Copenhagen – Same, same, but different

After 7 cities in 10 days, we had officially perfected the standard condensed European city walking tour. We left the boat for the last time Monday morning and had the entire day in Copenhagen before our flight back to reality later that afternoon.

First stop, the main train station to drop off our luggage, then past Tivoli park, down the main pedestrian street (with a quick stop for an overpriced coffee in one of the countless cafes), a hard right towards the river in search of the old harbor (followed by 3 hard lefts – we apparently missed it by a few blocks), lunch in the old harbor, a drive-by of the town hall, a view of the opera house in the distance…

And then we crossed the river, through the looking glass, into the borough of Christianshavn. In a mere 3 blocks were found ourselves in the hippie, shanty town of Christiania, located in the middle of the island. Talk about a completely different world compared with the past 9 days. Imagine a commune of punks, hippies, and rockers all living together in a make shift shanty town that was previously old military barracks. The “town” had plenty of make-shift bars, BBQ “restaurants” and all the weed money could buy. While not dissimilar to certain parts of Berkeley, Santa Cruz or Humbolt, it was shocking to see it in the middle of a European city. Christiania was hands down the most unique thing I saw the whole trip, which is sad considering the culture, history and cuisine each city had to offer…clearly my perceptions are a bit off.

Time for a new dose of reality.