My Memories of Copenhagen: A City on Two Wheels.

I was only in Copenhagen for one full non-travel day.  It was a bit nippy and a gray day, too, with the look of impending rain, so I was able to rationalize spending the day loafing around the hotel.

I spent time on the computer catching up on emails. My hotel, the Copenhagen Plaza, was literally a stone’s throw from the main entrance to the city’s main railway station. When I came through the station the day before, I had noted an honest-to-God Irish Pub with posters of all the Boston teams on the walls and – yes – that’s where I dined for lunch. 

Bicycles are the preferred transportation mode of the Danes. (Ya think??)  This is the parking area in front of the Copenhagen railway station. It certainly seems as though no one owns a shiny new bike. All the bikes parked here were locked, but none of them looked worth stealing. And don’t ask me how they manage to find their bike when they come back at the end of the day!
Amtrak recently went through a test in which people were encouraged to travel on several trains with their bicycles. There was a lot of discussion on how best to accommodate all the bikes. Well, it’s certainly not a problem for the Danes. In fact, as you can see in the photo above (shot from my hotel room window, by the way) bicyclists are encouraged to bring their wheels right onto the commuter trains. The bike-friendly cars are certainly well marked. Note, too, that wi-fi is available on board.
The Europeans have had it all figured out for decades. What’s wrong with us? Why can’t we adopt from what they have already shown will work?