Hello All

Tuesday 17 April 2018 – travel to Copenhagen

Today was either going to be a train travellers dream or a lost in Europe nightmare. We were planning to travel from Amsterdam through Germany to Denmark and the Nordic haven of Copenhagen in one day….yes one day….

I love timetables (sad isn’t it?) but even for me tying together connections and timings (allowing enough time for me to wobble from one platform to another), reserving seats on several trains and finding contingencies should it all go ‘orribly wrong was something of a feat. Oh, alright I thoroughly enjoyed this planning exercise but it is one thing drawing up schedules (it was a work of list-art at an advanced level for which you will have to take my word as I can’t find a way to insert it here…) to having a heavy rucksack on your back knowing you will spend the next twelve hours train hopping across a large chunk of Europe….

We set off via No 2 tram enthusiastically.

Would this last?

Unbelievably (or possibly not as the trains were great on the continent) it did last … almost. Amsterdam to Osnabruck … easy-peasy …. tick. Seventeen minutes to change at Osnabruck for Hamburg … tick. Good grief only 9 minutes at Hamburg to board next train to Fredericia (Denmark) … tick.

Here’s one tip I discovered on the Hamburg to Fredericia train: learn the German for ‘this train is back to front’. Not knowing this useful phrase meant we got on at the wrong end of our train and felt like we were walking to Denmark as we spent the next 25 minutes wobbling our way to our seats. I am afraid I got a hopeless case of the giggles and was almost hysterical with laughter having become attached to a young man’s seat by the corner of my coat and could only be released by his having to unthread said coat from his chair. Perhaps you had to be there but I am chortling ever so slightly now as I re-live the embarrassment.

Luckily I did have (just) enough German to explain to the man who thought we were in his seats – good grief we earned those seats! – that he was in the wrong Wagon (carriage). Phew, it was a relief to have a rest. At the next stop we only had 8 minutes to change train….gulp…..

Oh dear no tick at Fredericia. After a long stop at the border between Germany and Denmark – the only place that our passports were checked – our train was running late. Despite a polite run (the Danes are very polite and there was no pushing, shoving, expletives nor shouty-ness … thank goodness) we missed the Copenhagen connection.

Everyone calmly awaited the next train (only about twenty minutes) and fellow passengers made sure that No 1 Daughter and I knew what was happening. Infact this little mishap was a wonderful introduction to Danish (and German) courtesy. We even made a friend. Hi JR if you are reading this!

We arrived only a little later than planned in Copenhagen but after four trains and over 12 hours traveling we were glad to find the hotel – only a few minutes from the station – and take off our backpacks.

(Taken in sunlight next day).

Copenhagen we made it!

Until next we meet

Moke xxx