Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
lish their turf—almost unthinkable in mellower times. (For more on marijuana laws, see
Chapter 7.)
Get beyond the touristy main drag of Christiania, and you'll find a fascinating, ram-
shackle world of peaceniks shuffled with some irony among the moats, earthen ramparts,
and barracks of the former military base. Alternative housing, carpenter shops, hippie
villas, cozy tea houses, children's playgrounds, peaceful lanes, and interfaith stupa-like
temples serve people who believe that “to be normal is to be in a straightjacket.”
There are a handful of basic rules: no cars, no hard drugs, no guns, no explosives, and
so on. A few “luxury hippies” have oil heat, but most use wood or gas. The community
has one mailing address. A phone chain provides a system of communal security because,
as people there report, they've had bad experiences calling the police. As a reminder of the
constant police presence lately, my favorite Christiania café, Månefiskeren (“Moon Fish-
er”), has a sign outside saying: “The world's safest café—police raids nearly every day.”
And an amazing thing has happened: Christiania—famous for its counter-culture
scene, geodesic domes on its back streets, and vegetarian cafés—has become the third-
most-visited sight among tourists in Copenhagen. Move over,
Little Mermaid.
I recently got an email from some traveling readers. They said, “We're not prudes, but
Christiania was creepy. Don't take kids here or go after dark.”
I agree. The free city is not pretty. But hanging out with parents raising their children
with Christiania values, and sharing a meal featuring home-grown vegetables with a
couple born and raised in this community, I find a distinct human beauty in the place. And
I have come to believe more strongly than ever that it's important to allow this social ex-
periment and give alternative-type people a place to live out their values.
As I biked through Christiania, it also occurred to me that, except for the bottled beer
being sold, there was not a hint of any corporate entity in the entire “free city.” There was
no advertising and no big business. Everything was handmade. Nothing was packaged.
People consumed as if how they spent their money shaped the environment in which they
lived and raised their families. It's not such a far cry from their fellow Danes, who also
see themselves as conscientious participants in society.
