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We arrived in Copenhagen around noon and were impressed to see hundreds of sailboats all around the long harbor entrance. It is Saturday today and the weather is good, so it’s a “perfect storm” for sailors to get out and sail!
Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark and its most populous city. It includes a large number of bridges and tunnels that connect the city together and promenades and waterfronts primarily characterize the cityscape.
It was originally a Viking fishing village founded in the 10th century and became the capital of Denmark in the beginning of the 15th century.
The museums, castles and public buildings are significant and the wealth and tradition here is undeniable. We enjoyed our tour and the continued good weather we’ve been enjoying on the cruise.
Our tour today is called “Copenhagen by Sea” which included a coach tour highlight of the city and then a ride on a boat to see the city via the network of canals. We were once again impressed with the beauty of another old Scandinavian city. The history in this area is fairly co-mingled – lots of fighting amongst themselves (primarily in the Viking days) and then binding together to fight against other aggressors (Germany).
We found out that Copenhagen is home to “Christiania” also known as “Freetown Christiania”. Christiania has been a source of controversy since some “hippies” created it by taking over or “squatting” in an abandoned military barracks area back in 1971. Authorities tolerated its cannabis trade until 2004 and since then there are regular conflicts with the inhabitants of this “Freetown” and negotiations are ongoing. We went by this area during our canal cruise and later, back on the ship, heard a hard rock concert that went on for many hours and was very loud!
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