An Ode to Walking

Wait, is this the switch-up of the century?? I thought you just talked about how biking is the best thing ever!

Yes, my dear readers, I did in fact just sing the praises of the Copenhagen cycle culture not more than half a day ago. However, I believe that exploring Denmark's capital city on foot has been just as fruitful as it has been on two wheels.

First of all, the name of the game in most European cities is walkability. Throughout my travels with friends, for class, and individually, everywhere you go incorporates at least a little bit of walking. Going from place to place in Copenhagen this is especially true, with the majority of my Field Studies for this semester incorporating some sort of outside component, whether that's exploring the incredible Danish works of architecture for my Creative Industries course or walking through the neighborhood of Vesterbro learning about municipal climate adaptation structures for my aptly named Understanding Climate Change class.

{A picture of my walk through Vesterbro with my class - super informative!}

And it's great! It has been so amazing to view a city from the ground up on a daily basis. I've been able to see how Copenhagen has changed through the seasons of bitter winter to splendid spring, gaining a new perspective for how the city and its inhabitants manage living with the weather as a result.

{A picture of my neighborhood, Islands Brygge, during this past weekend. Since the weather was above 60 degrees, everyone cancelled their plans and headed to the canals to swim and soak up the sun!}

In addition to walking being a great way to engage with Copenhagen from a cultural level, it also has been a fantastic way for me to process my own personal experience here. I cannot tell you the amount of times that I've said to others, "Hey, I'm just going to go for a walk by myself, see you in a bit!" and then set off into the great unknown.

Luckily for me, the "great unknown" mainly just consists of finding a path around my Culinary Living and Learning Community space and exploring it until I feel satisfied. And who knew that having infrastructure that supports green spaces, miles of trails and parkways, all the while being imminently close to some various kind of water source would be phenomenal for one's psyche?

{Three of my most favorite views from spring so far - all taken just this past week!}

I think that these little 15-minute, sometimes 30, and hey who are we kidding, sometimes 2 hour walks will be one of the things that I am the most grateful for when I leave Copenhagen. Just having the option to pick a new path around my apartment and explore it every single day is such an absolute gift for both my mental health and the enjoyment of my local community. I'm getting to the point where I can recognize residents that I pass by on my way back to my LLC, which will make leaving this place all the more bittersweet.

It's getting down to the end of things, but I'll positive that I'll have a couple more fantastic walking trips by the time I have to leave. And with the spring weather only getting more wonderful, I can't think of a better way to spend my time among architecture, among nature, among people, and with myself.

Until then!