27-29 Jul 2019 DAYS 1 -3 Copenhagen Denmark

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Arrived into Copenhagen mid afternoon to a hot 29deg day. A 25 hr trip but pretty good & not too tired & then a short train ride to our starting point accommodation, the Hotel Cabinn City, a little bit basic & no AC. Apart from a supermarket trip, no time for a city walk before an evening briefing and a meet-up with the rest of the group. The tour has a full group of 12 supported by a leader/guide. The group dynamic is very diverse in age, gender and geographic home & a group dinner was a nice way to get to know everyone. Some will only do stages of the tour and we will pickup new people along the way.

Another hot day expected and we started with a morning bike tour around the wide bike-friendly streets of Copenhagen passing grand palaces, royal residences, many museums and churches and the colourful waterfront houses along the Nyhavn Canal. These magnificent structures remain a legacy of 17th and early 18th century prosperity through trade.

After lunch a local guide took us around Freetown Christiania enclave & what I perceived to be a somewhat bizarre social experiment. A derelict military base became a self-proclaimed autonomous neighbourhood which has amazingly been allowed to exist since 1971. At the time, poor or marginalised elements of the youth rebellion movements all had a common problem, being a lack of affordable housing. They eventually took over the whole base & surrounds and then held off efforts to displace them.

Once their housing issue was eased their creativity talents were able to be fully developed & is now a fully functional self-supporting community without crime or hard drugs & operates with broad egalitarian & conservation principles. It was fascinating to see.

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Photos

Carlsberg Glyptotek
Magnificent benevolent art museum donation by the founder of the Carlsberg brewery

Our Saviour’s Church
17 th Century with 400. Step spire with serpent relief.

Christiania Pusher St
Small st around yellow lantern area where all types of cannabis related products are traded. Unable to b e filmed as still illegal & often raided by police.