Danish views

July 22, 2010

Dear Leslie,

Kronborg castle, "Hamlet's castle," is a one-hour train ride north of Copenhagen. At the time Shakespeare wrote "Hamlet" and set the play at the Danish royal castle he called Elsinore, Kronborg had just been restored. Helsingor is the Danish name for the nearby town.

Whether Shakespeare actually ever saw the castle is not known, but now it's a World Heritage Site, and thousands of people tour it every year.

The castle, its moats and battlements still intact, once protected the narrow sound between Denmark and Sweden, an entrance to the Baltic Sea. Now "Hamlet" is presented every summer in the enormous courtyard or in the ballroom, itself as long as a football field.

In Denmark you are reminded how young a nation America still is. Copenhagen dates from the 1100s, and the castle was built in the 1500s, shortly after the "discovery" of North America. Norsemen, of course, actually had been coming to North America since the 10th century.

America is a teenager, and we sometimes can act like one. We rebel against authority, we want to get back at people we think have wronged us, we like drama.

The Danes I talked with seem emotionally mature. They look at the world from a detached yet caring perspective, more like a parent than a teenager. If some part of the world crashes down, they start picking up the pieces that can be saved.

They often dislike the military adventures America leads the rest of the world on. They look at the control we allow corporations to have over our lives and shake their heads but smile.

Danes are not opposed to the teen occupations with consumerism and fashion. When Danes visit the U.S., blue jeans are among the items they bring home. Jeans and other consumer goods are much more expensive in Europe than here. DC spent over $100 in a Copenhagen tourist shop buying postcards and cardboard Christmas ornaments for friends and family members. But people have good salaries, and the basics in Denmark are inexpensive.

Many people in Copenhagen travel by bicycle. Most are not the high-tech versions American bicyclists favor. A basket for carrying things is attached to the handlebars. The riders resemble Almira Gulch, the bicycling woman in "The Wizard of Oz" intent on taking Toto to the sheriff, except that many are strikingly beautiful.

In Copenhagen men wear shorts that dip below the knee. They were called pedal pushers when I was young, and only girls wore them. Bicycling is why pedal pushers were invented.

Copenhagen recently was named the world's more livable city. One reason is that more than 200 miles of bicycle lanes crisscross the city. Our friends Robyn and Frank warned that stepping off the sidewalk into a bicycle lane can be hazardous. The bicyclists are going somewhere, not out for a leisurely ride. And Danes are never late.

Copenhagen's goal is for bicycles to account for 50 percent of its commuting traffic by 2015, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 80,000 tons.

Like many American cities, Cape Girardeau has a hiking and biking trail but no bike lanes on the streets yet. We're just teenagers, of course.

Love, Sam

Sam Blackwell is a former reporter for the Southeast Missourian.