Camilla, one of our exchange hosts, urged us to view her city from the water. So, on Sunday we went in search of the boat excursions. Her recommendation was a fabulous one as it was so interesting learning about the history of the different areas of the city, as we made our way through the canals, and viewing the grand mixture of historic and contemporary buildings, seeing them from the water, which presented a different vantage point than the one we experienced from the city streets.

One of the highlights was the Copenhagen Opera House, the national opera house of Denmark and among the most modern in the world . It is also one of the most expensive opera houses ever built with a construction cost of well over $500,000,000.

My favorite building was at the other end of the age spectrum…the 17^th century elaborate structure, built under the reign of Christian IV, that housed the Danish Stock Exchange. The building is considered a leading example of the Dutch Renaissance style in Denmark and is most noted for its distinctive spire, shaped as the tails of four dragons twined together, reaching a height of 56 meters. It housed the Danish Stock Market until 1974 but now serves as the headquarters of the Danish Chamber of Commerce.

We saw so many fantastic old and new building, including the famous Little Mermaid, that it was hard to choose which photos to include so….I'm sharing quite a few of them with you.

It started raining after the boat excursion so, we popped into a little Indian restaurant for a wonderful meal before heading over to another free walking tour . This tour somewhat mirrored the boat tour with an explanation of the architectural jewels of the city and ended up in Freetown Christiania, a green and car-free neighborhood, established in 1971 by a group of hippies who occupied some abandoned military barracks on the site and developed their own set of society rules, completely independent of the Danish government.

Christiania, with vibrant scenery and a[i]gritty edge, is a mix of homemade houses, workshops, art galleries, cheap and organic eateries, and beautiful nature. One of the big tourist attractions is "Pusher Street, where cannabis shops operate 24 hours a day and 30-40 different types of hashish are sold. We were strongly warned by our guide not to take any photographs in this area as selling pot and hash are illegal in Denmark. The guide told us that, although Christiania is regularly raided by the police, 10 minutes after a raid, it's business as usual. Visiting this unique commune was, definitely, something that you probably wouldn’t see anywhere else in the world. 
Before heading home, we stopped for a beer at this crazy bar, set up on a beach barge on the canal, complete with sand and palm trees. What a day!