk down the Stroget, a modern, pedestrian-only street, where the Danes come to shop. All around the busy avenue, you will find shops and restaurants beckoning the foot traffic into their places of business. This is where the whole concept of pedestrian malls started back in 1969, when motorized traffic was banned and business responded with an enthusiastic boost in visitors and sales. Today, almost every major city in the world has a version of Copenhagen's Stroget.