April Snow in Copenhagen

Easter in Europe comes with a 4 day weekend, so as per usual long weekends, we wanted to take a trip. This time we decided to try Copenhagen out. What was meant to be a sunny spring road trip to Denmark with our friends Kristina and Ilona turned into a snowy journey to the happiest place on earth.

We left from work on Thursday evening and hit the road.  Once we crossed the German boarder the snow flakes started falling and eventually we pulled off the road where we found ourselves at a cozy hotel just north of Hamburg.  And let me tell you, this place was the best because it had a bowling ally! The other guests must have been crazy, because we were the only ones taking advantage of this colorful gem.  It was rad!

The next day we woke up bright and early and got back on the road headed even further north.  Copenhagen was very cold and snowy on Friday so that made it hard to explore.  We only saw one attraction before we threw in the towel, and that was Christiania.

The Freetown of Christiania is a self-governing neighborhood in Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital city, where the people actually live freely.

Chritiania was created in 1971, and consists of the old Bådsmandsstræde Barracks and parts of the city ramparts. After the barracks were abandoned by the military, the area was simply taken over by the locals in the surrounding neighborhoods, as a playground for their children. This was actually a protest against the Danish government of that time, started by the article written by journalist, Jacob Ludvigsen. He declared:

The objective of Christiania is to create a self-governing society whereby each and every individual holds themselves responsible over the well-being of the entire community. Our society is to be economically self-sustaining and, as such, our aspiration is to be steadfast in our conviction that psychological and physical destitution can be averted.

Today, about 800 people live in Christiania (600 adults and 200 children). There are 50 businesses, like bars, cafés, workshops and even a restaurant with 2 Michelin-stars! The inhabitants of Christiania practice meditation and Yoga, but are also passionate about doing light drugs like marijuana or skunk weed. They’ve developed their own set of rules, independent from the Danish law. These rules forbid violence, stealing, knives, guns, bikers’ colors and the use of hard drugs. Other than this, pretty much anything else is allowed.

An important part of the Freetown is the Green Light District, which is a row of streets where it is possible to buy soft drugs (hash, weed and already made joins) from pretty weird people. The danish police never come in Christiania and even if they do, everything disappears in a few seconds.

Often referred to as ‘losers paradise’, because of the number of homeless,vagabonds and jobless people who find a sanctuary here,  not to mention the young people who come here to buy and do drugs, Christiania is truly a unique place. Until 2004, the commerce of marijuana and other light drugs was permitted, but since then, the Danish government has taken action and tried to forbid it. That led to a series of protests and riots, leaving the situation in a sort of limbo.

Surrounded by controversy, due to its set of permissive laws, Christiania is a unique place in the world, and something you can’t see anywhere outside Copenhagen.

The next days of our trip were much nicer weather, so we took advantage by eating delicious food, seeing the Louisiana Modern Art Museum, exploring the harbour and shopping fabulous Danish products. 

Eating dinner at a seafood restaurant on the Harbour.

Breakfast at The Laundromat Cafe.

The Louisiana Modern Art Museum

The museum has the best sea views!

Enjoying the Harbour.

Above everything we experienced in Copenhagen, meeting the friendly Danish people was the best.  On Easter, we wondered into a wine bar and started to make ourselves comfortable when we noticed that everyone was looking at us and the place went a bit silent.  We quickly realized that the family owned wine bar was hosting their annual Easter gathering at that moment and we had just crashed their private party.  When they explained this to us, we stood up and began bundling up in our jackets, apologizing for interrupting... but they stopped us from leaving and asked us to join them.  It turned out to be the funnest night; meeting new friends, great wine and a dance party!  Thanks to the Danish for making us feel so welcome!!!