Vikings, Canals and Pusher Street!

WELL HI! It's a little late, but here's the lowdown on this past Wednesday!

One of the things I love about DIS thus far (other than the 5 kroner cappuccino machines on every floor!) is the aforementioned lack of Wednesday classes! Like I mentioned, this makes for both fun Tuesday nights and completely open Wednesdays, which will be great for traveling and such. Professors sometimes use Wednesdays for field trips, and this past week I had two of them!

At 10 am, our Nordic Mythology class met at the National Museum. We traveled back in time all the way through the Stone, Bronze, and Iron ages! I took a few good pictures (most were iffy, so I won't post all of them):

I forget what he was called, but isn't he great? :)

Viking horns

Fancy jewelry and coins

And, of course, the WEAPONS!

Overall, the museum was pretty cool! I honestly know nothing about the Viking age or Nordic mythology, so this is all new for me. I may have appreciated it more had I been more familiar with the history, but this was a good start! They had several preserved skeletons and examples of traditional dress as well, but my pictures didn't turn out well. My favorite room may have been the "Room of Gold," which, as the title implies, is FILLED with varying gold coins, jewelry, and other lovely and SHINY things! Our professor mentioned that the museum forewent organizing the gold by time period or location in favor of grouping it all together to make a giant room of gold. This bothered him, but I kinda liked it :)

After our museum tour, my friend Colleen and I had about an hour and a half to kill before our next field trip with our Danish Language and Culture class (we happened to have both of these classes together)! We spent it doing this:

We wandered through the gardens in front of the Royal Library (there were a few painting classes going on!) and sat right on the canal, fed the ducks, and ate lunch! Hour and a half very well spent!

Then, it was time for our tour of Christiania!

Our goofy guide! He was too cool!

I still really can't UNDERSTAND Christiania, so it'll be even harder to explain it! It's technically a free state within Copenhagen (similar to a Native American Reservation in the States?) so they operate under their own laws and even have their own currency, but still pay taxes and such. Here's a picture of the laws they have enacted thus far:

No weapons, no hard drugs, no violence, no private cars, no bullet-proof vests (ha!), no stolen goods, etc.

Originally founded as a social experiment, Christiania is an essentially socialist society in which people work together to create a smoothly running commune. Our guide explained that common jobs, such as plumbing, garbage pick-up, etc., are all volunteer-based! Somehow, everything gets done! People work as blacksmiths, wood carvers, bike mechanics, carpenters, and other such jobs that they enjoy. There are no cars allowed, so everyone walks, bikes, or runs to wherever they need to go within the area. EVERYTHING is colorful, even the rocks and the dumpsters!

They're way into recycling and living a sustainable lifestyle, so you see signs like this a lot:

:)

And people like this:

They were WAY into posing!

As soon as the locals noticed that we were clearly tourists and clearly American, they started posing for all of our pictures! Afterward, as we continued walking, the locals began (mockingly) taking pictures of us! Of course, we played along and posed as goofy tourists (wish I had pictures, but I'm sure you can imagine!).

Now, the interesting part: There is a street that runs right down the middle of Christiania on which...marijuana and hash are sold?!? Right out in the open, displayed out on tables, and in multiple forms! Cameras weren't allowed on this street (for obvious reasons) but I hope you can picture a street of tables blatantly full of marijuana for sale. Our guide explained to us that in Christiania they freely use and sell marijuana and hash (no hard drugs, those were outlawed long ago), but that every now and then the police come through and raid it. However, he made sure to mention that the locals are very good at hiding their products, and as soon as the police are gone, back out go the tables :)

In addition to Pusher street (real name!), Christiania attracts tourists with its beautiful lake and plant life, artsy shops and awesome murals:

(Ignore the back of Colleen's head!)

My camera ran out of batteries about 3/4 of the way through the day, so I didn't get pictures of the blacksmith or cycle shops! Don't worry, all the more reason for me to return :) I LOVED Christiania! Everyone seemed very happy and content with leading a simple life, and it seemed to be a great opportunity for artists to pursue what they love for a living. There are also great cafes and show venues (Bob Dylan played at Christiania at some point!) as well as a large flea market. Apparently, there is a GREAT Christmas show and market in December, which you know I'll be attending!

I couldn't get enough of the graffiti!

After our tour, three friends and I made our way through the flea market, bought some postcards, and headed towards another church tower that desperately needed to be climbed! The Church of Our Saviour (Danish: Vor Frelsers Kirke) has a cool looking spiral tower, and takes 398 steps to reach the top!

Again, I cheated and got this picture here :)

From left to right: George, Dan, Me, and Sarah!

Yay! We made it!

It was MUCH higher than the Round Tower we climbed the other day, and a little more nerve-wracking once we got close to the top! Of course, it ended with a beautiful view and was well worth the climb and expense :)

All in all, it was a great day full of wonderful experiences and solid bonding time!

Thanks for reading :) Now for the finale...