Travel diaries: Copenhagen {1}

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During my time off uni in February my boyfriend and I took a trip to Denmark, Copenhagen to be exact. Denmark has always had a special place in my heart since I was a kid, when my 8-year-old eyes locked themselves on a picture from my older brother's geography book, a picture of colourful façades sitting along a canal filled with boats and towered by red-and-white flags blowing in the wind. I have since learned that not all of Denmark looks like that (duh), and that that place is a actually a relatively small area in Copenhagen that goes by the name of Nyhavn (New Harbour) – nevertheless, I still have a sort of fascination with the country, and I had been wanting to visit the capital for a very long time.

We took a very early bus (or very late, depending on the way you look at it), some time around 2AM, from Nottingham to London Luton. After a rather short and uneventful flight we were greeted by an unexpected sunny weather, so we didn't waste time and started exploring right away.


The view from our window.


View from the top of Christiansborg Palace.


While we were there we decided to take a boat tour of the city's canals and harbours, essentially a one-hour cruise which took us all the way from Gammel Strand and along numerous major sights, including Christiansborg Slot, Christianshavn, the Royal Library, the Opera House, Amalienborg Palace and, of course, the Little Mermaid – though we couldn't really see her properly from the boat. Finally, we were dropped off at Nyhavn, the picturesque harbour which I mentioned before.


We also took a stroll around Christiania, the "hippie freetown" located on one of the islands which is both an anomaly and a centre of controversy. In the 1970s the district was claimed as a free city, free of taxes and run by their own laws, and since then it has remained one of the cultural hotspots for alternatives and outcasts (and the place to go for illicit traffic of drugs). Perhaps it was not the right day or the right season, but I've got to say I was a bit disappointed by it: the place was essentially an abandoned luna park covered in graffiti, with grey warehouses and locked-down huts and a pungent stench of weed and burnt plastic. For that reason we didn't spend much time there, however it was still nice to take a look. I don't have many pictures because taking photos is not actually allowed inside the area, because "buying and selling hash is still illegal" according to a sign at the entrance.






I will leave it at this for now. Stay tuned to read more about our trip – coming up are our visit to Rosenborg castle and some bits from Copenhagen Fashion Festival!



Copenhagen Travel Diaries series:
Part 2: Rosenborg Castle
Part 3: Copenhagen Fashion Festival

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