københavn

// copenhagen

It's beautiful, spacious, safe, sunny, but my god, Copenhagen is expensive! I bought lunch one day which consisted of some blackberries, cheese and almonds and it came to 12 aussie dollars! A beer costs close to what you pay for your meal (sometimes more). Clothes are outrageously priced. The people are happy though so one assumes that the cost of living is in line with wages.

In most annual worldwide happiness polls, the Danes come out on top. Wandering around Copenhagen you can believe it; smiles and laughter are everywhere, nobody is rude or in a hurry, people smile at you in the street and they are so willing to speak (annoyingly perfect) English that you forget you're in a foreign country.

The Danes are pretty low key. I'm told that the queen's favourite hat shop is next to a pizza shop, in a middle class neighbourhood ‑ a guy I met sees her there sometimes. Pubs stay open until 5am but the streets are not lined with drunks, it's safe to walk around and there is little fear of violence. In a country of only 5 million people I suppose that isn't a surprise, but it does make a pleasant change. Best of all, it doesn't smell like dog pee, even in the metro stations!

Rivaling Sweden in the industrial design stakes, Denmark is well organised and clean.Spotless and fragrance‑free, the driverless metro trains run so on time that the 'next train' signs show arrivals down to the nearest thirty seconds. It takes about 15 minutes to get from the airport to the centre and 35 minutes to get to Sweden, where I had lunch today.

The best thing about Copenhagen is how accessible different areas are. There's Dyrhavn (Deerhaven) 20 minutes to the north, a beach just a little fiurther, a pretty star shaped military area that more closely resembles a public garden and opens to the public daily, and the free state of Christiania just a few minutes walk from the centre. You feel that you are being cradled comfortably by a city that is willing to let you enjoy your freedom. After the enveloping magnitude of London, it's like being on top of a sunny windswept hill. Strangely, I really do feel that I'm a long way north here.

Copenhagen is a spacious city with a lovely vibe but I will be glad to get back to the euro and to meals that cost closer to 4 dollars than 15. Next stop, after a 10 hour bus ride, is Amsterdam. See you there.