STRØGET, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Walking in Copenhagen was a great part of my childhood,
teenage and married life in Denmark.
I am sure there are no Danes who have not walked from
Raadhuspladsen down STRØGET to Illum’s Bolighus and Nyhavn.
I am also pretty sure that any tourist visiting Copenhagen
want to walk down STØGET either to just look at the many interesting stores and
places, or sit at an outdoor restaurant for some Danish food or to shop at the
many interesting stores.
As a teenager, it was a treat to walk and look at all the
things I could not afford.
It was a “different” and foreign world than the one
I lived in. A world with extremely
expensive clothes and footwear etc. A place for just “looking” and “watching”,
but not buying.
I always wondered where people got the money from to
purchase such expensive items? “Georg Jensen’s Silver” and shoes and purses
that cost several hundred kroner was certainly not a part of my life.
When I got married I realized that It was many Danish housewife’s
dream to own a set of Georg Jensen’s cutlery.
There were so many cute restaurants and of course we did not
have McDonald and all the other American chain stores they have now. I think
the first time I saw a McDonald on STRØGET was when I was “back-home” in 1970.
Also numerous of stores have been added or changed since I lived in Denmark.
I had my usual stops at Højbro Plads and maybe swinging
around to see “The Absalon Statue” and Gammel Strand. When I was a little kid the Fish women were
selling fresh fish there.
Harly and me on Høbro Plads
A statue of Absalon who was the city's founder
A statue as a memory of "Fish" women that used to be there every day on Gammel Strand.
When I worked at Palle Hvid and Co’ paper company, which was
located in one of the side streets to STRØGET; I loved going shopping in some
of all the little basement shops in the side streets to STRØGET
There were many little inexpensive shops with merchandise
from other countries and I loved buying earring and clothes from India and
other countries.
Of course my walks either started or ended on RAADHUSPLADSEN
where I had to feed the pigeons and then have a “WARM RISTET PØLSE” = “A Danish
Hot Dog with roasted onion and mustard.
PØLSEVOGN
I loved feeding the pigeons. A s matter of fact, pigeons
became a “regular” part of my life on Vesterbro.
We lived on the fourth floor in Kongshøjgade and the pidgins
were regular guests outside our windows.I fed them so much that they sometimes
came inside the apartment. That was when my mom set the limit. No birds “inside” the apartment. Of course,
at that time I did not agree. Why not? They were so cute and I liked the little bird
sounds they made.
The walk on STRØGET usually ended up at NYHAVN:
Nyhavn was not a place I was allowed to walk in when I was a child because it was know as a place where you should not go, unless you wanted to drink etc.
It has been cleaned up since and today is a huge tourist attraction.
I am grateful to have had the many, many walks in Denmark.
Especially those I had on STRØGET.
Vibeke Lindhardt
6 April 2017
