Posted by Naomi on Sep 19, 2009 in
biking,
doing stuff in Copenhagen On Friday there was no preschool so Hugo requested a trip to the zoo. We haven’t been since February? … last winter - when it was freezing cold and snowing, and we subsequently had quite a short visit and missed out on seeing quite a few animals. Last time, there were baby lions. This time, there were baby almost everything else! Tigers, elephant, emu, horses … Sophie was so excited, she’s very into babies at the moment.
We rode the bike, which was short-sighted as the trip to the zoo includes the closest thing to a hill in Copenhagen. Embarrassingly, I had to get off and push the bike half way up (it’s a STEEP hill, all right!). Hugo helpfully said “it’s just like Gordon’s Hill isn’t it Mummy?” … me being Gordon, of course.
Going home was awesome though! I reckon I could have coasted most of the way home, if I hadn’t had to stop for traffic lights.
It’s nice now that she’s getting older, she enjoys our outings as much as Hugo does.
Posted by Naomi on Apr 24, 2009 in
Hugo,
biking a bike. Of course.
Hugo has ridden to preschool a couple of days this week. Considering his generally cautious nature he does quite well, he is learning Left and Right and so far hasn’t accidently careered off the path into the lake. (Concerned grandparents, please don’t fear, I walk closely behind him, he knows where the brakes are, and we don’t ride on roads, just the footpaths and the pedestrian/bike paths around the lake).
Posted by Naomi on Feb 2, 2009 in
biking for the passengers, apparently.
When we first arrived in Copenhagen, we brought the plague with us. OK, it wasn’t the plague but it was a nasty headcold … consequently, nothing tasted nice - actually nothing tasted of anything. Combined with my usual “I’m in a foreign country” culture shock* and the subsequent horror of trying to do a supermarket shop and decipher all the Danish labels, our food supplies were fairly limited and bland for a while.
Then I discovered kanelgifler. They are small cinnamon scrolls, and I can’t actually explain what makes them so appealing … they are yummy, but small, so there’s less guilt - and they aren’t actually cake, precisely, so they’re *almost* healthy (*AHEM*). And at 12DKK a packet (about the equivalent of $AU3), they are not as frighteningly expensive as most groceries are, compared to Australian prices.
But THEN last week, they were 2 packets for 20DKK so of course I had to buy TWO packets. When we finished the last one this morning I thought, that’s it! Time to get healthy, no more kanelgiflers. Only to find them at the supermarket, THREE packets for 25DKK … I resisted! …. all the way to the freezer section, then I went back and got three packets. Of course.
But as soon as these ones are gone, NO MORE!! Time to get healthy! My aim this week is to ride to play group … it’s about 4km away, and the furtherest ride I’ve done with the big bike, so we’ll see how that goes.
I am surprised to find that I actually enjoy riding … it’s nice to feel like it’s acceptable to ride a bike just to get around, rather than being a serious cycler. I don’t think many people do that back home. (Of course, as I’ve mentioned, we don’t really have the infrastructure for it either).
* The first time we went to Paris, fresh off the train, I was appallingly horrified to discover that THEY ALL SPOKE FRENCH. (I know, I know). I mean, what’s wrong with English, doesn’t EVERYONE speak it? Thus began my enlightenment that I am one of those travelers … insisting on speaking my own language, insisting on eating ‘normal’ food, and announcing belligerently “that’s not how we do it back home!”. It’s not that I don’t want to experience other cultures, it just takes my brain a while to catch up. I’m getting there. Gradually.
Posted by Naomi on Jan 27, 2009 in
biking Why yes they do! And so do I … with both children in front. Our bike of choice is the kangaroo bike and the children love it. Well - Hugo loves it because it means he doesn’t have to walk, and he’s nice and warm and cosy. Every time we leave the apartment he asks “will we take the bike, Mum?”. Sophie doesn’t mind it too much although she gets a bit wiggley and whingey if we’re out for too long (as she does on the bus, in the stroller, in the car … nothing a biscuit doesn’t fix, at least briefly).
I have to admit, the first time I took the bike out I was very extremely anxious. My last bike riding experience in Canberra, with the children in a trailer did not go very well. And that was on a bike path, away from traffic, in a normal climate (ie not freezing cold!) in a country where I spoke the same language as most of the other people. So the first trip was a bit fraught with tension, although nothing untoward happened. And the second trip was a bit fraught with agony as my poor, unfit body was assaulted by unaccustomed muscle-use. And the third trip was actually not too bad … I was even getting used to riding alongside traffic. Stick to the right, and it’s fine.
It’s a bit depressing being taken over by 4 year olds on tiny pushbikes with trainer wheels but hey, you get that. And a few times people have commented as they pass me. I don’t know what they’re saying but I’m telling myself that it’s “Hey, that’s a really cool bike, and you look totally Danish, that’s why I’m assuming you can understand what I’m saying” rather than “Get out of the way you slow, non-Danish speaking foreigner who can’t even ride a bike properly!”.
And now of course it’s fine, and I’m all full of grand plans for taking the bike back home and keeping it up (although I know Sydney just doesn’t have the bike infrastructure that Copenhagen has … nor does it have the extremely high income tax that Denmark has, or the 25% VAT, OR 180% taxation on cars … all the things that help pay for the infrastructure. And it’s also a lot sprawlier and a lot hillier).
This is our bike, complete with a light frosting of snow! 
Tags: Copenhagen, kangaroo bike