Scandinavia 24 Weird bridge.

From there we walked around more of the general area. We saw a pair of white swans with 2 cygnets, half grown with gray fuzzy feathers. We also saw the circle bridge mentioned earlier. It consists of 5 circles, each with a tall pole (mast) and cables from the top down to the edges of the circle. Unfortunately, it was under construction/repair, and we were not able to walk on it or get a good shot of it. Two days ago, it was open when we passed through, but today it was not clear how it opens and closes. I think 2 of the 5 circles swing open. Weird bridge.
  We decided to walk back into town. Near the City Hall there was a soccer tournament of sorts—2 small courts(about the size of tennis courts) set up on the (paved!) City Hall plaza. I think it was a tournament for charity (homeless?). Two teams of 4 played for about a 10 minute game on each court. They had (temporary) walls (about 4 feet high) and small goals, like indoor soccer. It was very entertaining. The players were obviously amateurs, but it was a very physical game.
(to be continued)

Scandinavia 23 Christiania Hippie town

This morning we went to Freetown Christiania. This is an alternative community that occupied a former military area in the 1960s or 70s — and continues to this day, somewhat to the dismay of the average Copenhagean. It is a sort of hippie community, with a relaxed attitude toward soft drugs and a communal vibe. The narrative on the bus said about 900 people live there, with about 180 children. I don’t know about those numbers, but it is a colorful community, with a lot of graffiti, quite a bit of poverty, and number of small businesses, from coffee shops and restaurants to a home improvement/general store, to several shops advertising weed. There are a number of signs asking “no photos.” We wandered around for a while, bought coffee and hot chocolate, and saw a display of drawer knobs, labeled “knops”. We were given permission to photograph them.

(to be continued) 

Scandinavia 22 Amalienborg museum

The museum was interesting. Many of the rooms are as they were when a particular person occupied them. Mostly very cluttered with art, photos, etc. The Danish royal family seem to be related to all the other royal families of Europe. And I think most of the kings have been named either Frederick or Christian. Nowadays the monarch (currently a queen) does not get involved in politics. It is mostly a ceremonial position, and the royal family also tries to be accessible to the people. There is evidently a debate among the Danes about the cost/sense of maintaining a monarchy, but that seemed to be an internal Danish debate not to be discussed with outsiders — particularly not in the royal residences.
At noon we witnessed the changing of the guard, a process which takes quite a while. Sometimes it wasn’t possible for us to tell if anything was happening. The formal guards wear the big black hats and look a lot like Buckingham Palace guards. There were one or two outside each of the 4 palace buildings, but a much larger contingent (about 40) were involved in the guard changing.
(to be continued)