The sun is shining and in a few months it’s time to move outdoors to enjoy the many green areas in Copenhagen.
Relaxation by the lakes
There’s no mistaking, as soon as the first rays of the spring sun begin to appear and warm up the air, the walking path that surrounds the Copenhagen lakes, called Søerne, is filled with strolling couples and panting joggers. There are family reunions at the café tables whilst friends with a thermos of hot coffee in hand have found a bench to settle on. Toddlers feed the ducks and swans watched over by senior Copenhageners in a scene virtually unchanged since they were children.
Romantic Botanical Garden
One of the most romantic breathing spaces in Copenhagen is the botanical garden. Especially during the months of May and June the scent of 13.000 blooming plants fill the air. The park is laid out where moats and ramparts formed part of the Copenhagen fortification in the past. The former breastworks are now rockeries with exotic plants from all corners of the world. The moat is a lake crossed by a white wooden bridge, which reminds you of the romantic 1800’s.
Copenhagen seen from a bike
Nothing is more ‘local’or congenial than seeing Copenhagen from a bicycle. You can use one of the free bikes places in special racks all over the downtown area. For a twenty-kroner-coin (inserted by the chain, where the bike is fastened) you can use this means of transportation until you reach your destination, replace it in another rack and get your twenty kroner back. But you do not necessarily have to do the work yourself! Rent a bike-taxi, lean back in the comfortable seat, and be transported at a leisurely pace through the streets of Copenhagen. You can choose your own route or one of the planned theme tours.
The Danish education system offers free access to primary school, secondary school and most kinds of higher education (universities etc.). About 99% of the general population attend compulsory elementary school (lasting 9 to 10 years); 86% attend secondary school and 41% pursue further education.
Primary school in Denmark is “den Danske Folkeskole” (translated: “the Danish Public School”). It goes from 1st-10th grade (10th grade is optional, as is the introductory børnehaveklasse (“kindergarten class”)). In Denmark one can also go to Friskole (“free school”) or Privatskole (“private school”): i.e. schools that are not under the administration of the municipalities; e.g. Christian schools or Waldorf Schools.
Following graduation from Folkeskolen, there are several other educational opportunities, including Gymnasium (academically oriented upper secondary education), Higher Preparatory Examination (HF) (similar to Gymnasium, but one year shorter), Higher Technical Examination Programme (HTX) (with focus on Mathematics and engineering), and Higher Commercial Examination Programme (HHX) (with a focus on trade and business), as well as vocational education, training young people for work in specific trades by a combination of teaching and apprenticeship.
Gymnasium, HF, HTX and HHX aim at qualifying students for higher education in universities and colleges. Denmark has several universities; the largest and oldest are the University of Copenhagen and University of Aarhus.
Folkehøjskolerne, (“Folk high schools”) introduced by politician, clergyman and poet N.F.S. Grundtvig in the 19th century, are social, informal education structures without tests or grades but emphasising communal learning, self-discovery, enlightenment, and learning how to think.