Goodbye Copenhagen

The last thing Laura and I did while in Copenhagen was to visit the local hippie commune, Christiania. It was founded in 1971, and we had heard it was a venerable example of community togetherness and free-spirited living worthy of a sightseeing stroll. It turned out, however, to be perhaps the nastiest, seediest piece of earth I have ever strolled across, which is amazing given the fact that Copenhagen is an otherwise exceedingly clean and beautiful city. It was absolutely covered in garbage and seemed to have nothing to offer but the sale of chintzy drug paraphernalia. (Soft drugs were "tolerated" there until 2004, at which time the government started cracking down...probably because the place is a train wreck.) As a result, we have no pictures. You're not missing anything.

The pictures we do have are some aerial photos of Copenhagen I took from the winding tower of the Vor Frelsers Kirke ("Yet Another Church", at right) that is located right outside Christiania in the Christianshavn neighborhood of town. The difference between the two neighborhoods is like night and day. In the aerial photo below, you can't see Christiania's filth because it is buried beneath the trees.



Here you see a nice city skyline, including the Marble Church at upper right.



Finally, you can see the waterfront of Christianshavn pretty well in this one.



Laura and I enjoyed Copenhagen very much. As I wrote in the first post, it was a very regal- and proud-looking city. I also feel that the public transportation in Copenhagen, particularly to the suburbs, is unmatched in its style and comfort compared to anywhere else we've been in Europe. It was a nice visit!