Hamburg - Copenhagen - Södertälje

It feels good finally being back in Scandinavia! Back to similar languages, same culture and nordic nature. We woke up early to take the 08:43 train to Flensburg. Thereafter, we took another train to Copenhagen and then further up to Södertälje in Sweden. We had reserved seats in the direction Flensberg - Copenhagen as well as Copenhagen - Södertälje, but on our way to Copenhagen we stumbled on a problem. After being on the train for little over an hour, when we reached Denmark and had a stop on the 5th station, a group of middle aged corpulent women with their bicycles entered the wagon. (About 20 of them) Mie and I, sat in our seats minding our own business when one of them claimed with astounding impudence that the seats num. 71 and 73 was reserved for herself and a friend. We showed her the reservation ticket and called the hostess. She was confused about what to do, but after listening to the lady pleading and saying she wanted to sit next to her friends, she asked us kindly if we could move to some other seats. We were not particularly willing at first, since we already had reserved seats num. 71 and 73 back in Hamburg, but to not seem like two obstinated Norwegians, we followed the hostess to the very first wagon next to the engine driver. 1st class, free coffee/tea, comfortable seats, air-condition and an entirely silent room, we were happy that we yielded to the superiority after all. The hostess came in several times, gave us chocolate and fruit, said she was sorry about the terror in Oslo and thanked us for changing the seats.

Det er deilig å være norsk i Danmark!

Now we're at Scandic hotel in Södertälje in Sweden, just outside of Stockholm. We'll sleep for a few hours before we're on our way home at 08:53 in the morning. We're expecting to be in Norway at 14:12. :-)

Ich bin ein Hamburger!

(We just had to say it) :p

We originally had plans to go to one of Sandemans free tours again this morning, but because of the sleep-junkies we've turned out to be, we overslept! We then decided to take a look at the city for our own instead! Unfortunately, Mie didn't feel very well, so she went back up to the hostel. Honestly, she didn't miss much though. This was probably one of the most boring cities we've been to. However, I must say, we're pretty tired of cities in general..

   Later we met at Reeperbahn and the Beatles Platz and had a look at the famous street filled with brothels, strip clubs, discotheques and other special shops. Not as impressive as The Red Light District, but still far from anything we're used to.

 

Tomorrow morning we're leaving Hamburg and going to Copenhagen where we'll stay for a couple of hours. We will then go further to southern Sweden and stay for one night before we go back home! :-)

A memorial of The Beatles right next to Reeperbahn

Alles Goed?

Today, we left Amsterdam to what we believe will be our last stop, Hamburg! Amsterdam has definitively been one of our favourite cities to visit! We especially appreciated the laid-back atmosphere everyone seemed to posses, though that's probably due to all the marijuana they've smoked. Seriously! There were coffee shops and people smoking in each street and park we went to. However, the sweet smell covers the streets in a rather welcoming way.
The only bad thing we experienced about the stay is that we each day almost got hit by either a bicycle, a tram or a car! It seems like the bicycles have the first claim to the road, then the trams, then cars and at last, the people. I saw several people got hit by bicycles every day and it seemed like some bikers even tried to hit the tourists on purpose!

I'll quote columnist Peter Preston for the Guardian and his perfect description of bikers in the busy city: "The woman in the tight white top and even tighter black trousers teeters out of an upmarket clothes shop on very high heels and glances balefully at a lowering gray sky. It's raining. She puts up a small white umbrella, unlocks her bike, wipes the saddle and pushes off down the street when her mobile rings. She extricates it from a tight breast pocket, clicks and begins a conversation. The hand that holds the umbrella is doing the (wobbly) steering. You've never seen so many road safety no-nos in your life. But hey! Welcome to Amsterdam!"


The next day we went to another of Sandemans free tours and they are absolutely magnificent! We went by and heard historical stories about The Old Church, The Dam Square, The Jewish Quarter, Royal Palace, The Jordaan District, The Anne Frank House, The Begijnhof Convent,The Widest Bridge and Narrowest House and, of course, The Red Light District!

The next day we went to Madame Tussaud's wax museum! We had to stand in line for about an hour, but when we entered, we were met by handsome Jack Sparrow! We got to see celebrities like Robert Pattinson, Justin Bieber, Robbie Williams, Anthony Hopkins, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Ronaldinho, Lance Armstrong, Madonna etc. Later in the evening, when it got dark, we went out again to visit The Red Light District when the girls were all in action! It was hilarious to observe the guys' eyes as we walked pass the windows with the half-naked ladies!

Anne Frank's house

'

 

Smallest house in Amsterdam

Midt i ostehavet fant jeg noe kjent og kjært! :)