Interview with Mette Waltsted (Copenhagen Spotter)

Spotted By Locals
March 27, 2009
4 min read

Mette-Walsted-Copenhagen

Today we have an interview with Mette Waltsted, Spotter for our Copenhagen cityblog.

When we met Mette in a very cosy cafe in Copenhagen, we had a lot of shared interests to talk about: Sailing, Internet (she’s a graphic designer), Couchsurfing… It was very nice meeting this bon vivant!

Please tell us a bit about yourself!
I live and work in Copenhagen as a graphic designer. When I am not working, drinking coffee, cooking, baking, sewing, doing my yoga, travelling  or writing for Spotted by Locals, I spend a lot of my time working on my boat which, if all goes well, I plan to start living on within the next couple of months.

It’s moored just outside the city behind Christiania in a small and lovely little harbour. Ideal when you like city life but would hate to spend the summer in a flat – all the great weather you could waste…! So yeah, being busy is what I do a lot of at the moment J

What’s life like as a Spotter?
Life like a spotter is great! It keeps you on your toes to search for and try new places wherever you go, and makes you look at your own city with new eyes. It also gives you a chance to tell the world about your own favourite places and thereby promote them, which is always nice.

I don’t have one particular spotter story but one of the things I really enjoy about it as well is talking to people where I go. I also get “spotted” myself more often now and end up chatting and drinking more coffee than I planned to when going out.

What do you know about Copenhagen what no tourist will know?
I would be really impressed if someone knew about a place like “Flyvergrillen” – a place where a lot of “spotters” go, only it is a very different kind of spotters than the ones on this site. And no, it is not particularly kinky, what people do there is spot airplanes while “enjoying” the hotdogs from the grill. Really a quite popular place for “aero geeks” and others who find it funny to see this legendary site in Amager, Copenhagen.

Flyvergrillen

What is the most popular neighborhood to live in Copenhagen at this moment?
Vesterbro is quite happening these days, especially when it comes to art, design and good shopping. When arriving in Copenhagen by train go out the back entrance of the central station which leads out to Istedgade (the “red light district” of Copenhagen).

After passing the first few hundred metres of sex shops and hotels you will slowly start discovering an array of cool little shops and galleries both on Istedgade itself and down the many small side streets. The first one coming up is Sort Kaffe & Vinyl (black coffee and vinyl) where you can get really strong well roasted coffee and both buy and listen to new and old vinyl records in this tiny but very cozy space.

Vesterbro

Then there is the best clothes shop in the whole of Copenhagen: Donn Ya Doll – its just really cool and full of Scandinavian and international brands that will make you forget about recession and keep your credit card burning! Further up are other great places like Rude, Asphalt and M+ with vintage, home made designs as well as upcoming local brands. Turning left down Valdemarsgade you need to go to Mohs Exhibit, a really nice and funky little gallery with young and vibrant art and illustration.

If you are into colourful yet simple and stylish scandinavian interior design, turn right down the street with the impossible name Oehlenschlægersgade to Maur which is full of amazing lamps and brilliant furniture. Or go look at the cool bicycles in the window at Velorbis on the same street.

Behind Istedgade on Søndre Boulevard you can enter an area called “Kødbyen” – “meat town”! Formerly the centre for all meat trade in the city, it has in recent years, alongside an ongoing food trade, transformed into a creative hub of designers workshops, galleries, nightclubs, etc. Have a look around and get inspired!

Which time of the year you like most in your city and why?
Spring! After what is usually a long, cold, wet and dark winter in Copenhagen, springtime is just fantastic! It fels like everyone just all of a sudden popped out of nowhere with a big happy smile on their faces and the city is shimmering with life. The ice cream shops open up again as well, yummy! Hansen ice cream on the corner of Nørre Farimagsgade and Frederiksborggade across from where I work will become my new favourite spot at that time – promise to let you know more about this one soon.

If you can only stay for two more days in your city, what would you advise to visit?
Christiania!

Read all of  Mette’s articles here.

Check out the other interviews with our Spotters.

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