We're an unhappy breed and very bored indeed

Lots of stale election-themed filler material from the archives on the telly, tarted up with vapid computer graphics, the BBC's political gossip columnist Nick Robinson hyperventilating about trivia so dull that I can't remember a word of it, constant reminders that whoever wins, the economy's already screwed for the foreseeable, "swingeing" cuts ahead, blah, blah, blah. There's apparently a lot of a political "vision" about, but it's about as exciting and inspirational as the vision of a weed-covered shopping trolley pointlessly sunk in your local canal.

Makes you want to up sticks and go live somewhere else. This is only anecdotal, but Denmark sounds a lot better:

Copenhagen is, quite simply, stunning. One of the most beautiful cities I've ever visited. Not only is it an architectural dream, with its thousands of amazing constructions (both old and new), it is also an urban planner's paradise, with a fantastically organised layout, spaces, parks, cycle lanes.

You're immediately blown away by how clean and well-kept everything is. Perhaps I was lucky, but I think I only noticed one dogshit in five days, and that includes parks....

The first thing that strikes you in Copenhagen is calm and tranquility. Denmark must be the one country I've visited with the lowest volume of traffic I've ever seen in my life. Whether it's a weekday, rush hour or the weekend, there are very very few cars around. It's almost like when you watch a documentary of Britain (or any other Western country) in the 1960s.


This trip confirmed that stereotypes are just an enormous pile of bollocks. That old crap that Scandinavians are distant and unfriendly? Balls. Sure, you can't judge over a few days, but then we must have been quite lucky because everywhere we went people were extremely friendly, courteous and helpful.

The old chit chat with shop assistants or staff, which is so unusual amongst the supposedly caliente Spaniards, seems to be the order of the day in Copenhagen. The same with "have a good day", "enjoy your day" and similar expressions. From the grottiest shop to department stores, it looks like routine behaviour. Think of the friendliest establishment in England applied on a wider scale.

As soon as you arrive at the airport and look around for directions (there are both metro and trains taking you to whichever destination directly from there), staff will be on hand to offer help and advice. In our case a very nice chap came over to us and offered help.

Another thing that happened straightaway was that, as we got off the metro taking us into town from the airport, there was a man who left an empty bag on the train and made for the exit door. Immediately another bloke pulled him up on that and sure enough the man apologised, collected his rubbish and then got off the train. Interesting....
We did not spot a single beggar or homeless person. Again, I'm sure they exist, but go to London, Milan, Barcelona or Paris and count the seconds until you see one. In five days travelling the length and breadth of Copenhagen we didn't see any at all.

The Danes will tell you that they pride themselves on being an "egalitarian" society. Their percentage of workers on low pay is amongst the lowest in the EU and their system of flexicurity (that is, easy to hire and fire but with extremely generous safety nets that include unemployment benefits at up to 80 per cent of your last wage) seems to be working alright. Their current unemployment rate stands at 4,2% with the country left virtually unscathed by the global crisis.

Travelogue courtesy of "Hagley Road to Ladywood".