Sunday, February 14, 2010

Denmark Day 745

København's Søerne ("The Lakes") have been frozen solid for weeks, now, but I haven't had a chance to pay much attention, camera-wise, since I've had some more important things to worry about, like where I was going to live after 31 January. That problem's been solved for the moment, so here goes:

Sortedams Sø and Sunday morning traffic on Øster Søgade.

Taken from my 3rd floor room in a University gæsteobolig (guest home). The lakes are pretty shallow, so there's no doubt they're frozen solid all the way to the bottom; basically they've been turned into a giant ice tray, with a layer of snow on top. Only under a couple of the bridges is there any unfrozen water remaining.

Buildings on Søtorvet.
Taken from somewhere on Sortedams Sø.

Sectional couch, island on Sortedams Sø.

I'm sure this little island has a local name, which I don't know, but the key thing is that this happens to be one of those years when it's accessible on foot. The couch looks kinda comfy.

Statues on Dronning Louises Bro.

That's Peblinge Sø behind them, with Søpavillionen in the far background. I'm sure she's saying something like "Damn, it's frickin' cold out! Why are we sitting here without our coats on?"

All photos taken 14 February 2010.

Monday, February 08, 2010

Denmark Day 739

This photo (not mine) says it all about biking around in Copenhagen in the dead of winter, which has been colder than usual this year.

(Photo and quote credit: Hebster. "Alone. Or as alone as it is possible to be on Fredensbro on a sunday afternoon. Shot on a shit-cold second sunday in [February] 2010.")

Late evening the same Sunday this picture was taken, it's around -10 C (14 F), and I'm walking SE over the very same Fredensbro (this is one of the bridges over the Søerne—the lakes that form the western border of downtown København). Mildish 10 mph headwinds, not very challenging if you're just walking around (and your last place of residence was New Hampshire), but the air is, after all, coming off a frozen lake. When I'm about halfway across, I hear a young woman exclaim in accented English to her friend as they cycle past on my left, "This is NOT very wonderful...I'm killing my bike NOW!"

And IMRISL (rolling in the snow laughing).