Dentist required (16 September 2024)

 

Looking toward the harbour

Last night  Bev suddenly found a large filling had disengaged from one of the molars,  leaving a large gap.  After a phone call to the insurer Bev looked for a potential dentist to find one who could see her at short notice to the fix the now yawning cavity.  

 

A phone call early in the morning secured an appointment and it looked like it was not too far from a station on the metro line that we used.  We gave ourselves plenty of time and got to the right street but we had failed to put the correct street number into Apple Maps.  Once done with what looked like a couple of minutes walk turned out to be another 15 minutes.  That meant some very fast walking.    We turned around and raced back to where we had come from to find that we had already walked past it.  Not surprising as there was no signage showing that a dentist was in the building. 

 

Bev reported that the dentist was very efficient and after pain relief and xrays, her tooth was quickly repaired. Before I knew it she was filling in forms and paying the bill.  Thank goodness for travel insurance. 


The neighbourhood was very pleasant, and we wandered around for a bit before taking the metro back to Kongens Nytorv where we could go to a recommended to bakery to try a pastry. 

 

Waterway near the dentist
I had seen one of a chain of bakers in one the streets we had wandered around the day before.  The bakery we went to was a good choice as I was even able to get a decaf coffee.  The pastries were delicious!

 

On our way to Christiania

Our next destination was a major tourist destination called Freetown Christiania.  The area was a former military base that was unused and  taken over by a bunch of “hippies” in 1970.  It was an intentional community and drugs were freely available.  It has had a chequered history including battles with the police, legal battles with the authorities including the legislature, and was major drug selling venue in a street called Pusher Street.  The base had accommodation blocks that were not being used and became home for people who did not have a lot.  The community had the drug dealing taken over by motorcycle gangs and in the end the police were invited to evict and eject the gangsters.  The community now has a prohibition against hard drugs although CBD marijuana and hash are still available.  Marijuana is illegal in Denmark.

Looking down on the entertainment zone of Christiania

 

The community is very interesting, and we had a look around the café area before ambling through other parts of the community.  There is artwork, including sculptures and graffiti art adorning various parts of the community.  It felt very peaceful which is quite a change from a year ago where violence would occasionally breakout and it would have been deemed unsafe to visit. 




Various parts of Christiania

 

Our next destination was the Round Tower to get a good view of Copenhagen.  We also walk considered walking up Our Saviour Church which had been recommended for a great view, but when we got there it was booked out.  Copenhagen is generally a low rise city which makes it very human. 

 

The Round Tower is that, with a spiral walkway that take you to a few last steps to access the viewpoint.  The Tower was built as an observatory for the king’s astronomer in the 1600s and had one of the first reflecting telescopes.  It was part of a church which also had the university library in the roof. 

The spiral walkway


 

The views were very good, and it was nice to see where the various places we had been were in relation to each other.

 

We then joined the hordes of people on the metro heading home.  The next day we were heading for Berlin.  We had been blessed with very good weather for the entirety of our stay.  Mild temperatures and sun. 

 

For me the interesting part was seeing how well good public transport and cycling infrastructure worked together.  It is probably supported by a tax regime where cars have heavy taxes applied to them of 200% of the cost of the car.  Unlike our cities in New Zealand and Australia, Copenhagen streets are relatively free of fumes.  It felt safe to be cycling, in fact the most risk came from other cyclists.  The pedestrianised central city streets on both Sunday and Monday were full of people.  Whether they were buying or not it gave a sense of calm energy.  In Wellington, retailers would be jumping for joy with a fraction of the foot traffic we saw. 



Spiral staircase outside Our Saviour Church





Some artwork from Christiania

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