Christiania! My favorite Freetown... umm... well, the only Freetown I know. I fell in love with it back in 1998, but this time I was seriously thinking about stopping my travels, and moving here! That is, until I got speaking with locals and found out about the new conservative government's plan to shut it down and sell it off to McDonalds types in the next year. SAVE CHRISTIANIA!! Got to this website for more details. It's an amazing town/concept.

In short, this was an abandoned naval base in the 70's - the same time there was a serious housing shortage in Kopenhavn.  Well, since no one was using the land, a small group of hippies decided to move in as squatters.  Very quickly they developed a following from around the world, and the community started to restrict immigrants.  The Danish government has never looked favorably upon Christiania, so they had to be self-sufficient from the very beginning.  The plumbing, recycling, composting, community works, and school system are all conducted in an environmentally, globally aware way.  Houses are still being built along the river, and the community has grown to include such luxuries as an equestrian park, restaurants, bars,  and night clubs.  Everyone including the government has praised it as a successful experiment.  The problem now, is that the new government has focused on the land as a viable income from corporate buyers.  They are using the free use of marijuana in Christiania as an excuse to shut it down.  Though the community has responded by being harder on hard drugs than the government, and putting an end to public marijuana use, the government has set it's target, and doesn't seem to be letting go.  While I was there, the police were everywhere, and the police state mentality was in the air.  Shame on the government!