When hippies grow up

Last night we had cocktails in the very cool bar. The photo is Skye chipping her way into an ice-cube in her drink to find a secret message.

This morning we set out in the mist and fog to make our way to Copenhagen via train.

In Copenhagen we immediately went on a tour of Christiania. Founded in the 1970s as a squatters commune, this area has become renowned for its management by consensus, its graffiti, its weed, its hippy vibe. It’s a fascinating place in every way, not least when you look at how it has evolved as the residents have aged and the mainstream has gradually inserted ideas of ownership, fire standards and so on. In the last year the residents voted to shut down the sales of weed on Pusher Street, at least until weed is legalized. The original emblem of Christiania is three dots – derived from the dots above the i’s on an early sign-post – and it has now been trademarked by the collective. It remains a remarkable and cool place – but I find the story arc as fascinating as the reality.

We had watched a video of Anthony Bourdain in Copenhagen a few days ago. And we were pretty thrilled when Skye realised our guide was one of the people who had shown Bourdain around Christiania.