Dowd adventures in Bologna: Copenhagen, and thoughts by the kids

venerdì 16 agosto 2013

Copenhagen, and thoughts by the kids

Forgot to mention we went to The Blue Planet, which l first thought when Gitte mentioned it, that it was some sort of night club, but in fact it is the recently opened aquarium in Copenhagen. A brand new architectural "look at me building" that did not work. The aquarium is settled alongside the sea in a semi industrial area, and only opened two months ago. there are some teasing problems, some of the animals have not arrived, and the seal enclosure is closed, its hard to get your way around, and there don't seem to be any staff. Compared to the one Hunter and l went to in Lisbon, it is nothing, but that one to me would be a world class one. Still the boys enjoyed looking at the stingrays and sharks, and the odd groper. One interesting site was a man in a wetsuit walking up to the dining area from outside with a speargun and a large fish on it. At first l thought , ohh how clever and interesting way to show the customers the fish is fresh. But no he just went in to get a carton of milk, and then slowly walked through the museum, stopping to ask questions every 5 meters, thankfully it was a large carton of milk. I then thought ohh no this is a clever thing the museum does to create interest in the museum, but no l think it was a solo show, and the fish is for feeding to the sharks!
Hunter commented when we were training through Sweden that all the houses looked like pictures kids do! Which l thought was right on the money. He then later said while in Copenhagen that a-lot of the people looked weird, as we saw lots of punks, drunks, Goth's and modern day creatures.
A trip to Christiania , an area that was once a military base, and was evacuated in the seventies. Soon after people began moving in to some of the buildings and living there, and for many many years the water and electricity was supplied for free. After awhile people then began building their own original style of housing, obviously without building codes. And there is a famous alley, known as hash alley, that vendors set up small tables with hash, dope etc, under umbrellas, and sell it , in full view of passing police meter's away. But there l believe was a sensible decision to leave them alone, better to know where they are! And so anyone can go in, and buy hash etc, but there are no hard drugs, it is something even the people of Christiania want to stop. There is a sort of community council that runs the place, and you cant just go in and build now, you need to get permission, and you also pay rent and utilities. The area has a central park and walk area, and anybody can enter, though it is forbidden to take photos in hash alley. They have their own used hardware store, supermarket, more bio and natural than most, bars, cafes, etc. There is a famous Christiania bike that is higher than most and is very expensive, which is interesting as everyone seems to have one there. Apparently there are people who have been living there for 20,30 years who work in the city in offices, but just like the lifestyle of Christiania.
When we took the boys there, especially down hash alley, they became very anxious about the shady characters. Ewan was very upset, as he said , but dad they are breaking the law, and drugs are bad why don't they get arrested and go to jail? Hard to answer that, but l explained it was better to keep them in one place, and these drugs where not the worst kind.
Thankfully we found a playground with a flying fox, and all was forgotten.
This place is a large tourist attraction, more for the student groups, but still it is important, and though many governments say they are going to clean it up, they all in the end realize its best to leave it, and let it grow the way it has. It is an interesting experiment in how governments have let people do what they want , and they have set up a village style community that works, and makes money. Of course the land they live on is nearly in the center of Copenhagen, and so is very valuable, especially when you see some houses looking out over the lake.
Now we did not visit the little mermaid, or walk along the canals, visit Mary in the castle, or climb the round tower, but the boys loved it so much and are desperate to return it is good we have left something else besides a revisit to Tivoli for next time. And though their transport system is very good, they have just started building a metro line around the center that will be finished in 8 years, which will dramatically improve the transport. That said you could imagine it becoming a car-less city then, as most Danes ride bikes, it is a great site, helmets are not compulsory, and there is racks everywhere. They have great bike locks on the back wheel, that should be on every bike all over the world, though in Italy they just steal the whole bike. You can hire bikes, as in Melbourne, but no helmet is required, which makes sense as most people are tourists, and it seems to me that tourists don't carry bike helmets. The other positive thing is all the Danes look great, long legs, blond hair, olive skin, it has to have something to do with riding a bike. You can see the viking in them, nothing better than a six foot stunning blonde girl riding by on a bike and smiling at you. I love the place!!!