Copenhagen

I'm in love. I properly adored Copenhagen from the minute I left the train station to find my hostel, walking among cheerful crowds on a beautiful sunny evening past Tivoli Gardens (the second oldest amusement park in the world and the inspiration to Walt Disney for his theme parks, you can have those facts for free).

From the start of my first day here, and all throughout the day, I only loved it more. I joined a free walking tour which took in the town hall, the palace, Nyhavn and various other areas. The guide was highly entertaining with a well-placed dose of dry sarcasm, and had hundreds of interesting facts up his sleeve which always wins me over. Most interesting of all was the history about the Danish resistance during the Second World War, and the efforts of ordinary Danish people to help their Jewish neighbours. I'd highly recommend reading about it, it's very interesting - or, if you happen to be visiting Copenhagen any time soon, check them out here.

There are so many beautiful buildings everywhere, I don't think it's possible to take a bad photo. And with the weather as beautiful as it was during my stay, it was very easy to just sit around the harbour, enjoying the sunshine and having a drink. Truly hygge.

I then paid a visit to Christiania, which had been at the top of my to-do list for Copenhagen for a long time. A free independent state within the city which in terms of size is more of a commune. It's basically a large, friendly community of hippies; cars are banned, they have their own bicycles called Christianiabikes, and there are all sorts of cafes and bars inside, along with little market stalls and a blacksmith's workshop. There is loads of wild, colourful and brilliant street art, and the place just generally looks happy. I could have stayed there all afternoon, sitting by their incredibly loud soundsystem  and absorbing its heavy heavy bass, and the dancehall reggae they were blasting out. As it was, they were handing out free mix CDs so I took one to enjoy when I get home.

Copenhagen is unfortunately more expensive than any of the other places I've visited on my trip, but you know what, it's a price I'm happy to pay because it was so much more lovely than anywhere else I've visited (yes, even Florence). Basically, I just feel it's really unfair that I don't live there yet. I need to try and find a way to live in Christiania.