Copenhagen

August 27, 2009, Friday
Copenhagen

Another picture perfect day and we were up early and out to the sightseeing bus. We have a two day pass which allows us to do touristy thing in the city and we spent today traveling around to see what all there is to see. I was determined to see Christiania, the hippie city within the city of Copenhagen. This city came into being when a group of “hippies” took over an abandoned area that had house the military and they staged a sit-in of sorts and finally the city just let them squat and they have set up a whole community. Photos are not supposed to be taken but I managed to sneak a couple of shots. Mostly the community is just dirt paths and brick buildings that contain businesses and places where people live. There is all manor of drug paraphernalia on sale and posters advocating legalization of marijuana. Since Jean collects decks of cards, I bought her a deck where the backs are displaying a beautiful marijuana leaf!! I wonder if our naïve little friend will recognize it!!

People and dogs galore are sprawled everywhere and most are drinking beer and smoking. I only caught one small whiff of marijuana and so I was a bit disappointed but….. Every building was covered with graffiti in many colors and actually it is quite a festive look. They have a stage and pavilion and I wonder if they have rock concerts. There was music blasting from most buildings and most of it was music from the 60’s and 70’s. The majority of people hanging around were older, although few were from the flower child generation. It was definitely worth seeing.

I found no-nut, no-weird stuff bread and I may now survive!! There just isn’t much food except bread and if you don’t like their strange bread, you are in trouble!! For breakfast I made a ham sandwich with the HOTTEST mustard I’ve run across!! No lunch because we were on the bus and for dinner we had the usual tiny casserole dish, tonight half full of mixed vegetables in a rice with some sort of sweetish sauce and a piece of chicken that was approximately 3 inches long by ½ inch wide and no thicker than a slice of thick bacon!! You fill in with bread, sliced tomatoes, cold green beans and carrots and for dessert, you get cheese and wasa brod type crackers. Seriously bad food!!

Prices: a small glass of house brand white wine is $13, a small bottle of water is $5 and a small bottle of coke or ginger ale is $5. Life here is good but it is expensive. I find it better to just get whatever I want and try not to think about the price!!