Last night we made our way into Denmark’s capital: the lively city of Copenhagen. Loïc and I met up with two Québécoises in Jonköping, a neighbouring city to Linköping, in order to pick them up and bring them along to Copenhagen with us. I was in charge of printing out the directions needed to get to Chantal and Sabrina’s place as well as those needed to get to the youth hostel once having crossed the 20 km bridge that links Denmark to Sweden. A simple task, yet I somehow screwed up. In the end, everything turned out fine thanks to maps on the road as well as a laptop with access to unprotected wireless internet connections reachable from Loïc’s relentless Twingo.
We are staying at the Sleep-In Heaven youth hostel. It’s located approximately 20 minutes away from downtown. It’s a relatively busy place, it’s quite colorful and it’s got a great friendly atmosphere. At the moment I’m sitting down on an orange couch, candles are lit on the table in front near my feet, some guys are playing pool behind me and others are taking a break and reading a newspaper on the couch in front of me. The temporary tenants of the hostel seem to come from all four corners of the planet, which is great.
Sleep is wonderful… I can sleep virtually anywhere! I’m staying in a 14 person dorm, which is quite hardcore. I got in around 4h00 in the morning yesterday after a quiet beer in a local pub and a late night photography session, I set up my bed and soon afterwards I found myself in dreamland.
This morning I awoke ready for breakfast buffet, which I had payed for on arrival last night. I was so excited… breakfast buffet! I was so disappointed when I found myself staring at a table with bread and coffee. Grrr I hate false advertising. I took advantage of the fact that it was a buffet to fill myself up for a long day’s walk. No matter how cheap the breakfast was, the girl working at the reception played Bright Eyes on the hostel’s sound system all morning so I couldn’t possibly be mad! I was really impressed with the hostel receptionists’ choice of music. It made the stay so much more enjoyable than it already was.
With our bellies full of bread and coffee we moved into the inner city of Copenhagen. We walked from 10h00 until 19h00… let me tell you that my feet felt like two slabs of raw meet when we got back to the hostel. However the trek was totally worth it. We visited the city’s main tourist attractions armed with our cameras at hand. From gardens and parks to churches and palaces, we did our best to sightsee what the city had to offer in the few hours that we had at our disposal. I think we succeeded quite well at discovering the city of Copenhagen considering that the metropolis englobes 1000 years of history.
One of the most impressive sights of the weekend was definately Christiania, Copenhagen’s independant sub-society of hippies and squatters. The small district houses approximately 800 people, has it’s own government and laws and is known for its popular Pusher Street where hash and weed are openly (more or less) sold. The district, colourful and blooming with creativity, is a beautifully rundown area encouraging openmindness. Vendor stands were present throughout the district, selling all kinds of things from beer to food to clothes to art. There were several expositions to see, most stimulating social awareness. Personally, I thought the quarter was a bit fucked up due to the fact that there were so many tourists (much as myself) walking around in the streets, sometimes with young kids. Christiania is a wierd place… not because of its people, not because of the drugs, not because of the graffitied ruins either. Christiania is kind of a paradox to me… strangely due to the fact that I found myself actually walking, much like all the other tourists, through the district which I would expect no tourists to be allowed to visit. Nevertheless, Christiania was one of the major highlights of the weekend. Below are the only pictures I have of the place. In fact, you’re all pretty lucky to actually see these; taking photographs within Christiania’s walls is strictly forbidden (for some very obvious reasons). Let me tell you that they let me know quite quickly that photography was looked down quite quickly: as I was snapping the last of these three photographs, 4 or 5 passerbys began screaming violently at me.
After our visit of freetown, we made our way back up to Sleep-In Heaven. I couldn’t wait to sink into the wonderful orange couch that I am currently squatting (which can be seen in the photographs of the hostel above). We had cheap pizza for supper tonight. I’m supprised I didn’t get food poisoning (yet)!
After supper Loïc and I headed out to grab a beer in a cute pub closeby. I would kill to have more places like this one in Québec City… it was absolutely perfect. Christmas lights illuminated the walls, the decoration was perfect, the floors and walls were tried and showed extensive history, the music they played was wonderful and set the tone perfectly. Great spot.
Afterwards the pub I went for a walk solo downtown. I made my way to Tivoli square. What I read about Copenhagen is most definately true… this city simply never sleeps. At first I was expecting to discover Stockholm for a second time… I’ve never been so wrong. I got downtown quite late and every hour that passed seemed to bring more people to the streets. People were screaming, laughing, dancing, singing, pissing, barfing in the streets. Seriously, I’ve never seen anything quite lke it; the vibe that this city exudes is beyond anything I’ve experienced before. More to come! Photos on Flickr!
