From Berlin, we took a train north, via Hamburg (where we stopped for a couple of hours but not long enough to see the city properly) to the German-Danish border. Our train then got on a ferry. Yes, you heard us right - we didn't get off the train and onto the ferry, our train got onto the ferry. It was a bit disconcerting...however, we were allowed to disembark the train and, much to Eva's relief, go up to the deck where she was less prone to seasickness. However, there we encountered the bitter cold instead:
After a 45 minute ferry ride, we were finally in Denmark, and the train proceeded to:
Copenhagen
Our friend, Rin/Molly/Meredith, who was studying there for six months, was waiting for us:
We stayed at the apartment that she shared with a fellow student, in a suburb of Copenhagen called Amager. After sleeping on a beanbag with no blankets in Berlin, we really appreciated the non-saggy, newly-purchased double airmattress and warm blanket that Rin thoughtfully provided. So did Rin, actually:
It was all very "hygge," (pronounced, we think, "hoo-gli") a Danish word which loosely translates as "cozy" or "snug," but which is used very broadly and frequently in Denmark. One of Rin's friends in Denmark, a fellow Australian named Phoebe, received a fairly formal email from the university which managed to use this word twice, in one case wishing her a "hygge" Christmas. They also have a thing about candles, which always come in groups of two or more - only one is considered un-hygge.
An unusual and cool thing about Copenhagen is that has a seperate, loosely-autonomous hippie community called Christiania, whose citizens do not consider themselves part of the EU. Throughout the city there is graffiti supporting the preservation of Christiania as an independent commune:
We visited this place one night, but we have no photos as the citizens of Christiana vehemently discourage, and more-or-less prohibit, photography. There are big anti-camera signs everywhere. Shayne was tempted to take a photo of the anti-camera sign, but was afraid of getting mobbed by hippies. Additionally, in true hippie style, as we walked in to a bar, the smell of dope smoke pervaded almost everything.
Near Central Station is a large amusement park called Tivoli, which puts Luna Park to shame. We visited the park one evening after a short sojourn into Sweden (but more about that later), where they had bumper cars rather than dodge-'em cars - that is, where you're not only allowed to smash into your fellow drivers, but you're supposed to.
Even if you tried, you couldn't avoid getting hit. Eva tried for half the round not to hit a car driven by a little kid and her father, only to have that same little kid gleefully slam into her repeatedly. Shayne thinks he got whiplash from the efforts of that same little girl. All in all, much more fun than the Aussie variety where you're only allowed to drive in one direction, and have to keep clear of others. In other words, boring.
One thing Shayne didn't like so much was the evil clown.
Yes, Shayne still hates clowns. Shut up.
By far the coolest ride was a rollercoaster kind of like the Show's Mad Mouse or Luna Park's Scenic Railway, but much much cooler. As it was Christmas, and there weren't many people on the ride, the guys running it let it run at least seven more circuits than normal, and when we were about to leave it they let us have another turn for free.
One thing that really stands out about Copenhagen are the multitude of bikes. Not just that, but the whole city really is a bike city. Amsterdam also has a reputation for being a bike city, but by far this was much more obvious in Copenhagen. The overriding mentality is that bikes have preference over most road traffic, with their own built-up lanes (which could be mistaken for footpaths. We found that out the hard way), traffic lights, and in places, double-storey bike racks:
On our last day there, we rented bikes and joined Rin on a bike tour of the city, which really is the best way to travel around Copenhagen. Unfortunately that day, it was steadily drizzling, which made riding a little less pleasant than it otherwise would have been.
Our first stop was Nyhavn ("New Harbour" - actually, "Copenhagen" means "Buyers' Harbour"), which is really a canal that leads out to sea:
and where we got awesome crepes at the Christmas market there.
We then went to one of Copenhagen's most beloved (and most-photographed) icons - The Little Mermaid.
She really is little, more so than we expected. She was also a lot less Disneyesqe than we had feared. In the original Hans Christian Anderson story there is no happy ending, and thus the statue is fittingly melancholy, with the little mermaid gazing mournfully out to sea.
Around the area of the Little Mermaid (which we think is called Copenhagen Harbour - seems a bit of a tautology, really), are some more robust edifices. Like this war memorial, with the usual victorious spire and statue atop it, but at the base, these REALLY COOL CANNONBALLS:
Anyone for skittles?
Also, near a church, was this impressive, slightly daunting, water-feature:
OK, so maybe it doesn't look so impressive in the photo, but the woman riding a chariot pulled by irate bulls plonked right next to a church seemed an odd choice...
We rode to see Our Princess Mary - but we couldn't see her anywhere. Apparently this is one of the Royal Couple's occasional residences:
We also saw some other impressive, old buildings, but compared to a lot of European cities there aren't many. According to Rin, Copenhagen had a habit of burning down very frequently, so the city has been constantly rebuilt over its long history.
One thing we have to say about riding in Copenhagen: while the cars, trucks, etc on the roads are very accommodating, much more than on Melbourne roads, in some ways it is more terrifying to be riding here as a newcomer. This is because of one's fellow cyclists. The sheer number of them means that people are always riding on your tail or overtaking. Mostly people appear to ride in mobs, so that when one person stops suddenly, there is a tendency for big pile-ups. It's also not a good idea to try to beat the lights, as Eva found out when she has the misfortune to be following Rin and Shayne over a large intersection as the light turned red: after she had narrowly missed two lanes accelerating cars, she was then swamped by a herd of charging, four--accross cyclists who showed no mercy. Shayne looked back and saw her terrified face as she tried to navigate out of this teeming horde. Somehow, she managed. We still don't know how...
As we've already mentioned, during our stay with Rin we took a day-trip to:
Sweden
It still seems so weird to be able to say, "we just took a day trip to another country"...we also find it hard to fathom how easy it is to cross borders in Europe. We only had to show our passports to officials three times in the ten countries we ultimately visited. With thi little trip, all it took was a forty-minute train ride across the channel separating Denmark and Sweden:
Our first stop in Sweden:
Malmo
We only stayed here long enough to walk around a little bit and buy tickets for our next destination. Rin's already been here a few times and is quite fond of the place. It's a much more picturesque place than Copenhagen - it's smaller, so we suppose that at least partly explains it. Also, it hasn't burnt down as much as Copenhagen. It also has this funky marching band in the middle of one of the main shopping strips:
It also has some nice parks, and a very meticulously-kept cemetery which is almost an extension of one of the parks.
In the adjoining park, we found another COOL CLIMBY THING (we need more adjectives...), which Rin and Eva proceeded to clamber up:
After a desperate meal at Burger King (blech) we took this purple train:
to...you guessed it (as it's on the train):
Ystad
This little town is on the coast of the Baltic Sea, which was one of the reasons we went there - to see the Baltic. Shayne saw this from a distance:
and for some reason (from a distance) thought that it was a castle. Closer inspection proved otherwise. Ahem...so our first view of the Baltic wasn't as romantic as we thought it would be, as it was dominated by the "castle" and other signs of industry. So we decided to brave the freezing cold:
(did we mention that it was freezing?) and walk for a bit, until we found a deserted part of the coast which felt more wild and rugged:
When we couldn't feel our extremities any more, we walked into town. Ystad is another charming little town, whose cobbled streets are lined with quaint dwellings:
lovely old municipal buildings surrounding a square:
and, of course, the ubiquitous European Christmas market, this one being a particularly nice one. They also had ponies!
What amused us the most was the local beauty pageant, the search for "Ystad's Lucia":
But perhaps the most welcome thing was the little cafe where we thawed out and had hot chocolate:
So in the end, we didn't see much of Sweden, but we liked what we saw.
After five days with Rin, we bg her and Copenhagen adieu, and made our way by train (9 and a half hours. Fuuuun) to:
Norway
Rin had encouraged us to go there because she and another friend of ours, Sarah, had had a great time there in the summer. We didn't realise just how much difference the change in season would make. Of course it was colder than it would have been earlier in the year, but it was mainly the lack of light that affected us. We've heard that in suicide rates in this part of th world are really high, possibly due to the overabundance of light in the summer and the almost total lack of it in the winter. We could certainly understand how it could affect one's moods. While we're having a whinge, another thing we didn't really count on was just how expensive everything is in Norway. Generally, things were more expensive in Denmark, but Norway really shocked us. For instance, a meal that is considered "cheap" is anywhere between $AUD12 to $AUD20. We're talking a small lunch meal here, including McDonalds or other fast foods.
Having said all of this, there are some pretty amazing things about this part of the world. One of them is its Viking heritage, which we learnt more about at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, the first city we stayed in.
This museum houses three excavated and restored viking ships, named after the sites where they were found. The ornate Oseberg, built in 820 AD:
It is thought to have been the pleasure ship of an important lady, and was found to contain two female skeletons, as well as valuable grave goods.
The Gokstad, a warrior ship thought to be built in 890 AD:
Can you imagine being on a shore in medieval times, watching this behemoth soar towards you, filled to the brim with big ugly Norsemen brandishing battleaxes?
Finally, the remains of the utterly decimated Tune ship:
These boats are all thought have been buried as tombs for the important people found in them. The museum also houses various artefacts from the graves.
A four-wheeled cart from the Oseberg, the only one known to have survived from this era:
Four of these sleighs, also from the Oseberg, that are apparently falling apart, and which they're trying desperately to save by keeping them in a climate-controlled room:
Very rare, well-preserved leather shoes:
And close to Shayne's heart, a receptacle for beer-brewing
They had their priorities right - clearly something you need to take into the afterlife.
As we've already mentioned, it got dark early, therefore we didn't spend much tme out and about in Oslo. The next day we boarded train at 8.15 am, bound for the West coast of Norway. It remained dark for another 2 and a half hours, but when the sun finally did (intermittently) shine, and as we climbed into the mountains, we began to understand why so many people are drawn to this countryside.
And yes, again we proved that we are snow n00bs:
As we descended the mountains after three and a half hours or so, the white was replaced by green, giving the countryside a very different feel:
The beauty of the countryside appeared to be lost on all the passengers sharing a carriage with us (four in total), as they were all glued to their laptops, with headphones stuck to their heads as they played games for almost the entire trip. A Mobile Gaming/Nerd convention, if you will:
We stayed for a night in the historically-important town of Bergen, now mostly renowned for its natural beauty and tourism. However, again, we don't have any photos as it was dark when we arrived and dark when we left the next day. We especially regret that we didn't get a photo of a nice and very interesting couple who we met in the hostel we stayed at. Their names are Martine and Sergio, and Sergio, born in Uruguay and raised in Australia, used to be a Naval officer and worked for ASIO. Martine is French and moved to Australia for him. He and Martine have just moved to Norway and were looking to buy a house in Bergen wen we met them. Sergio's current occupation (which is nevertheless Eva's all-time nightmare job) is in saturation diving. He works for oil companies, working in a team to repair and maintain oil pipes deep on the ocean floor, and he's underwater at ridiculous depths (and, of course, high pressure) for at least 21 days, sharing a specially constructed
The next day, it was another early start to embark on our "Norway in a Nutshell" adventure, a tour involving train, bus, and boat. Luckily, we had ye olde Eurail Pass, which more than halved the cost.
We took a train to Voss, and then boarded a bus to Gudvangen. On that busride we saw waterfalls, the most impressive of which was this one:
...and yet more beautiful countryside:
At Gudvangen, we boarded a ferry which tool us on a cruise of part of the Sognefjord. Pictures again do a better job, although probably don't do it justice.
Ok, here's a more impressive waterfall:
Shayne's arty reflection shot:
Let it be said that us Aussies, who are used to warmer climates, stood at the front of the boat in the face of the chilling wind from the glaciers for the entire trip, as opposed to the Europeans who chickened out and spent at least half the time indoors.
The ferry took us to Flam, where we had about two hours to kill. WHich was more than enough, after we'd gotten over the beauty of the fjordside town, filled our rumbling stomachs, and taken a picture of this globe water-feature, whose makers didn't believe that Tasmania was worthy of representation:
We finally boarded the Flamsbana:
This is supposed to be one of the most beautiful train rides in the world. It only takes forty-five minutes, and you pass through (in total) over a kilometre's worth of tunnels. Nevertheless, it did live up to its reputation.
We stopped here:
to look at this waterfall generating hydroelectricity that powers the train:
When we got to the endpoint of the Flamsbana, a little nothing stop called Myrdal at the top of a mountain, we disembarked and waited for at about two hours for a connecting train to Oslo. Nothing was open here, and there was no one else around. In the dark and cold, we actually felt more lonely and bored than we have on this trip so far. So of course, the ever-resourceful Eva found a way to amuse herself, just like the children she looks after back home. Out of a mere lump of snow...
...was born
Myrdal, the Norwegian Snow Turtle
Unfortunately, when we boarded our train, we had to leave both Myrdals behind. However, Eva likes to think that her Myrdal made at least one fellow commuter smile, before he melted bravely back into the slush from whence he came...Shayne reckons that a railway worker pissd on him first.
So, we arrived back in Oslo very late, and made our way to our astronomically-expensive hotel where we'd been forced to lodge as it was close to the airport and we had a hideously early flight the next morning to our next destination. One redeeming feature was the buffet breakfast, and in particular, the novelty condiments they served.
From left to right: "I-can't-believe-it's-not-Nutella"; caviar in a tube; three "meats" in tubs, consisting of bacon, some other meat, and our personal favourite, "kiddie-in-a-can". The Norse are barbaric people...
Thus ends Scandinavia. When we update this next, we'll be back in Oz, but that won't stop us from valiantly proceeding into Berlin again. See you all soon!
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