The old houses along the canal at Nyhamn in Copenhagen. Photo by Robert Corkery.
While we were in Lund and Copenhagen, we were continually teased about living in Stockholm. “Copenhagen is much better. You should move here,” is what everyone from friends to store clerks told us. “Stockholm is boring and too snobby. Yes it’s pretty, but it’s prettier here.” Even people in Lund told us we should move to Copenhagen. It got to be rather funny.
I’ve always thought that the two cities had a different feel, thanks in no small part to Copenhagen’s proximity to the rest of Europe. And while I do love Stockholm, I have always given Copenhagen a slight edge in terms of being more stylish and cool, more willing to talk to a foreigner. But overall, there are a lot of similarities. I guess it’s just always fun to have a poke at your nearest neighbors.
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I often find inter-city rivalry is a one-way street. In an Australian context, I find a lot of people from Melbourne have a bit of a chip on their shoulder about Sydney. “Melbourne’s more cultural, Melbourne’s more European (whatever that means, and is that a good/bad thing?) are the comments you often here. But in Sydney, we don’t feel that way. We generally think Melbourne’s a great place, both cities are good, though they do have shitty weather. In relation to Australia and New Zealand, it seems there’s a bit of angst in NZ about Australia, but in Oz we think NZ is a great place. I wonder if the Copenhagen/Stockholm rivalry might be a one-way street also? Something people in Copenhagen get a bit upset about, but in Stockholm, they don’t seem to care.
James,
Interesting analysis. And perhaps true. But I do hear a lot of Stockholmers making fun of the Danes in all sorts of ways – especially about the Danish language and doing business with them!
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