Day 14 – Walking in Denmark

Copenhagen to Ishøj, 22Km

Mixed emotions: good to be walking again after four idle days but sad to leave Copenhagen with so much more to do, such as visiting Hans Christian Andersen’s grave which is a bit special for me. Also, so many bakeries unexplored. I wish my hotel hadn’t given me complimentary breakfast; it was fine but I was denied better, outside.

I set off and was soon walking along the Brygge waterfront. Where once there were docks, now there were new apartment blocks, all shiny glass, exotic cladding and little balconies. The faster I walked, the more came along. On the ground, Sunday morning runners and bikers zipped along. Biking used to be solely a means of transport but now it’s an end in itself. Colourful Danes in appalling or seductive lycra according to your persuasion, passed me by like a cone in a cycling proficiency test.

The path was straight and endless and still the bikers came. Many of them were probably doing several circuits of Denmark before lunch.

I thought this Danish Pilgrim Trail was nothing more than a line on a map but eventually I saw my first Camino shell and yellow arrow pointing to Compostela, thousands of kilometres away. And then, believe it or not, a pilgrim, high on a bridge that I was approaching down below. He waved and vanished into the distance by the time I found a way up.

I came to the Strandcafeen cafe just 5 km from Ishøj and I was grateful. They made me a truly excellent cappuccino. I asked what food was available and she pointed at the blackboard. It was all in Danish and she hadn’t grasped that I couldn’t read it but I know the word for chicken so I got a fine chicken sandwich and a slice of Danish apple pie.

Ishøj is a busy little place. It’s full of Turkish restaurants and food shops, kebab and pizza takeaways, barbers etc.. None of the restaurants serve beer but I found a seedy pub with five drunken old men at the bar who stared at me when I walked in as if they’d not seen another old man before. The men are smoking (indoors!) and there is a football machine and a little stage. I suspect it was a “cocktail bar” years ago because it still has silhouettes of naked women on the frosted glass doors. But I think the demand has gone, along with the supply.