First, I would like to correct a statement made in the previous entry regarding trains being better than planes. This only applies when the train is a high speed rail and the trip is under five hours. We had the most miserable experience on an overnight train from Amsterdam to Copenhagen that took fifteen hours, stop and go. In order to save a little money, we thought it would be a great idea to go with the standard seats over a sleeper cabin, which have beds. We ended up in a six seat cabin with a couple from Denmark. They were very nice people and even gave us some Danish Kroner (their currency) as a souvenir. In exchange, we gave them some of our American coins, which were of very little value compared to what they had given us, but they were happy to receive it. It was great talking with them and getting to know them, but if we had to do it over again I think we’d pay a little extra and get a sleeper cabin. I won't go into too much detail about the sleeping arrangements, but let's just say I hope I never have to sleep on the floor of a train ever again. It was the worst travel experience ever, and was compounded by the intense head cold we both had. So we can say that we learned a lesson, at least. Moving on. We arrived in Copenhagen, exhausted and starving, around mid-morning. Everything in Denmark, and I'm sure everywhere north of Germany, is insanely expensive. They are not on the Euro and the exchange rate is horrible. We finally settled into the cheapest hotel we could find, which was not cheap at all. For the most part, the hotel was really nice. But our room was incredibly small, had bunk beds and the toilet was in the shower. You heard right. We decided against doing anything more than relaxing and called it a night. 
The next morning, Mark was on the mend from the cold, and mine was hitting its peak. Upon our first look at Copenhagen, we really weren't impressed. Right outside of the train station is the city's main attraction, Tivoli. It's an amusement park opened over a hundred years ago but has since been renovated of all its original charm. Since we didn't have a solid plan of action, we decided to traverse the city on foot. Copenhagen is a very modern and green city with lots of parks and open spaces. We set off to explore some of the city’s many public gardens. One of the features of these gardens was weather-worn statues, many of which were carved in the likeness of Hans Christian Andersen. He is the beloved author of one of my favorites, “The Little Mermaid” and hails from the `hagen. Apparently the Botanical Gardens were in their blooming off-season, as we encountered little in the way of flowers.The one destinat
ion we had on our list was the Danish Resistance Museum. I didn't know much about the role of Denmark during WW2, but apparently they more or less welcomed the Nazis in return for not being invaded. There was a small contingency that rebelled, but it had little effect. Moreover, out of all of the European countries, they lost the least amount of lives, both civilian, soldier and Jewish. We continued to walk around the city, found an old fort with a giant windmill, went inside a lackluster Episcopalian church, wandered around a port area and then finally took a train back to the station. Walking while being sick took a lot out of us, but we carried on to try and see more of the city. We stumbled through what I can only call the hip shopping district that rambles through alleyways on cobblestone roads. We found the old stock exchange building and city hall, along with a few museums throughout. When we were done with our walking adventure, we came away being a bit disappointed with Copenhagen. All in all, it was actually pretty uneventful.
We gladly continued onward to Stockholm, Sweden, hoping for a better experience. The train took about five hours, and we didn’t have a reserved seat, so we were forced to move about to find a new one throughout the trip. Again, lesson learned. The Swedish countryside is very lush and forested. Our hotel was quite a distance from the central train station, but thankfully we were able to get one metro pass that works for all public transportation. Two trains and a bus later, we arrived. We figured anything had to be better than our last place, and thankfully it was. Clearly the room was inspired by IKEA and was just as efficient. We arrived in the early evening and decided to stay around the hotel. Luckily, we found a grocery store just across the street. You know, I always thought that American grocery stores were gigantic in both size and quantity of product, but they are quite small compared to the Nordic grocery stores. These places are like Fred Meyers, where you can get anything and everything, but three times the size. We soon figured out that it’s a bit of a tap dance to try to use a debit or credit card anywhere in Scandinavia, but somehow it all worked out. After making and consuming dinner, which would also be leftovers for breakfast, I decided to do laundry. And when I say do laundry I mean take our clothes to the shower, soap them up then ring them out to dry. I’ve never done laundry in a bathroom before, but whatever works, right?
We woke up early in hopes of getting as much done as possible. We started by walking about Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s preserved old town. This city has done a better job at maintaining the historic value of its buildings. We went into the Nobel Museum, which was neat. We learned a lot about old Alfred Nobel and his dynamite. They had on display the first ever multi-geared bicycle! It was so cool and totally strange. It had wooden rims with metal spokes and used forward/backward pedaling instead of making a full circular rotation. It’s kind of hard to explain, but the gears were not attached to the wheel but to the frame near the right pedal and slid along a bar to change. We followed the history of the Nobel Prize and its various recipients and found it enjoyable.
Continuing on though the city, we came across the Royal Palace and saw a medieval church. We made our way to a harbor which was near what I’m sure is called museum row. We planned on going to the Nordic museum, but it seemed to have collections too recent in history to be interesting. The Swedish History museum was boasting three hundred years of fashion, at which Mark cringed. The shipwreck museum was just too expensive, so we called our museum mission finished. We hopped a bus back into downtown and decided to walk around the shopping area. Our final goal, after getting food, was to go to the Observatory. Like many observatories, this one was at the top of a really tall hill, and we had been walking constantly for the last six hours. When we finally got to see the telescope, the tour was given in Swedish and all I got out of it was that it is one hundred years old. The day, for the most part, was gray and felt on the verge of raining. It wasn’t until we were almost back at the hotel did the sky finally clear up and the sun ready to set. That’s just the way it is. Our time in Stockholm wasn’t very exciting but it was enjoyable. I have to say that I am slightly bummed out for three reasons:1. The ABBA Museum is not complete, and I really wanted to go
2. We did not visit an IKEA anywhere in Sweden
3. Mark did not eat a Swedish meatball. In fact, I don’t think they really exist here
So long, Sweden......
Next up: Oslo and Bergen, Norway
Copenhagen:
Stockholm:
No comments:
Post a Comment