We had ridden past Christiania on our way to Noma yesterday. It’s a hippy commune located on an abandoned 41 hectare military camp, with lots of DIY houses, a small marketplace selling everything from rainbow clothes & jewellery to hashish and dope (no photos please!). The houses range from converted shipping containers to modern timber dwellings and lots of the army buildings have been repurposed as cafes and apartment blocks. I thought there would be more evidence of self-sufficiency, but apart from one wind generator and a lovely raised-bed vegie garden, it all seemed to be kinda suburban, with electricity meters and people bringing their shopping home from the local supermarket. The commune is spread across a couple of canals, with grassy areas for people to sit, and that was lovely, like a little haven in the middle of the busy city.

We found an ice cream shop and had scoop in a waffle cone for morning tea – chocolate for Greg, hazelnut for me … *waves* to our neighbour Hazel!

Next on our list was Nyhavn, a very touristy area along a canal lined with yachts in the water, and restaurants on the waterfront. Hans Christian Anderson lived in several places along this canal. We didn’t bother about going to see the Little Mermaid because we haven’t heard or read anything that has been positive. Everyone reckons she’s too small, overrated and not worth the effort. However we did wander along to Amalienborg Slot, the royal palace where one of Australia’s most famous exports, Princess Mary, lives with her family and other members of the Danish royal family.

By then we’d seen and done as much as we wanted to, so we found a sandwich shop and had lunch. Around $15 for 2 huge filled bread rolls and a small open sandwich with egg, tomato and pieces of some kind of fish.

Eating Waffle cone ice cream in Copenhagen

A bike lane in Copenhagen. A kerb separates the bike lane from the road.

Judy outside a fellow Australians home in Copenhagen, hoping for an invite in from … Princess Mary

the lounge in our apartment in Copenhagen