Hej(Hello in Danish),
It is a big week here in England. The umbilical chord that has been stretched from Fondy to London is going to get a little reprieve. Cathy, Jane +1, and Jobina land on Thursday for 12 days of adventure. Ann is all smiles from head to toe. It is Jane and Jobina's first trip abroad as well, so we can't wait to see their excitement. I have to make a quick trip to Warsaw, Poland tomorrow to Wednesday night for work, but I shall be back for the arrival on Thursday!!!
Ann and I spent this last weekend in Copenhagen. We have heard incredible things from many people, so it has been on our short list. It is definitely a unique city. It is known as one of the most environmentally friendly cities(perplexing since there is trash everywhere) as well as boasting that almost 40% of its population commutes to work or school by bicycle. I have never in my life seen so many bikes. It is awesome. They advertise that there are over 2000 free bikes as well throughout the city, but good luck finding one. We searched everywhere we went. Finally, on Sunday, with like 2 hours before we had to go to the airport, we finally found 2 of these elusive bikes. We were all excited and go to get on them, and the damn things didn't even have chains on them. So much for biking in Copenhagen!!! There is a pic of Ann below in one of the many seas of bikes. The city's origin is as a harbour town as well, so they built these amazing canals and island communities in the 17th century to create commerce. It is also rich with naval history since the Danes have always prided themselves as a seafaring people. Just a quick side story here. We were on this tour on Saturday and there was a navy destroyer anchored in their main harbour. We came to find out that this modern warfare destroyer was the pride of their navy when it was built. Well, soon after its commissioning, it accidentally fired a missile into a village in Northern Denmark and did some serious damage. Consequently, the ship was decommissioned and the captain sought early retirement!!! Anyway, Copenhagen is also a memorial to Hans Christian Anderson, the poet who penned "The Little Mermaid" and "The Ugly Duckling" among many others. One of the most talked about attractions is actually a statue of a mermaid on one of the islands in the harbor. We took a great boat tour on Saturday that took us by the mermaid, and I will have to say that it was one of the most anticlimactic experiences that I had. The boat tour was incredible though and certainly one of our highlights. There was one island that housed most of the Danish Navy's facilities until 1993, places where they used to build their subs and torpedoes, and the buildings have now been converted into offices and homes. It was really cool to see. Their main canal into the city center is called Nyhavn, or New Harbour, and it was dug by prisoners in the 17th century. It is lined by these wonderfully colorful buildings that were mostly bars and brothels for the sailors when they came into port. They are now restaurants and shops that line the canal.
I have to dedicate a whole paragraph to the food and drink because it was amazing. The Scandinavians and Danes specifically love brunch. I never realised this, but the word "Smorgasbord" is a Scandinavian expression. On Sunday, we went to a very traditional Danish restaurant in Nyhavn called Cap Horn for Brunch. The meal consisted of a pancake(more crepe), a bowl of yougurt and muesli with syrup, a piece of passion fruit and pineapple, smoked salmon on salad with an herb creme cheese, and also a small bowl of eggs with chorizo sausage topped with 2 slices of bacon. It was delicious. On Saturday morning, we went to a great little sidewalk cafe called Europa which had a similar ensemble of food. After touring all morning, we found a little floating restaurant on one of the canals and had a fantastic lunch. We started with a fresh spring salad of lettuce, tomatoe, watermelon and feta. What a great combination. We then has a piece of fresh cod and potatoes. It was by far the best cod that I have ever had. Most importantly, Copenhagen is home to Carlsberg beer, so that was a great complement to all of our meals. After we had walked and toured ourselves out on Saturday afternoon, we found this awesome cocktail bar called Saloon 39 or now El Floridita. It was inspired from the original El Floridita in Havana, Ernest Hemingway's favorite bar. They also serve his favorite drinks there, mainly daiquiris. If you are thinking of the fruity concoction that we now call a daiquiri, you could not be further from the truth. These things were powerful, which made sense since Hemingway loved Absinthe. Saturday night, we found a quaint little restaurant off of the beaten path called Fru Heiberg. I had muscles and they were extraordinary. To top off our culinary adventure, Copenhagen is known for their hotdog street vendors. We were able to find room for one before we left for the airport on Sunday. It was well worth the wait and about the only reasonably priced thing in Copenhagen;)
As you can see from the title, I have addressed everything but the marijuana. So, there is an area in Copenhagen called Christiania. It is also known as Freetown Christiania, a self-proclaimed commune of hippies. It was established in 1971 after a group of hippies took over a former military installation. They built a community of about 1000 people and have never left. Apparently, there has been a lot of controversy through the years about legal enforcement, but for the most part, the city and state has let it continue to exist without much regulation. These hippies are completely free to smoke and sell hash and weed all day long. You can go back into this area and tour, and this is how they make most of their money from selling anything from shirts with their flag on it, to anything hemp, and they probably have one of the best bong selections that I have ever seen. Most lucratively speaking though, you can buy any type of hash or weed imaginable. They just have these tables set up and bricks of hash laying out to be cut. It is a very surreal experience. The whole place just reeked of pot, as it should since most people that we walked past were smoking huge blunts. It is very hard to describe. If you have a chance, you should google it. They did strictly enforce no cameras, so that is the one thing that they were adamant about, but you can see some pictures on google images of some of the unique shacks and elaborate graffiti.
Well, I suppose those were the main highlights from the weekend. It was another great trip and another reminder of how incredibly lucky we are to be seeing the world. I will be here in London next weekend holding down the fort while the girls head to Paris and Rome. As always, we will keep you posted with our activities and pics.
Farvel
Kevin and Ann
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