July 26, 2003 - Happy Birthday MOM!
It is 7:00 at night. I am in the process of cooking dinner and writing notes. I am just trying to remember what we did today. My mind has been frustrated with these phones again. I also can't read the instructions to my dinner. They are in Swedish. I will just assume it is like the pasta dinners at home. A little bit of water and cook!
Anyways, I probably don't remember what I did because I didn't do much. Laurie and I caught the 10:13 train from Norrkopping to Malmo. We caught the next train about 5 minutes later to Copenhagen, Denmark. I thought we had to take a ferry from Sweden to Denmark, but a bridge was built to get us there.
My first impression of Copenhagen wasn't the greatest. It seemed dirtier than the other cities we have been in. We found our way to the tourist information center. The place was big, but it was packed with people. Since it was so busy it was also trashed from people leaving stuff all over. We had to wait about 20 minutes in line before we got help. We found out how to get to the hostel. This was the first time that we just couldn't walk there. We had to catch a train and then a bus and then a 5 minute walk.
Before we did that we had to go to the money exchange place. We still had Swedish money, so we had to exchange for Danish Kroners.
I didn't like exchanging 350 Kroners and only getting 287 back. I knew this wouldn't be enough, so I had to find an ATM to get more money.
We knew our hostel was away from everything so we had to take care of these things first. It was about 4:30 by the time we arrived at the hostel. This hostel is part of the Youth Hostels. Not all hostels are. This hostel looked very institutional. It has 528 beds. The hallways look like a high school. All beds were filled! There were lots of families that were here with very young and wild children. Laurie called them "pukes". Some kids were very good.
Our room held five beds. I met one girl that was from Canada. She and her husband have been traveling for eleven months and they were almost done. I felt bad that they couldn't get a room together. The rooms are not coed in most hostels.
It has now stopped raining. It started soon after we arrived at the hostel. Laurie and I are going to take a walk in search of a phone.
July 27, 2003
Today's walk included "Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll" without the Rock and Roll.
After Laurie and I took the Metro to Use It, we walked to a museum called Museum Erotica. I am not going to go into detail. It might offend some readers. It did have a lot of paintings and items displaying erotic art that went back to the 4th century. They had a good tribute to Marilyn Monroe.
The next place Laurie and I raced to was Christiania. There was a walking tour at 3:00. We had to walk very fast so we wouldn't miss it.
Christiania is a section of Christianshaven that was over taken in 1971 by squatters that wanted a "free state". It was a place the hippies went to live. It was known for their open hashish market which is still in operation today. Our guide, originally American, has lived there about 25 years, off and on. He said he taught at various times and in various places, so I know he was educated. Though, it did seem that when he talked he seemed, not necessarily under the influence of hashish, but that he had been effected over time. He was interesting and the place was interesting, but not the place I would chose to settle down. There is a street called "Pusher Street", where there are tent booths, like a fair, where they have their wares displayed for sale. Before we enter the street, there are signs all over that say you are not allowed to take pictures. Even though the practice of the open market has been accepted, it is still illegal. Walking down the street while the aroma of pot and hashish drifted in the air was an experience.
Even though pot and hashish is sold, the people of Christiania are against "hard drugs" and will ask those people to leave their community. The community consists of 250 children, 740 adults, and 300 dogs. He said that they do have rules and one rule is that dogs have to be in when the sun goes down. I guess in the summertime the dogs are out till late.
The place was originally a military camp and it had been abandoned. The houses seem old and not kept up very well. There is a lot of graffitti and painted murals. Most of the people that migrated there were the artsy hippies. Many have kids and most of the kids are between 7-10. There were nursery schools, kindergartens, and after school programs there, but had to go to the city for primary and secondary schools.
When Laurie and I walked out, I noticed there was a young kid standing by an entrance with a walkie-talkie. He must have been a guard. Christiania is the third largest tourist attraction in Copenhagen. I don't know where the museum Erotic ranks, but you can see that Sex and Drugs are the curiousity of everyone.
One thing I have noticed everywhere are bikes. There are large areas for bikes to be parked and many people ride. It is very flat here. However, most of the bike racks look like they are graveyards for old bikes. It seems that most people have old fashion, no frill and rusted bikes. I guess maybe they don't want good ones for the city. There are free bikes that the city supplies for people to use, which I think is quite nice.
We are back at the hostel. A group of about 50 kids came in. There is smoking allowed in the common area and I can smell the smoke. I have noticed that in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark a lot of people smoke and people can smoke in public areas. That is one thing that I don't like and have a hard time with.
