Transport is Arranged - Part 4, Hamburg and Copenhagen (& arriving in Oslo)

Friday

On Friday morning we had a slow start, and we decided to get out and have brunch - maybe head over to the Kunsthalle to see the painting that was recommended to us, and get the train. We went to a place called Moraba and sat on the benches outside, ordered a brunch platter for two and waited...and waited....and yes, it came and it was plentful and delicious but took so long we only had time for a cab ride to the station, across a very busy Hamburg, and only just really made it in time for the train. 

The train journey was our first introduction to the twinning of Danish trains with the UKs*. Firstly, there were no visible seat reservations and the people sat in ours did not want to move - potentially as they knew what was in store for them! They did move, but we saw the same conversations repeated over and over, and heard announcements about the reservations downloading - they never actually did. Ridiculously for a 5 hour journey, no buffet car - also, no way of getting any water - the conductor pointed us towards vending machines but they were all broken. We had two broken toilets either side of our carriage too. Working my way through the train was impossible as people were sat on the floor as tickets for the train journey had been oversold. First class were being given little bottles of water, but they were categorically not available to standard classers, even to buy.

We arrived in Copenhagen at 6pm and the hotel I had booked was around 10 minutes from the train station - it was such a relief to be off that awful train. We stayed at the Scandic hotel in Kødbyen - the Meat Packing district, which is the home to some pretty hip looking places and even at that time, lots of people out for drinks. Once we eventually found the hotel, using Google navigation that we felt might be about to say: 'wait by this portakabin for your assigned scandi-murderer' we checked in and bought two bottles of water from the fridges at reception, and drank them pretty much before we got to the room. 

We headed out quite quickly, conscious our train was early the next morning and wanting to get as much of Copenhagen seen as we could. I had grand plans of getting a taxi to some of the key spots and then finding somewhere to eat, but the thought just seemed exhausting. On a trip like this you just can't tick off the sights, which is a bit of a relief actually. We decided instead to walk around, see what was going on and let's find a somewhere to sit and people watch and get a drink.

The finding of a bar heralded the start of 'how much is that in pounds?' start of the trip, followed by some clumsy maths and a clutch of the heart. We knew that the food & drinks portion of the trip was going to be expensive - from this point on particularly - so tried not to worry too much about it. We knew what we were getting into when we planned this. If we wanted to do this on a tight budget, it would have been possible to some extent - there are 7-11s selling hot dogs and baked goods everywhere, and you don't have to eat out or drink in a bar - but those are things we like to do, so we just went ahead and did them.

First impressions of Copenhagen were that it is super clean, and it's clear that bikes are a preferred mode of transport for many - the bike lanes seem to be mostly separate from the rest of traffic and there are no hills at all, so it makes a lot of sense. Secondly, everyone spoke English to us and others, almost as default. We found a bar called Alfons x Vintrovert which was a classy little place, and I had a glass of wine and James had a beer. It was clearly filled with a post-work crowd and it was all so lovely I realised that this wasn't going to be enough of Copenhagen, that we'd need to come back. 

When we paid, the bartender asked where we were going to eat and we said we weren't sure - she recommended a few places for us, including somewhere she said was likely to be very busy but definitely try - Jah Izakaya & Sake Bar. James already had this on his potentials list, so we headed in that general direction to see if we could get in.

As we headed towards Jah Izakaya, we passed many different restaurants and takeaways, all of them busy. When we arrived, we were greeted - again in English - and told they had nothing - well, potentially something, but at 9pm and we'd essentially have to eat with our elbows in as it was a small space. It looked so cool and cosy inside, so we took it, and gave him our details - he said if anything more roomy came up he'd call us. We found Mikkeller - a small cellar bar with a varied beer menu and outdoor space. Again, there was quite a choice of sour beers which was very welcome for me. Jah Izakaya called to say they could take us earlier and seat us comfortably, so we headed over.

We sat at a table, elbows relaxed, and opted for the tasting menu - it was incredible - the photos below show the overstuffed gyoza and a lovely rice bowl with lots of tasty stuff in it. The food just kept coming, it was lovely. The staff were so friendly and interested in what we thought, it was a great experience.

Saturday

On Saturday we got up early with a mission in mind. We have recently watched The Bear on Disney Plus and one of the characters becomes inspired by baking and mentions Hart Bageri. On Googling, we realised that it is in Copenhagen, so yes, we would definitely like to go to there. I also spotted a tweet from Nigella Lawson recommending their Cardamon Buns so that helped narrow down what we were going to be having for breakfast.

Of course, it was a trek, and of course there was a queue - but we had plenty of time and the queue moved quickly. We purchased some Cardamon Buns and drinks, then learning from our mistake the previous day, some sandwiches (Goats Cheese and Walnut on Rye) & fancy biscuits for later. We headed towards the train station to find somewhere to sit and eat 

So obviously the bun was incredible, and the spot we found to sit and eat was quite picturesque. We headed off to Copenhagen train station for the next disappointing Danish Trains experience. ALL TRAINS delayed and then cancelled - due to an electrical fault? We weighed our options and decided as we were going to need to get the bus from Gothenburg to Oslo anyway, then a mammoth bus journey was probably the best option. I had an e-mail from Omio, who we booked our travel with, saying they'd processed a refund for this trip. I went online and booked our journey with Flixbus, who would apparently leave from outside the station.

Of course, finding the bus was not easy - no stand number and no indication of which bit of the road the bus would stop at, but we did find it and the journey was pretty comfortable. We had a couple of rest stops and had the fear that we would see the bus pulling away as we headed out of the shops, but we managed to not get left behind. OH, and we went over The Bridge! There was a tunnel first, which confused me, but I realised what was happening before I missed it. We were also stopped at Customs, and James was interrogated as his Shengen Area passport stamp was not clear. But they decided to let him in anyway, thankfully!

After stopping for a while at the Nils Ericson station in Gothenburg (If you want to know more about this station, I found a comprehensive blog about it here) & eating some fresh and tasty noodles, we eventually got to Oslo around 10pm - watching Karen Pirie and making good audiobook progress on the way. After checking in to the Raddison Park Inn, which was absolutely fine - and yes, I am damning it with faint praise - we went to explore Oslo. It was Hallow'een so there were lots of people dressed up but nothing too rowdy going on. We found a bar! It was an underground cellar bar, all Moroccan style decor and very cosy. Everyone we spoke to was, again, so friendly but after not too long we realised we were too tired for anything more and went off to bed.

*https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.dsb.dk - say no more...