We give Richard Karpen six out of five stars for his daily guided Copenhagen walking tour! He’s funny, knowledgeable, personable, passionate…In 1.5 hours, he helped us learn about Danish culture, social values, history, society. Plus, he served us a shot of Jägermeister, and taught us the important steps of saying a proper Skål (Cheers!) in Denmark. (Pretty involved and fun for what’s thought to be a relatively reserved society.)
We were sooo lucky that we took his tour on June 5, which is Denmark’s Constitution Day* (Which means that almost everything, including shops and museums, are closed.) Take a close look in the lower right hand corner of the fountain photo in the collage. I hope you’ll see a little gold ball floating … this only happens on special days in Copenhagen (Constitution Day, the Queen’s birthday, the Crown Prince’s birthday, etc.) … on these special days, the city places three golden balls in this fountain, and the water spouts push them up, so they look like they’re floating. We were so lucky to see them!
Taking Richard Karpen’s daily guided walking tour of Copenhagen
- Daily, (except Sundays) 9:30 am
- Meet in front of the main TI. Walk out of the main entrance of the main train station, take a left, cross the first main street (Vesterbrogade) and then the TI will be on your right.
- 120 Kr. ($20 US)
- Mid May – Mid September, Monday – Saturday (no tours on Sunday)
- copenhagenwalks.com
- copenhagenwalks@yahoo.com
What we learned
During our tour, Richard shared thoughts on, and Danish perspectives on immigration; gun laws (strict); homicide rates (very few); women’s equality; maternity and paternity leave; free higher education; affordable healthcare; how the society takes care of children, the elderly, and the vulnerable; elections (corporations can’t contribute; max contribution is $4K; election cycle lasts 6 weeks); and the fact that in the last 30 years, in study after study, the Danes are said to be the happiest people in the world.
In short, this is the kind of society I want to live in.
*Denmark’s Constitution was signed by King Frederick VII on June 5, 1849, ending the monarchy’s absolute power and establishing democracy and a parliamentary system.
Related
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