Goodbye Denmark, Hello Germany (again)!

Skagen - Arhus

Saturday 13th September (Day 19)

Today we headed back to middle of Skagen to catch the train south again. We arrived with plenty of time to spare (no dramas this time), and boarded our train with a few other locals heading for the large city of Arhus. Seeing the sand dunes yet again really fascinated me, and I enjoyed the journey back just as much. We changed trains again in Aalborg, but it was much easier this time as we had done it previously, and knew what to expect - or so we thought. Part of the way through the journey they decided that we had to make an unscheduled stop to change to another train, as there was some kind of issue. Unfortunately, very few people spoke English, and people seemed to be going in two different directions, getting on two different trains to take them to their local destinations. Eventually we found someone who could help us and we managed to get on the correct train, although everyone’s seating was messed up, and we had to stand for a lot of journey. No worries - so did a lot of other people. It started to rain and we weren’t really sure what to expect when we reach Arhus, but it turned out to be OK. The rain had stopped by the time we arrived, and we had a quick wander through the cobblestone pedestrian shopping area, before heading down the hill towards the other side of town - it was probably about a 10 minute walk, and when we arrived we were greeted by a very nice lady who rents out her spare rooms while her children are away at University. It was incredibly cramped, and up about a million flights of stairs, but we made it, and the view was fantastic - over a small park and many of the apartments, and back towards the train station, cathedral and harbour.

The lady at the B&B was really nice (unlike the one in Skagen), and we chatted with her for a while, getting tips on the best things to see and the local supermarket etc. We headed down the road for a few groceries very quickly, as the stores were about to shut. With the next day being Sunday, and most stores closed in Denmark (on Sundays), we thought we should get ourselves in gear and buy some supplies for the train the next day. We brought them back to the B&B before heading out again to see some of the city before it got dark. When we arrived in the central square there was a mini kind of fundraising concert of some variety, just wrapping up for the day, so we got to enjoy that for a few minutes. We wandered around the Arhus Donkirke (Arhus Cathedral), although didn’t actually go inside. After a quick stop off at the wharves for a look at some of the old sailing boats there, we got an ice cream and walked back through the University area (Arhus is full of students) and back up the hill, past the B&B, to Den Gamle By (Old Town), a collection of half-timbered houses, reconstructed as an original Danish provincial town. Some of the buildings are incredibly old (and leaning right over), but they are actually rebuilt, as the originals have long since been wiped out by time. During business hours, the wee stores are open to the public (the bakery, blacksmith etc), but as we were wandering around just on sunset, everything was pretty quiet. We climbed a hill behind the Old Town and sat under a windmill to watch the sun set. It was a bit cold by this time so we walked back into the town and people-watched for a while, before heading off for a kebab for dinner (which, honestly, was a pretty awesome kebab) and taking some photos around the city at night. The place had a good feel - heaps of young people, and nothing negative going on. Pretty enjoyable all around - thanks Arhus!


Arhus - Odense

Sunday 14th September (Day 20)

We jumped up in the morning and grabbed our gear, heading out for breakfast on the way to the train station. We ate some of the food we had bought the previous day, sitting on a park bench in the sun. While we sat there we noticed that many of the car drivers didn’t seem to give way to pedestrians much, even when they were on a pedestrian crossing. Bikes also didn’t give way to pedestrians much either. It was quite bizarre, and we were surprised when an elderly person was almost mowed down in front of us, and I was nearly bowled over by a bike (on the footpath). Random! We managed to make it to the train station without too much drama, but Vaughan had misinterpreted the train time, and there wasn’t one leaving when we expected. As we did not have to have actual reservations for the trip, this was easily solved by jumping on the next one, that left about an hour later - easy!

The train trip was just as pretty as the others, and I really enjoyed passing through some of the smaller towns and stations, repeatedly noticing how flat the landscape was. We made it to Odense in good time and managed to find our B&B - it was more like a large two-storied studio, as the British lady that owned it also used it as a consultation and exercise business of some type. There was heaps of room, and all kinds of things to use that we hadn’t had access to in a while, like books and stereos and the best shower in the world! After dropping our things off, we headed into Odense, again finding the central cobbtlestone area with ease (although we almost got run over on a pedestrian crossing - looks like the same rules apply as in Arhus). We were quite tired after just one night in Arhus, and also knowing we only had one night in Odense. We walked over to Sankt Knuds Kirke, the 16th Century Gothic cathedral, although we didn’t go inside - we took a walk in the gardens and along the river just next to the cathedral, and it was really pretty and relaxing there, with heaps of people out enjoying the afternoon sun. We lay on the grass for a while, just enjoying the quite and the bright flowers around us, before heading over towards HC Anderson Hus (Hans Christian Andersen House). We had a look around some of the quaint wee cottages in the cobblestone lanes, before heading back to the central area and having more of a wander around the (closed) shops. We grabbed a kebab for dinenr (second night in a row - the Danish seem to do a good kebab), and ate these as we continued wandering around as dusk set in. Odense seemed like a really simple place, and we enjoyed not having to rush around to see too many things. From there, we went back to the B&B for a quiet night.


Odense - Copenhagen - Dusseldorf

Monday 15th September (Day 21)

We got up today with an opportunity to have a better look around Odense, as we weren’t departing until the afternoon. We headed back for the main cobblestone area and had a better look around while it was a bit warmer. We went through the Gothic cathedral that we had seen from the outside the day before, and took a few photos. It was quite long and the whole place was white - it had some catacombs underneath the building, which we peeked into for a few minutes. We also went back to the park and had another relaxing lie on the grass for a while. From there we headed to one side of the central city to get some washing done at the laundromat. There was a large supermarket about a minute’s walk away, so we bought a hot roast chicken and some bread rolls, and ate that together while sitting inside, waiting for our washing. We just people-watched mostly, especially this one random woman who couldn’t seem to get any of the washing machines working (even when she read the instructions, and asked others for help) - I mean, if we can do it when the instructions are in a foreign language, then I’m not sure why a local woman couldn’t seem to. The fact that she appeared to have never actually washed clothes in her life probably added to the amusement. After we had eaten and we were all sorted out, we headed back and collected the rest of our things and then dragged everything to the train station. We jumped on the train which took us back to Copenhagen, and after a change of trains at one point, we managed to make it to the airport with ease, and we finally departed Denmark, bound for Düsseldorf (Germany) for the last two nights of our European trip. In all honesty, we had not enjoyed Denmark as much as expected - many of the people seemed unfriendly, drivers were rude and everything was so expensive. We were looking forward to returning to Germany for our last few days in Europe.

We made it through the airport and over to Düsseldorf safely. At the airport we had to wait a while to get the train into the city, but it wasn’t too bad. We made it to the main train station and got some quick dinner there, as most German train stations are well equipped with fast food and convenience stores. The train station was partly underground and it was quite dark, with very low ceilings, so we were glad to get outside. After walking for about 10 minutes we managed to find our hotel. It wasn’t the hotel we had booked at, but a replacement hotel while our one was being refurbished. It seemed quite closed to many shops and not far from the central city either - not bad at all. We turned in for the night, looking forward to the next day in Düsseldorf.


Tuesday 16th September (Day 22)

We woke up and went downstairs to eat the breakfast that was provided in the breakfast room. Everything was pretty stale so we ended up leaving a lot of it and heading around the corner to the supermarket for some fresh fruit salad, which was excellent in comparison. We took a round-about route towards town, via a very pretty park with heaps of ducks and waterways to wander around. Everything was so clean and tidy (even the leaves were being cleaned up as they fell form the trees in the park). It was a bit cold and we could see our breath in the air. We stopped off at H&M for some clothes shopping (I couldn’t resist - why don’t we have H&M in New Zealand?), before reaching the “Ko” (Konigsallee), which is the grand central shopping street - the lanes in each direction flank a canal, and the stores are all high-end boutique places, including Tiffany’s, Armani and Cartier. It was all very impressive, and quite amusing to see all the posh people do their shopping. Each store had a security guard/escort (dressed in a suit of course), and the windows were bullet proof (in fact, a side window in the Cartier store had what looked like a bullet hole in it, but it had only cracked part of the glass). Düsseldorf is clearly much more contemporary than the towns in the south, where we had most recently spent our time.

From the "Ko", we headed towards the river, via a rambling walk through Altstadt (Old Town). It was pretty quiet there and we stopped off at McDonalds for some cheeseburgers. We took a few photos and admired the old buildings, although much of it was closed in the daytime, as Old Town has become the café and restaurant section of the city. We made it to the waterfront and walked along the huge boardwalk, just talking. We passed a lot of river ‘party boats’ on the riverside that looked as if they were gearing up for the evening, as well as loads of long tables and awnings, for the beer drinkers by the river. It was still pretty quiet when we were there, and we thought the walk would only take us a short time, but it was much further than expected and we ended up walking for several hours, along the boardwalk, under bridges, past the needle-pint tower (Rheinturm), and over to the marina, where we stopped for a rest and to take some photos of the Nauer Zollhof, a commercial park designed by Guggenheim architect, Frank Gehry.

Our feet were pretty sore form walking by this time, so we headed back to the hotel for a short rest, cutting back down the “Ko” and through the centre of town for a bit of a shorter trip. After Vaughan had a bit of a nap, we were off again for dinner, back down to Old Town which seemed to come alive as darkness fell. Neon signs were switched on, the cafés and restaurants started to fill up, the cobblestone streets filled with people, and the sounds and smells of local food on the grill, and people enjoying themselves were all around us. We strolled along, with Vaughan looking for a place selling his favourite kind of German pork dish, but he couldn’t make up his mind. Eventually we narrowed it down to two restaurants that were next to each other, and I took a seat at the closest table - I had had enough walking for one day, and I think Vaughan was relieved that someone had made a choice for him. We sat quietly together at the outdoor tables, enjoying looking at asll the local fare on the menu. We both decided on the pork leg (schweine haux) for our last night in Germany. We chatted to some people next to us, and it was really pleasant just sitting at the outdoor tables, in the street, surrounding by other relaxed people enjoying the same thing. Our food arrived very quickly (you can watch the pork turning on the rotisserie, and despite the demand, they still managed to keep up). It was incredible! We were both glad we had come out for the evening on our last night, not just in Germany, but in Europe. It was so filling, and we sat there afterwards with a drink or two, just passing the time and people-watching again. Eventually we were ready to head back, with very sore feet after a long day of walking, and a hankering for a McDonald’s sundae on the way. Fantastic stuff! It had been another successful European trip, and we both really hope to have the opportunity to visit Germany again one day. Tomorrow - back to the good old U S of A!

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