WEBVTT - How to Treasure Hunt in Denmark! 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:06.519 You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope 0:00:06.640 --> 0:00:07.640 and iHeartRadio. 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:12.920 Guess what, Mango? 0:00:13.320 --> 0:00:14.000 What's that? Will? 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:16.840 So? I think we've established by now that you and 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:19.600 I are fans of the Muppets. Actually, as i'm thinking 0:00:19.600 --> 0:00:21.880 about it here, it's probably been a minute we haven't 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:23.480 talked about the Muppets in mint. So let's go and 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:25.720 established at Mango. What do you think about the Muppets. 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:27.800 I'm into them, I'm a fan. 0:00:27.880 --> 0:00:29.840 You're in favor, you're in favor of the Muppet. I 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:32.519 love the Muppets as well. So we have now established it. 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:35.080 But here's one thing I actually never knew before this week. 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:38.479 It's that the Swedish chef wasn't born in Sweden. This 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:40.600 guy has been living a lie this whole time. We 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:42.400 actually should have talked about it in our big episode 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:43.680 on lies just last week. 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:46.199 This feels like such a scandal. So what do you 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:47.320 mean he's not from Sweden? 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:49.440 Well, if you were to make the mistake of asking 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:52.080 a real Swedish person what they think about. 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:54.240 The Swedish chef, they would tell you. 0:00:54.200 --> 0:00:56.240 I'm sure, with a great deal of annoyance, that there 0:00:56.320 --> 0:01:00.440 is nothing inherently Swedish about the character. So most Chef's 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:03.160 dialogue is just a bunch of made up nonsense words 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:07.080 that sound I guess vaguely Scandinavian. And according to Swedes, 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:10.399 the character sing Songish accent is actually much closer to 0:01:10.440 --> 0:01:13.280 that of Norwegian or Danish. Actually, I'm curious whether that's 0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:15.039 true or whether they're just like trying to pass it 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:18.479 off from somebody else. But you know, it's much more 0:01:18.760 --> 0:01:21.040 like those two dialects than it would be, you know, 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:23.280 speaking with with Swedish inflections. 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:26.880 So when he's saying like york and bjorky byork, that's 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:29.679 not a that is a Swedish secret or not. 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:31.679 I mean, here's what's funny to me is that in 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:35.400 the Muppets books and screenplays that word b york is 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:38.640 is almost always spelled with a special Scandinavian vowel that 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:40.679 looks like an O with a slash through it. You 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:43.840 know what I'm describing there telling me that vowel doesn't 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:47.160 exist in the Swedish language, but it does in Norwegian 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:49.640 and Danish. And even though a lot of people think 0:01:49.640 --> 0:01:52.520 that the chef sounds Norwegian, all the hard evidence points 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:54.040 to him hailing from Denmark. 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:57.560 I love how serious we're taking this. So what is 0:01:57.600 --> 0:01:59.320 the hard evidence you're talking about? You? 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:01.080 Well, I got a little confused because I thought this 0:02:01.160 --> 0:02:03.200 whole episode was on the Swedish Chef, so I had 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:06.000 done a whole lot of research. But anyway, for starters, 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:08.720 the co creator of the Swedish Chef Muppet Show head 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:12.600 writer Jerry Jewel, was of Danish heritage himself, and he 0:02:12.680 --> 0:02:15.400 wrote all the Chef's dialogue. 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:17.600 Which I guess explains how that Danish letter wound up 0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:18.519 in all those b Yorks. 0:02:18.600 --> 0:02:21.520 That's exactly right. It also explains why the German version 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:24.680 of the Buppet Show renamed the character the Danish Chef. 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:28.040 The voice actor in the dub thought Henson's accent sounded Danish, 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:31.880 so he wrote new dialogue incorporating Danish words and mimic 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:33.840 the accent of his Danish friends. 0:02:35.360 --> 0:02:40.079 So did Henson or Jewel ever acknowledge that their Swedish 0:02:40.120 --> 0:02:43.160 Chef sounded, you know, more Danish. 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:45.920 Not directly, but someone on the team seems to have 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:48.480 realized the mix up, because in nineteen eighty five, this 0:02:48.639 --> 0:02:51.919 was ten years after the character's debut, the studio finally 0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:54.480 went on record about the Chef's origins. According to the 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:57.679 gatefold cover of The Muppet Review VHS. You probably still 0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:01.079 have a copy of this, and I quote few people 0:03:01.160 --> 0:03:04.440 know it, but the Swedish Chef was actually born in Denmark, 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:06.760 but his parents moved to Sweden when he was just 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:07.280 a baby. 0:03:07.880 --> 0:03:09.959 I am so glad we got to the bottom of 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:13.240 this mystery. But we chose Denmark to kick off our 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:16.359 new travelog series. I did not think that we'd start 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:17.640 by talking about the Swedish Chef. 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:20.320 No, I didn't either, but here we are. I know 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:23.079 we'd be excited to go to both locations, but today 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:25.160 we are focused on Denmark, and I like to keep 0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:26.600 you on your toes, so it was fun to kind 0:03:26.600 --> 0:03:29.160 of bounce around there. But I do think the story 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:32.600 shows that despite the many points of overlap between Scandinavian 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:36.200 language and culture, these countries are much more distinct than 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:39.000 many of us realize, and lumping them all together just 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:41.440 makes us look a little bit silly. So in the 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:44.640 spirit of not mistaking all of Scandinavia for Sweden, let's 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:47.760 take a trip to Denmark, the land of little mermaids, 0:03:47.800 --> 0:04:12.960 salty Licorice, and then not so Sweetish Chef let's dive in. Hey, 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:15.480 their podcast listeners, welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:17.839 Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good friend 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:20.039 Manges Shot Ticketer. And on the other side of that 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:23.840 soundproof glass showing some Danish pride with his Danish flag 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:27.520 coffee mug. That's our friend and producer Dylan Fagan. He's 0:04:27.520 --> 0:04:29.960 actually got the whole studio decked out in red and white. 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:34.000 They say it's crazy, it's impressive. It's impressive, a lot 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:36.760 of red and white. They're Danish flags hanging from the ceiling, 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:39.600 another one in front of his desk. He's even got 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:42.599 a little paper one flying from his Danish pastry. It's 0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:45.760 feels a little bit overkilled to me. But like you know, 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:48.039 you said, Danish people would probably be on board for this, 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:48.640 right mango. 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:52.440 Yeah, so Dylan is obviously hitting the mark perfectly once again. 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:55.720 But the Danes are actually much bigger fans of their 0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:59.680 national flag than most people of most countries. Like they 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:03.680 liat for all kinds of occasions, including things like birthday parties, 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:08.039 graduation ceremonies, funerals, and even at Christmas time. And it 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:10.640 might sound strange, but for many people in Denmark displaying 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:13.840 the flag as a way to express festivity rather than nationalism. 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:16.640 And that's because the design of the flag has been 0:05:16.880 --> 0:05:19.960 ingrained into Danish culture for centuries, even before it was 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:21.880 officially adopted as a state symbol. 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:24.440 I kind of love that for it to mean something 0:05:24.640 --> 0:05:27.160 even bigger than you know, just borders. So how far 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:28.320 back does it go? Exactly? 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:33.120 So, all the way back to June fifteenth, twelve nineteen CE, 0:05:33.240 --> 0:05:37.480 at the Battle of lund Enisa, And that's when, according 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:40.440 to Danish legend, the country's red and white flag fell 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:43.200 from the sky as a sign of God's favor. Some 0:05:43.240 --> 0:05:45.520 people think it's a miracle banner. It just arrived in 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:48.440 the nick of time, and it happened when the Danes 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:52.440 were currently locked in a losing battle against the Estonians. Now, luckily, 0:05:52.480 --> 0:05:55.200 it wasn't just soldiers on the battlefield that day. There 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:59.640 was an archbishop Dunissan, who had accompanied King Valdemar the 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:02.440 Second on his crusade Estonia, and when he saw how 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:05.279 badly the Danes were faring, he raised his arms to 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:07.799 the sky and began to pray for some heavenly assistance. 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:12.720 Now suddenly this red lambskin banner bearing a white Nordic 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:16.839 cross began fluttering down from the sky, and King Valdemar 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:18.880 takes up this flag. He waves it about his head 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:22.000 and he urges his troops to fight on. And now 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:23.960 all of a sudden they believe that God's on their side. 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:26.720 The Danish forces rally at the side of the flag, 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:28.920 and they go on to win the day. The banner 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:31.600 that had changed their fortunes became known as the dannabr 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:35.120 the cloth or banner of the Danes, and soon after 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:37.320 it was adopted as a royal symbol, and then as 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:40.440 a trading banner, a military end sign, and finally, in 0:06:40.480 --> 0:06:43.440 the early nineteenth century as an official flag of Denmark. 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:45.880 That is a pretty cool history there, and it's no 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:48.000 wonder the Danish people love their flag so much if 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:50.599 there's a bunch of like cool lore surrounding it. But 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:53.279 I am guessing not not to put too much down 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:55.640 on it. But I'm guessing there's not much historical evidence 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:57.599 in support of this whole story though, right. 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:00.560 Yeah, So, Denmark's victory that day was likely due to 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:04.560 reinforcements sent in by allies and not the divine intervention 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:07.680 of this heavenly flag. But that's not to say there 0:07:07.720 --> 0:07:10.000 wasn't a falling flag at all. Red white flags with 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:13.480 crosses were frequently used by European crusaders between the eleventh 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:16.600 and thirteenth centuries, and the motif was a symbol of 0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:19.640 Christianity rather than the specific nation or the people. So 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:21.880 if you think about that, it's totally possible that a 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:24.920 flag was there during the battle and it maybe even 0:07:24.960 --> 0:07:28.080 fell onto the battlefield from like a castle nearby and 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:31.080 it helped boost the troop spirits. But like I said, 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:33.440 for many Dans today, the flag represents more than just 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:36.720 the government or nation of Denmark. It's this symbol of 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:40.960 the Danish spirit in general, the people, the history they share. 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:43.080 It sort of like pulls all of that together. And 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:46.160 Gabe pointed me to this interview with a Danish professor. 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:50.560 His name's Torbin Kier's gar Nielsen, and he says the 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:53.520 different perceptions of the Danish flag are exactly what makes 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:56.520 it such an effective national symbol. As he puts it, 0:07:57.120 --> 0:08:00.160 everyone uses and interprets the Danish flag in their own way, 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:03.320 and paradoxically, this is what makes it a uniting symbol. 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:07.120 Yeah, I mean, that does seem like a pretty unique relationship. Actually, 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:09.880 speaking of Danish symbols of solidarity, have you heard about 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:12.480 Denmark's protest pigs? Is this something on your radar? 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:15.680 I feel like I've heard the friends, but I don't 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:16.440 know what it means. 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:20.000 So, yeah, protest pig. So it's actually a special breed 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:22.120 of pig. I'm gonna show you a picture here that 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:26.440 was bred specifically to resemble the country's beloved flag. What 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:26.880 do you think? 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:28.360 I love it. 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:32.000 That's pretty, it's pretty wild, and you would think that 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:34.360 it would have bright red or that maybe what's your 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:36.760 picturing and the white that's on it, but de fers 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:38.600 a little bit more of a copper color, and it 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:41.640 only has one vertical white stripe, so you know, the 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:44.600 Nordic cross is incomplete. But as far as breeding a 0:08:44.640 --> 0:08:47.320 pig that looks like your flag, I'd give them an 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:48.480 a for effort on this one. 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:49.160 Uh huh. 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:52.080 Of course it does help that Denmark's flag is fairly basic. 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:55.440 Just imagine trying to breed a pig with fifty stars 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:57.000 on it. You know, I think somebody out there now 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:59.080 is going to try, but it's not amazing. 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:02.240 So and of course like all the stripes too, But 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:05.960 you call this a protest pig. So what exactly is 0:09:06.000 --> 0:09:07.120 it in protest of. 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:09.520 Well, this is something that goes way back, and this 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:12.520 goes back to the eighteen sixties when Denmark was wrestling 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:16.160 with Prussia for control of the southern Jutland peninsula. So 0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:19.160 Denmark wound up losing the war, and when Prussian authorities 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:22.440 took control of the area, they instituted new laws banning 0:09:22.480 --> 0:09:27.040 public expressions of Danish pride, including raising the country's flags. 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:29.679 Of course, we just talked about how important this flag 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:31.360 is to them. That did not sit well with the 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:34.960 Danish farmers who lived in that disputed southern region, so 0:09:35.040 --> 0:09:38.520 in a clever act of defiance, they began cross breeding 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:41.040 their pigs to make them better resemble the flag of 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:43.720 their homeland. I love this so much, so the program 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:47.520 succeeded and producing a red pig with a vertical white 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:50.480 belt across its shoulder. Now only a few dozen of 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:53.520 those two tone pigs are still alive today, but pork 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:57.880 remains closely tied to Danish politics, and Denmark's national dish 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:01.079 is fried pork vllley, served with boiled potatoes and a 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:04.480 bechamel sauce, and it's traditional to eat the meat on 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:09.080 election night. According to Scandinavia's standard quote, the practice of 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:12.280 eating valflesk or election meat, is a tongue in cheek 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:15.800 reference to the over promises made by politicians on the 0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:16.600 campaign trail. 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:20.120 That's so funny and so snarky. I really love it saying. 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:22.920 But now that we've talked a little bit about Danish history, 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:24.920 we should probably get our bearings by covering a few 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:28.439 of the basics, so for starters. Denmark is a Nordic 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:32.120 country in northern Europe. It consists of the Jutland Peninsula, 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:34.520 which you obviously mentioned earlier, and a string of more 0:10:34.559 --> 0:10:37.240 than four hundred islands in the North Sea. It shares 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:40.000 a southern border with Germany, which still controls the bottom 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:42.880 third of the peninsula, and to the north. Just across 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:47.360 the sea are Denmark Scandinavian siblings, so Norway and Sweden. 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:50.720 Denmark is the smallest of the Scandinavian countries, with an 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:54.200 area of just sixteen six hundred square miles, or a 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:57.360 little less than twice the size of Massachusetts, but it 0:10:57.440 --> 0:11:00.320 actually has the second highest population of the three country trees, 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:03.640 with five point nine million people compared to Norway's five 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:07.960 point five and Sweden's ten point five. And Denmark also 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:10.440 has the most temperate climate of the trio thanks to 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:12.360 the warm waters of the Gulf Stream. 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:15.559 You know, I actually always forget that Denmark is technically 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:18.840 an island nation. But it does explain why Danish vikings 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:21.120 got so good at sailing, you know, they had lots 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:22.880 of nearby places to practice. 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:26.600 Yeah, and really, the only part of Denmark that isn't 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:29.800 an island is the large, flat Jutland region, because it's 0:11:29.840 --> 0:11:32.480 the part that juts out of Germany. It's home to 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:34.880 the city of Alborg in the far north, which is 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:37.680 often ranked as the happiest city in Europe, as well 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:40.800 as to Denmark's second largest city, Arhus, which is a 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:44.520 lively cultural center on Jutland's east coast. But even though 0:11:44.600 --> 0:11:47.680 Jutland is the largest land mass in Denmark, no matter 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:50.400 which part of the country you visit, you're still never 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:52.960 more than thirty two miles from the sea. Isn't that 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:53.280 a movie? 0:11:53.400 --> 0:11:56.880 Oh that's wild? Yeah, yeah, it was interesting as Jutland sounds. 0:11:56.880 --> 0:11:58.960 I do have a feeling that most people forego a 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:02.160 trip to Denmark's quote second city in favor of visiting 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:05.760 its first, which is of course Copenhagen, located on Zealand, 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:09.319 the largest island in Denmark. The capital city of Copenhagen 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:11.440 started out as a fishing village. Now this was during 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:14.120 the Middle Ages, and in those days most of the 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:17.080 residents made their living by fishing for herring. So for 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:19.360 the first one hundred years or so, the coastal fishing 0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:23.120 town wasn't really of much strategic importance for the Danish 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:26.040 crown there. But when a wave of pirate attacks began 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:28.680 to pose a threat to Danish sovereignty, one of the 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:31.600 king's advisors took control of the town and started building 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:35.560 these fortifications in this kind of protecting the inner harbor there. 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:38.640 With his added security, this harbor town grew into a 0:12:38.679 --> 0:12:43.720 flourishing trade center and eventually renamed Copenhagen, which means merchant's harbor. 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:47.080 So the city's transformation from a humble fishing village to 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:50.840 a bustling seaport culminated in thirteen forty three, and this 0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:53.880 was when King Valdemar the fourth declared it the capital 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:54.600 of Denmark. 0:12:55.240 --> 0:12:57.920 Which is quite the glow up and it sounds like 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:01.600 this is all kind of thanks to of band of pirates. 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:04.720 Right in a roundabout way. Yeah. Actually, that's great that 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:07.400 I said that, because speaking of roundabout, we'd be remiss 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:10.600 if we didn't mention that Copenhangen is, of course the 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:13.720 best city in the world for bicyclists, which is fascinating. 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:16.120 But more than half of the city's six hundred and 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:19.480 forty thousand residents commute to work or school by bike. 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:22.559 Think about that. That's more than three hundred thousand people 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:26.480 in the city that are traveling cumulatively eight hundred thousand 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:29.720 miles every single day. And they do all that pedaling 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:34.120 along Copenhagen's two hundred and fifty miles of dedicated bike lanes, 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:37.120 which pedestrian tourists are advised to keep well clear of. 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:39.439 Cyclists actually have the right of way on those lanes, 0:13:39.440 --> 0:13:41.400 so if you try to walk through them, you're liable 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:44.360 to get clipped, verbally shamed, or maybe even both. 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:48.559 It's amazing to see how dominant cycling is in Copenhagen. 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:51.679 And I even saw that they have angle trash cans 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:53.880 throughout the city now so that people can toss their 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:55.839 garbage while biking. It's amazing. 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:58.160 Yeah, I mean, the Nanes took to cycling culture from 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:01.120 the moment bikes arrived in the eighteen eighties. They were 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:04.440 viewed as an equalizing force in society, providing a fast, 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:08.120 low cost means of transportation to people of any social class, 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:11.400 and because of the country's terrain being mostly flat, bikes 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:13.720 were useful nationwide whether you're commuting to work in a 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:16.560 city or just tooling around in the countryside for fun. 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:18.800 So the past time has had its ups and downs 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:21.560 over the last century or so, but in recent decades 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:24.520 cycling has made a massive comeback, to the point that 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:27.680 nine out of ten Danes now own at least one bicycle. 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:30.160 In fact, reports say there are now more bikes than 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:34.280 people in Copenhagen and five times as many bicycles as cars. 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:38.280 That really is incredible and probably big reason why Copenhagen 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:40.560 often tops the world's list of greenest cities. 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:43.280 Right. Yeah, you know, while I don't want to dissuade 0:14:43.320 --> 0:14:45.920 any listeners from renting a bike during their visit, it 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:48.400 could be pretty intimidating to hop on a busy bike 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:51.360 lane when you really don't know your way around. So 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:52.840 with that in mind, what do you say we run 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:55.080 through a couple of our favorite places in Copenhagen that 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:57.720 are perfectly accessible without a bicycle. 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:00.240 I love that, but first, let's take it quick. 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:17.120 God break, you're listening to part time Genius and we're 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:21.240 sharing our muscy stops when touring Copenhagen. All right, mango. So, 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:24.880 Denmark's largest city has no shortage of iconic sites, from 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:27.400 the dizzy and corkscrew spire of the Church of Our 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:31.440 Savior to the famous Little Mermaid statue honoring Hans Christian Anderson. 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:34.000 But if you had just one day to visit Copenhagen, 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:34.960 where would you spend it? 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:38.960 So this might sound strange, but my pick would be 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:43.360 the Tivoli Gardens amusement park. It is like this compact 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:45.600 little island of whimsy right in the heart of the 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:49.160 city and it's just a few steps from Copenhagen's central station. 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:52.560 And as that prime location might tell you, this is 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:55.480 no cut rate carnival. It was inspired by the parks 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:58.440 and gardens of other European cities, most notably the Tivoli 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:03.960 Gardens and the Vauxhall Garden in London. So there's a 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:07.480 big focus on manicured flower gardens and outdoor entertainment like 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:09.640 live music and pantomime plays. 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:12.040 So this is more sort of like an old school 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:14.480 pleasure garden than a modern theme park. 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:16.960 I guess, definitely. But Tivoli does have its fair share 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:20.120 of mechanical rides too. A lot of them are newer editions, 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:21.840 but some of them have been there since the early 0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:24.680 days of the park. For instance, Tivoli's oldest and most 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:28.920 popular ride is a nineteen fourteen wooden roller coaster known 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:33.680 simply as Rutschenbannen or roller Coaster. It's one of just 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:35.960 a few left in the world that still features a 0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:38.800 live breakman on board of every trade. 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:40.960 That's a great word for roller coaster. I'm going to 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:43.000 try to commit that to memory. But I also love 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:46.600 that roller coaster breakeman is a viable occupation in Denmark. 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:50.760 It's like every middle schooler's dream job. But all right, 0:16:50.800 --> 0:16:53.640 so the oldest ride is from nineteen fourteen. But how 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:54.960 old is the park? 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:58.200 Well, the grand opening of the park goes way back 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:01.800 to eighteen forty three, which makes it the second oldest 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:04.680 operating amusement park in the world. The other one also 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:05.760 happens to be in Denmark. 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:08.960 Really Okay, yeah, well, they're in some old parks I'm 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:10.920 honestly impressed I've been able to hold on to such 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:13.760 prime real estate for that long. I mean, most European 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:17.960 capitals don't exactly carve out space for a sprawling amusement 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:19.600 park right in the middle of their downtown. 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:22.000 Yeah, I mean, to be fair, of the park wasn't 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:26.120 ever meant to have such a central location. Tili Gardens 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:29.840 was founded by this guy named George Carstensen, and he 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:32.840 fell in love with Pleasure Gardens while traveling abroad and 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:34.680 wanted to bring his own park on the edge of 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:37.400 the Danish capital. It was kind of a tough sell 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:40.840 at first, but he eventually won the Danish kingover by 0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:43.600 telling him that you know, when people are amusing themselves, 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:47.840 they're not really thinking about politics. So Carsonsen's charter allowed 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:50.919 him to use roughly about fifteen acres of land just 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:54.720 outside the Copenhagen city limits. It's an area that i'd 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:57.320 once been the site of the city's old fortifications. But 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:00.199 the park didn't stay outside the city for long, and 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:04.800 that's partly because Copenhagen continued to expand throughout the nineteenth century, 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:07.760 eventually growing around the gardens and making it part of 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:08.119 the city. 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:10.040 Proper. I mean, it definitely sounds more fun to have 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:11.840 a roller coaster in the center of the city than 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:13.400 a bunch of rundown for it. So good. 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:16.760 Yeah, I think it's pretty smart. And when Tivoli Gardens 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:19.200 opened in eighteen forty three, the locals were amazed by 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:22.320 just how much the familiar grounds had changed. Like these 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:24.400 used to be barren fields, and they were turned into 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:27.640 these lush gardens that were filled with like exotic plants 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:31.919 and flowers. The crumbling ruins were replaced with pavilions modeled 0:18:31.920 --> 0:18:35.159 after foreign architecture, and the park was almost something like 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:38.560 from a fairy tale. That was especially true at night, 0:18:38.600 --> 0:18:41.240 when thousands of colored lamps would light up the gardens. 0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:44.320 Speaking of fairytales, one of the park's earliest and most 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:48.320 famous proponents was none other than Hans Christian Anderson. Now. 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:51.240 He visited Tivoti Gardens during its very first season, and 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:55.000 his favorite part was the Chinese pavilion. Anderson was so 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:57.520 inspired by his visit that he wrote an original fairy 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:00.560 tale set in China called The Nightingale, and he used 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:03.520 the Tivoli Gardens pavilion as the model for the Emperor's 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:06.000 Palace and in later years, the park returned the favor 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:10.120 by incorporating Anderson's fairy Tales into its attractions, so guests 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:13.240 that Tivoli Gardens can now watch a stage show based 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:16.400 on the author's work, and even board a dark ride 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:19.840 called the Flying Trunk, which takes riders on a whirlwind 0:19:19.840 --> 0:19:22.439 tour through thirty two of Anderson's fairy Tales. 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:25.000 You know, it's interesting because one of the few things 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:28.200 that I'd heard about Tivoli Gardens before doing this episode 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:31.120 is that it helped inspire the Disney theme parks, which 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:34.120 of course have their own rides based on Anderson's stories. 0:19:34.560 --> 0:19:37.479 Yeah. So Walt actually took a trip to Tivy in 0:19:37.600 --> 0:19:41.760 nineteen fifty one, so just four years before he opened Disneyland, 0:19:41.880 --> 0:19:44.440 and he went there with his good friend and TV 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:47.480 star Art link Letter, and the two of them spent 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:50.160 the day gathering ideas to use in Walt's future park. 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:54.280 According to link Letter, Disney took notes on every aspect 0:19:54.320 --> 0:19:57.040 of Tivli Gardens, And we've heard this about Disney before 0:19:57.040 --> 0:19:59.440