Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Dollars and sense

Couldn't resist adding this picture of Kevin.

In planning to move to Copenhagen, one of the most common things we heard was how expensive it is to live here. Last year Copenhagen ranked as the 5th most expensive city in the world. I thought I'd give some perspective from our experience...

Our first impression is that many things cost at least twice what we paid in Houston. That includes food and other consumeables, restaurant meals, clothes, and gasoline ($6.00/gal). So, we weren't surprised to find that the equivalent to Kevin's prescription cat food cost twice what it did in Houston (and we thought it was pricey there).
There are exceptions. For example, dairy products are more in line with prices we're used to. Prices include 25% "moms" which is the Value Added Tax common in Europe.

Rents are much higher than Houston, but probably comparable to New York (though less than Manhattan). Of course, Houston is a city with very low cost-of-living in comparison to most cities in the US. We haven't had any utility bills yet, but I understand water and electricity are both significantly more expensive.

Overall we've had to adjust our expectations and now after a few weeks we find ourselves excited at the prospect of a $3.00 (equivalent) box of strawberries or a $40.00 sweater (on sale).

We're not in any way complaining. It seems that the high prices are just part of the whole system and can't be looked at in isolation. I may try to mull this over in a later post. In essence, millions of people are living here quite comfortably (and stylishly) despite the high retail costs. Other angles to consider are the availability of free health care, free (or subsidized) education, and substantial retirement benefits, which free up income that would otherwise (in the US) be spent or saved to pay for these expenses now or in the future.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Our neighborhood

The apartment building we're in is on a pedestrian street near the center of Copenhagen. Our block contains some of the few new buildings in this part of town. The building has apartments on the top two floors and houses a theatre, a health spa, and the Japanese embassy on the lower floors. There's also a roof deck which is nice for eating or enjoying sunny days.
Around the corner is the Rundetaarn and attached Trinitatis Kirke which last week celebrated it's 350 year jubilee. Not too far away is another pedestrian street with a square that often has street performers (at least during tourist season) and produce/flower stalls.

The Stroget, a major pedestrian shopping street, runs through the former city market square. During shopping hours in nice weather it's wall-to-wall people.
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Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Pictures

In an effort to please our reader, I mean "readers" here are some pictures I took on my interview trip in April. Unfortunately, I did not keep the UBS cable away from the movers who packed it with the sea freight. Right now it's probably in the Houston port awaiting departure tomorrow on a slow boat. I'll try to track something down locally.

In the meantime . . .

This is a 17th century palace with beautiful grounds two blocks from our current apartment. During the recent good weather many Danes have soaked up the sun on the lawn. This photo is from April with the crocuses in full bloom.

The little mermaid (I like the Danish name: "lille halvfrue" = "the little half-woman") is located north of the Maersk office on the waterfront.



















Nyhavn is a popular area for enjoying life in Copenhagen, sitting at a cafe and people-watching.

Will try to post more later.

We're here

Well, here it is, an attempt at a weblog. I'll try to keep this up for a few weeks and see how it goes. I'm happy to hear any comments or suggestions. Hopefully, this will be a relatively easy and unobtrusive way to keep family and friends up to date without filling your email boxes with lots of unwanted notes. Please don't hold back from contacting us directly - we love to hear your news.

Today marks two weeks in Copenhagen. The move went smoothly so far, although our sea freight is still several weeks from delivery. The cats are here and seem no worse for the plane flight.

Life here is truly a change from Houston, in some ways a model of urban planning. We're having a car shipped over, but now we're not sure what we'll do with it. Our place is in the city center with easy access by train, subway, or bus to all parts of the city and most parts of the country.

We've stayed close to Copenhagen, just taking a day trip to Dragor and another trip to the beach. Mostly we've tried to be outside in our free time with the wonderful (and unusual - I'm told) weather. There are three beautiful parks within easy walking distance of our location that fill up with sun-worshipping Danes when the weather is good.

I'll try to post more (with pictures) in a few days.