Overview

• Munich - Kolding - Copenhagen
• Copenhagen - the city I didn’t see
• Gothenburg
• Archipelago
• Botaniska
• Learnings

Munich - Kolding - Copenhagen

My flight from Munich to Hamburg left midday. Which suited me quite well, because although I like getting up early, I also like to take my time, have coffee and double check what I’ve packed. So, very relaxed, I packed all my stuff, boarded the train to the airport, went through security check easy peasy (no checking of baggage!), and then treated myself to another coffee. The plane took me to Hamburg in time, and slowly but constantly, my stubbed toe made itself heard.

However, after a light lunch (at Mutterland, my favorite deli in Hamburg, right behind the Ohnsorg Theater), a quick detour to the Alster was a must. I had actually planned to spend my first night in Hamburg, but then decided on the spur of the moment to cross the border into Denmark for a cheap saver fare and spent the night in Kolding, a small town with a pretty lake and a castle. I probably should have already spent the afternoon with my foot up and an ice bag, but me being me, I took my camera und went on my way to at least see the lake, the old town, and the castle. After having taken pictures of the castle, trees and a romantic sunset over the water, I had to give in and put my foot up on a chair after getting an improvised ice bag from the bar (a plastic bag filled with ice). My pain was drowned in a bottle of local craft beer from the hotel’s bar.

The following day, the train left Kolding for Copenhagen on time, and I found a very comfortable seat in compartment, across from a digital nomad who spent the train ride working, while I kept jumping up and taking pictures of the landscape rushing by, of bridges, and at the crossing of the Great Belt. Both him and I liked the railway company’s friendly treat of a paper bag containing crisp bread, water, and chocolate.

Copenhagen - the city I didn’t see

Unfortunately, I hardly saw anything of Copenhagen. After my flight and the train ride, I was hardly able to walk, and so went looking for a pharmacy at Copenhagen train station. A “real” icepack in my bag, I climbed the narrow creaking staircase of my old town hotel (again, bringing my backpack was the best I could have done, because the hotel didn’t have a lift). After trying desperately to translate the description of use on the icepack (Chinese to Danish to English), I don’t think I did it correctly, but it got a little cold at least, and I spent the rest of the day in my room, only leaving it for food.

However, I got a good night’s sleep in a comfortable bed, underneath a window with a view at the street lined with pretty red brick houses. With the help of Google Maps I found a café where I got a delicious cardamom knot and a cup of coffee which was able to restore my holiday mood.

Sightseeing was obviously not what I could do. Still, I didn’t want to mope around in my hotel room. And as I know from experience that the sea can make things better, with the help of the lady at the reception desk, I booked a taxi which took me to Amager Beach. A friend had recommended the beach and also to walk there from the city centre, but well …

Equipped with my camera and a small daypack, I was able to at least enjoy the sea, the Oresund Bridge, a wind park, and a sailboat from the promenade. The beach park is divided into compartments, with a kiosk at each compartment and a footpath leading through the dunes. So, on I limped, barefoot, from kiosk to kiosk, taking pictures, enjoying icecream, and taking breaks on benches.

And so I ended up having a lovely day by the sea, rounded off with a delicious pizza and a very long, slow taxi ride during rush hour.

I’ll definitely be returning to Copenhagen soon, as the little I managed to see of the city was enough to make me curious to see more.

Gothenburg

Early the nex morning, at half past seven, I dragged myself and my backpack back to the train station, had coffee and bought some snacks for the onward journey, and waited for quite a long time on the platform, together with other clueless travellers. The departure time of our train kept being pushed back.

But, with some delay, I found my seat on board the Oresundstag train. I had treated myself to a first class ticket as it wasn’t too expensive. At first, the compartment was empty, but later I was joined by a Canadian family who were travelling the world and on their way to meet relatives in Norway.

Again, the train moved through pretty landscapes, past wind parks and meadows, until by midday, I arrived in Gothenburg. After a twenty minute walk I found my hotel, which was a ship, in an industrial area of the city of Gothenburg, and started unpacking and setting up my room (sorry, my cabin), and then stretched out on my bed, taking some time to rest my foot. But it wasn’t long before my sense of adventure had me heading out the door. Also, I’d arranged to meet my friend.

We met at Haga, a former workers quarter, for coffee and a small lunch, before taking off for a walk around the city. On this day, I especially liked the market halls “Saluhallen”. Here, you will find various specialties you can try before buying, such as cheese, reindeer meat, and sweets.

During the course of the following days, I gradually began to find my feet around the city; I knew street corners and tram stations, and even late at night and among the maze of building sites, I found back to the ship. It was a good thing that my toe felt much better by then, because the way to and from the centre to my hotel alone was a good twenty minutes walk.

Still, in order to not spend all day every day on my feet, I booked a so-called Paddan tour, which is a ride on the canal in one of the long open boats including a live guide. As the boat glided gently along the water and under low bridges, I had countless opportunities to take pictures. Naturally, I had secured a spot right at the front on the left for this, but I had to give it up when we headed out onto the river, where the spray hit the front seats – and consequently me and my camera too – so I had to admit defeat, thoroughly soaked.

To dry off, I walked back from the jetty to Feskekörka, the ‘Fish Church’, which I’d passed on the canal cruise and where I’d happily shelled prawns over a glass of wine on the terrace.

Archipelago

One thing you should absolutely do when in Gothenburg is actually not in Gothenburg, but outside of it, but only a short tram and ferry ride away - the Archipelago (skärgårdar). Here, too, getting there is half the fun, because my friend and myself were able to watch first the surroundings and buildings, and then also the landscape were changing. And also on the ferry, equipped with day pack, camera and way too little warm clothes, there was so much to see! Small islands, mini lighthouses, sailboats, the typical red wooden houses, and of course the sea.

We spent a wonderful spring day on the water and on the two islands of Donsö and Vrangö, where locals move car-free and instead use electric vehicles from a to b. We walked to lookout points and lighthouses through birch woods, climbed rocks, and rested on a tiny sandy beach from where I went a few steps into the very cold sea. I had planned a swim, but then just treaded very carefully, keeping an eye out for jellyfish, and spent only enough time inside so that my friend could take a picture. My wet bathing clothes went into the dry bag I had brought.

While walking a nature trail on Vrangö, leading through cranberry shrubs, swamps, and cool little woods, we followed a children’s scavenger hunt, finding sheets of paper pinned to trees and bushes, placing questions and giving three possible answers (that didn’t seem true somestimes). Questions and answers were in Swedish, and I, having recently started learning with the help of the owl) understood surprisingly much of them!

After finishing the trail and climbing a hill towards a former ship pilots’ lookout, we had planned to have coffee and cake at a café, but, unfortunately, the café had closed five minutes ago, as had the food cart at the dock.

So, for better or worse, we hung in there until we were back on solid ground and had finally managed to secure a table at a seafood restaurant in Haga. To celebrate my birthday, we toasted with a colorful homemade lemonade, and I ordered three oysters before the main course. An hour later - we had been chatting away, but were starting to wonder where our food was - one of the waiters came over and asked would we like to take a look at the dessert menu. We explained that we would much rather have our main course first. We were apologized to profusely, waited another long minutes, and the fish soup and mussels were then very delicious and a fitting end to this wonderful day by the sea.

Botaniska

And then my last day of this trip had already arrived. Once again, I set off on foot from the ship to the train station, from where I took the tram to the Gothenburg Botanical Garden. The garden is huge and beautiful; I hardly knew which flowers or leaves to photograph first. Spring shone out at me here in all its colors. I walked and walked, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, through herb gardens and bamboo groves, across meadows and past tulip beds.

After hours of walking, admiring the garden and taking photos, the queue for coffee and cake was far too long, so I left the Botanical Gardens, got off the tram at a random stop and ended up sitting on a busy high street with a slice of lemon tart. A quick look at Google Maps showed me that, without realising it, I’d ended up back in Haga! And since I was now practically back in the city centre, I trudged on until I reached the river again, where I settled down next to the ferry dock with an ice cream.

After spending an hour watching the ferries dock and set sail and staring out at the water, I boarded the boat one last time and travelled the single stop to Lilla Bomben. Back at the hotel, I had just enough time to get changed before heading over to my friend’s place for one last dinner together, where we talked about the past and our plans for the future.

The next morning, the Flygbussarna bus took me comfortably and at a very reasonable price to Landvetter Airport, from where I boarded my flight back to Munich. The plane was completely full, so there was no room for my backpack in the overhead compartment. Still, I didn’t have to check it; it fit comfortably at my feet under the seat.

Learnings

• I might need a laundry line; my laundry dried in the hotel bathroom, hanging from hooks, and on the radiator or the window sill in my room. Bringing a line, I could wash more frequently and pack even less.
• Compression bags might be a solution against the bulking of my backpack.
• I was very surprised that neither in Denmark nor in Sweden I had needed to get cash.