HotKoTyr Copenhagen

On Nørrebrogade, just across the big yellow wall surrounding Assistens Cemetery, there is a colourful shop with a conspicuous sign above the door that says HotKoTyr. It is a pun on haute couture, and in Danish it means hot-cow-bull, which is mildly funny if you're a Dane and, if nothing else, helps explain the name. If you're not a Dane, you might just find it a bit silly.

HotKoTyr primarily sells lamps, all kinds of old lamps: lamps from the sixties, old dental lamps, kitschy lamps shaped as gnomes and monkeys with shining eyes, but also really nice vintage lamps. The guy who owns the store fixes them up himself, and in addition to lamps the store is full of old sockets and light switches no longer in trade, posters from the sixties, old models of cartoon characters in plastic and miscellaneous curiosities of even more peculiar sorts. There's limited amount of room to maneuver in among all the stuff in the shop, so I recommend removing any large backpacks before entering.

HotKoTyr has existed for as long as I can remember and is definitely worth a visit. Even if you're not in the market for a lamp.