COPENHAGEN (dpa) – A videotheque named “Private Corner”, a sex shop and striptease bars set the tone in the Istegade, in Copenhagen’s Vesterbro district.
Yet the seedy street is also the centre of an emerging sub- culture. The old red-light image of the street, which is directly behind the main station, is still there – but only for a few yards.A few buildings further and the picture changes. Little boutiques and snazzy cafes are set between Moroccan greengrocers, Asian markets and Turkish butcher’s shops.Copenhagen’s inner city is very much a compact trendy district which has been undergoing change.Not long ago the Norrebro district, with its touch of the alternative, was THE place to live in and to be seen at. But now the crooked little streets of the Vesterbro are the places to be.The up-and-coming generation of designers can find retail units here within their price range while restaurants in various styles offer alternatives to the traditional hot-dog kiosks.Susanne Nielsen, of the Copenhagen tourist office, says: “A virtual battle of the cooks has been taking place here over the past few months. The restaurants are international, experimental and – like almost everywhere in Copenhagen – expensive.The club scene is also in Vesterbro. The “Vega” is the centre of nightlife. But anyone travelling on a limited budget should drink slowly because the prices are higher, substantially higher than in Germany, for example.The second major meeting place is the “Rust” in the Guldbergsgade in Norrebro: dancing floors and bars sprawl across three storeys.Norrebro is the multi-cultural scene of Copenhagen, a place where many students live. It is a district of high buildings and narrow streets which, on rainy days, lends it a somewhat depressing feeling.But when the sun comes out, Norrebro reveals its entire range of attractions – the young Copenhagen people frequenting the cafes on the St. Hans-Torv or on the banks of the artificial lake which separates the the district from the city centre.Norrebro is also a paradise for second-hand shopping, from old furniture to flared trousers to items of kitsch.Nielsen observes: “Dealing in antiques has a long tradition in Copenhagen.” And Norrebro has been the place to find a bargain such as Danish designer furniture from the 1960s.But those days appear to be over. The collectors and dealers have discovered the district as a hunting ground and have been systematically buying up both little and larger treasures.What remains is the flea markets, which are everywhere in the city between May and the end of September. Rummaging and hawking goes on for example on Saturdays at Israels Plads in the north of the city centre.On Fridays and Saturdays one place to go is Gammel Strand in the nearby pedestrianised zone – even if little for sale here is really cheap.However, the area has a picture-book appearance because of its many old houses and its location directly on the canal.A few yards further on in the Stroget pedestrianised zone is the fanciest shopping in the city. The really “hip” people shop in the next-door Kronprinsensgade where numerous cafes are dotted between the shops.The passers by look as if they have stepped out of photographs from fashion magazines.
