Baltic Adventure by Land, Sea and Air, 2

London, Bremen, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Riga, Tallinn, Helsinki, Lübeck, Cologne

Part 2, Scandinavia

(see Part 1 here)

We did not need much breakfast after the previous evening’s wonderful dinner, but what we did enjoy of the hotel’s buffet breakfast was very good. Our full day in Copenhagen consisted of a city tour partly on foot and partly by coach with a good local guide, lunch at a traditional restaurant and then a boat tour of the city. The rest of the afternoon and evening was free.

The guided tour took us to Amalienborg Palace, four matching palaces arranged in a square, each with its own purpose. Like the UK, Denmark is a constitutional monarchy but less formal: the Queen walks her dogs along the riverside when in residence in the city, just as anyone else might. The soldiers keeping guard are less rigid than ours and actually look as if they are keeping watch rather than concentrating on marching in exactly the right way. The coach took us to the waterfront where we had a chance to see that statue of the Little Mermaid, a reminder of the famous Hans Christian Andersen story with has become a symbol of the city. It is a small statue on the water’s edge beneath the harbour wall and is really only easy to find because of the crowds gathering round to see it. I do not remember in being so crowded when we came about 35 years ago, but memory can play tricks. Last time I was here there were huge catamarans taking traffic to and from Malmo, across the water in Sweden, but these have now ben superseded by the Oresund Bridge which we would be taking the following day. 

We learnt about recent redevelopment in the city, including the new waste incinerator plant which provides district heating by burning the city’s waste and whose roof provides a ski slope as well as an urban garden. The city is also served by a new theatre and new national opera house on the waterside. It remains a beautiful city: wonderful Copenhagen. Our local guide showed us briefly a wonderful pre-reformation Lutheran church in the city centre which retained much more of its original style than English churches of that period which suffered during the commonwealth era. He then left us at the restaurant Pilekaelderen where the whole party enjoyed the traditional Smørrebrød lunch of local dishes served like a tapas. 

From there we walked to the trip boat pier at Nyhaven where we boarded our booked public tour boat for a tour around the harbour and the city’s canals. For me the most interesting part was through Christianshavn wher King Christian built a new part of the city based very much upon the layout and style of Amsterdam. It is quite amazing what can be done by someone with enough authority and a a strong vision of what he wants to achieve.

After the canal tour we walked slowly back to the hotel through the hot sunshine, stopping at a Lindt chocolate shop which was advertising ice-cream .... it was too hot to buy chocolate unless it is ice-cream! We ate it in the shop because the sunshine was far too hot to take it outside.

Back at the hotel we had a brief rest and then set out for an evening walk. We did not need an evening meal after all we'd enjoyed during the day, and back at our room we packed most of our things ready for the following day when our luggage would be taken separately to Stockholm while we caught our train. We made sure that we had enough in our hand luggage to see us through one night in case there were a hold-up to the main luggage.

On Thursday morning we left our luggage ready for the porter and had a big breakfast to see us through the day and set off for the station to take a train to Malmö where we were to change for a fast train onwards to Stockholm. The first train continued the tradition of late running, but this time only by four minutes, nothing like the hour-or-more delays of Germany. We had coffee at Malmö and then went to catch our train, a high-speed tilting train to Stockholm which actually departed on time. We arrived just a touch late in Stockholm and followed our Tour Manager through the complexities of Stockholm main station to emerge from a metro exit right under our hotel, the Scandic Continental. 

The hotel was an amazing building of modernist Scandinavian design right opposite the railway station. There were entrances on two levels because streets cross each other by bridge right where the hotel stands, although the entrance on the upper ground floor is currently out of use (unfortunately, as the tram stop is near that door). In our room was a coffee-table book about the design and construction of the building - unfortunately in Swedish language only, but the pictures were interesting! One of the features of the building was a diagonal split through the centre to provide an unusually shaped atrium, and with one side of the building higher than the other the lower flat roof housed an outdoor bar with stunning views over the city. We were to say in Stockholm for three nights, the longest stay of the tour, so it was worth unpacking properly at this hotel, then we had dinner as a group in the hotel restaurant. After dinner we went for a walk to explore the old town, a short walk from the hotel. This was a part of the city we would get to know reasonably well over the next couple of days.

Friday's guided tour began following the theme of transport delays with our coach stuck in queues arising from a road traffic accident, but a quick change to the schedule saw us walk to the City Hall to begin there, with the coach to collect us after that. The City Hall has to be seen to be believed and was well worth our time. A fabulous example of Swedish romantic architecture with art deco touches. Having a local guide to explain the background and the uses of the hall was brilliant. 

Moving on by coach we happened to be at the Royal Palace when the changing of the guard was due. We also saw the administrative buildings of the government and parliament.

The coach dropped as all at Djurgården where the was a huge choice of museums and different people visited different ones. We investigated the Skansen outdoor museum and decided it needed a whole day, so we bought tickets for the following day which had no included activities and would therefore allow us to see all we wished. We had a drink and a snack and by then it was time to look for the boat trip back to the Old Town. That happened to be the time when our Tour Manager was taking most of the group back with him so we travelled with them. We paid for the boat using our local travel app which we had been advised to install on our smartphones. Absolutely brilliant: saved having to queue for tickets and so easy to use.

This day was the day, the round birthday that the whole adventure was celebrating, so on our way through the Old Town we booked a table at a local restaurant that our local guide in the morning had suggested as one that served local dishes. After a shower and change of clothes we waked back to the restaurant, Kaffegillet, opposite the Cathedral, and enjoyed traditional Swedish dishes. We liked it so much that the following day, on our way back from our day at Skansen, we would return and try other Swedish dishes at the same place.

On Saturday, then, we began with a tram to Djurgården, where we spent all day at Skansen. This was a fantastic display of traditional buildings moved there from all over Sweden, as well as a zoological section full of Nordic animals. We returned by boat again and called at Kaffegillet for dinner on the way to the hotel. Time to pack ready to move on in the morning. No more trains now for some time: air, sea and road were to provide our travel for the next few moves.

Sunday was expected to be an exciting day for us, as it involved a flight, our first for many years. Given how much had changed since we last flew, it was helpful that we were with a group and our Tour Manager had all the arrangements in hand. it was unfortunate that the tour continued in the manner in which it had been progressing since Brussels, though, with the aircraft in the wrong place and take-off expected to be delayed by 100 minutes. We arrived at the airport, Stockholm Arlanda, in time for check-in at the normal time and so had almost four hours before take-off. When baggage check-in opened the queue moved at a glacial pace and by the time I got to hand in my suitcase I was already feeling the strain of standing for so long, but worse was yet to come. When we went to the security scan for ourselves and our hand-luggage we had to walk for a very considerable distance to get to the back of the queue. It was worse than the queue at St Pancras had been when we were leaving London and again the queue moved unbelievably slowly. Indeed by the time we actually reached the security scanners I realised that had the flight not been delayed we would have missed it while standing in line at security!

Is this what flying is like? Is this how "the other half" habitually travel? My knees had had more than enough standing (about three hours) and I was not expecting railway standards of legroom on the aircraft, an Airbus's 220 of Air Baltic. In spite of the enormous queues there was still enough time before departure to have a drink and a snack airside before being called to the gate. Eventually we went through and boarded the plane. It was comfortable enough for a short flight but I'd not have wanted to be going any further in a seat like that. The flight itself was smooth and quick and we were soon taxiing to the terminal at Riga. The queues at Arlanda airport had taken approximately twice as long as the actual flight! Shall we fly again? Only if we really have to do so!

We were met at the airport by a coach which took us to the start of our next adventure, the former Soviet Republics of Latvia and Estonia and the former Russian Grand Duchy of Finland. It was to be fascinating, and I look forward to describing it in the next post.

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Baltic Adventure by Land, Sea and Air, 1

London, Bremen, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Riga, Tallinn, Helsinki, Lübeck, Cologne

Part 1, through Belgium and Germany to Denmark

This tour of Scandinavian and Baltic countries was planned as a birthday treat for my wife's next round birthday and we were able to time it so that we would be away on the actual day. This had an advantage when going to northern Europe in that it would be likely to be warm enough, since the big day is close to midsummer day. The Great Rail Journeys rail tour  "Highlights of Scandinavia and the Baltics" nicely fitted what she wanted to do and was available at just the right timing, so we booked it up as soon as we discovered it, well in advance, and worked all out other plans round it.

Many other trips small and large were taken between booking this one and starting the adventure!

Trains and Boats and Planes

There are no trains out of Stamford on a Sunday morning but this suited us well on this occasion: as I am to be missing from church for two Sundays while touring, it was as well to be able to take the Sunday service at St Martin's before I left. We had a light lunch, washed up and walked down to the station for our booked train and connected at Peterborough for a train to London, travelling in First Class, booked well in advance.

As usual, soon after leaving Peterborough the cold drinks trolley came through and we chose rosé wine, excellent for such a hot day and we thought it would go well with our chosen food but alas the food had run out, but for crisps and biscuits. Not a disaster but an annoyance: we were meeting our son in London for a drink and would just add some food to the plan. Having checked in at the Premier Inn at Kings Cross we met at Mare Street Food, in the beautifully-redeveloped Kings Cross area.

On Monday morning our Great Rail Journeys tour began as we met our Tour Manager Martyn outside the GRJ office at St Pancras station and then made our way to the ticket barriers in the International Departures area. There was an unprecedented queue! usually we just walk in, wth an occasional brief wait, but this time the queue started right back by the lifts to the Southeastern Highspeed platforms. Although it was a long queue it was fast and it was not all that long a time before we were scanning our tickets and going through to await boarding. Security and passport check were swift and efficient. I was expecting to buy coffee at The Station Pantry as usual only to find that it was closed and behind hoardings, being redeveloped into another type of establishment. So we finished up at Prêt-à-Manger which was perfectly fine. Just time to drink our coffee before the train started loading and we went up the travellator to find our coach and our pair of facing single seats, our favourite accommodation on Eurostar and on any other train that offers it. As usual, a light breakfast was served on the train, and as often on Great Rail Journeys we met some of our fellow travellers who were sitting at the four-seat table opposite ours.

The Eurostar train arrived at Brussels on time and then began a long catalogue of delays. We had time to have lunch at Brussels and already knew that our connecting service to Cologne was running late.

We were scheduled to catch the 17:11 train from Cologne to Bremen and there was still plenty of time to make the connection, but it was indicated as expected at 17:58 and with no catering. As time passed it became later and later until it finally left Cologne at 19:00, nearly two hours late. This is, I'm sorry to say, the sort of service we have come to expect from DB. Our Tour Manager telephoned ahead to our hotel who kindly held back our buffet dinner until we arrived. It was a pity that we should not have a chance to see much at all of Bremen: thanks to further delays to our train we had to go straight into dinner and did not get to bed until midnight.

On a bright and sunny Tuesday morning we walked back to Bremen station for the ICE to Hamburg. This one did have its catering offering but was a few minutes late then held before arriving at Hamburg Hbf, but was still in good time to make our connection to Copenhagen. The coffee was good but we had to pay cash, which is unusual these days; to our surprise, the train to Copenhagen was from Prague and was a Czech train with a Czech crew. Having crossed Germany it was, of course, late, although only be ten minutes. This eventually became twenty minutes before it actually departed. We were travelling in Second Class on this train, but this was still comfortable and pleasant. We did think of having a hot meal in the restaurant car, but when we went all the tables were taken and there were few of the cooked items left, so we bought sandwiches and took them back to our seats. The first highlight of this section of the journey was crossing the Kiel Canal on the Rendsburg High Bridge. This is high enough to allow ships to pass beneath, and have crossed the train then descends on a wide spiral to pass under the bridge and continue on its way along the opposite bank of the canal. This is all in a wooded residential area which looks great from the railway, although how great the railway looks from the homes I cannot say!

After crossing the other highlight of this journey, the Great Belt crossing, there was a total change of mood after a Danish crew took over at a subsequent stop. The driver spoke to us and told us he was going to to his best to regain lost time, there was a ticket check and a rubbish collection and everyone was asked to get their luggage out of the aisles, there was an announcement about the bistro (it was not restocked, though and the Czech steward remained). Unfortunately a Signal fault caused further delay and lost a few minutes more than our Danish driver had been able to recover.  We arrived in Copenhagen's wonderful main station with its unique timber truss roof just in time to walk to our hotel, the Scandic Palace in the main square, drop our luggage in our room and then walk to our meal out at the restaurant Flammen for a traditional buffet dinner.  It was very much a carvery where we were served with our choice if meat (I had wild boar) and helped ourselves to the vegetables. 

We had arrived in Scandinavia, the first of a series of capital cities. We had been in Copenhagen before, on a day out from Billund when we brought our children there for Legoland over thirty years ago! We recognised only the royal palace. Back in those days we had to fly to Copenhagen, but now were able to get there by rail via the Great Belt bridge and tunnel. Our activities in Copenhagen and subsequent adventures in Stockholm, Riga, Tallinn and Helsinki will follow soon in the next post or two ....