Copenhagen - København

What: Seaport of the Danes, capital city since the 15th century, aiming to be carbon neutral by 2025.

(Copenhagen Harbour. Image: author's own)

Accommodation: Woodah Yoga Hostel. Amazing; novel space in an old veg. store. The decor was seriously stylish - perhaps the nicest I've seen in a hostel yet. Beds are contained in little pods - great for changing in private, and minimising the noise and light problems brought in with 24-hour hostels. The staff were consistently helpful, one even drew me a walking-route round Copenhagen! Location-wise: Vesterbro is sort-of trendy with slight overtones of dodgy, I'd compare to Bethnal Green in London.

(Woodah Dorm Pods: Image: Europalust)

What can I do on a national holiday? 

So many things! 

• Go to Tivoli and pretend you are a celeb (they all gather there for the Annual Opening of the park), 
• Go on a walking tour of the city (guides leave the tourist info office daily at 10am, for just 100 kroner see all of Copenhagen, learn so very much about Hans Christian Anderson, gaze at 'the Danish Big Ben' until you get run over by a hoard of cyclists. 
• Sample the local delicacies at the harbour - I surprised myself in that I actually enjoyed pickled herring and gravlax.
• So many churches to visit...
• Climb the Round Tower - wide enough to pull the King's wagon all the way to the top!
• Go see a show! I watched Evita, in Danish at Det Ny Teater! The service and surroundings were both stunning; and the staff all look like Buttons. 

(Kir Royale at the Det Ny Teater. Image: author's own)

Christiania - Freetown

One of the places I was encouraged to visit by my hostel host was Christiania. It is an interesting visit; in my head it was a lake-side walk with a nice vegan cafe half way round. What met me instead was this semi-rural anarchic community, the faint smell of cannabis persistently in the background. Christiania reminded me of Camden in that it is famous for being anarchic and controversial but the reality was fairly tame having been subjected to decades of tourism. Christiania houses about 1000 people in its various houses and squats, usually built by the inhabitants themselves. My experience was generally positive but I chose to leave after one circuit of the lake; you get the impression that if you hit a problem with a local, the police would be powerless to help you. Definitely would not recommend a visit alone or at night!

(Christiania. Image: author's own)

Crossing the Great Belt

I left Copenhagen by train to overnight on Fyn, and that involves crossing the Great Belt. To get an impression of how this feels, try entering 'Storebæltsbroen' into Street View; endless sea in nearly every direction. I did all my Danish travel by bus and train, this was neither the cheapest nor quickest way to travel but it did give me plenty of opportunities to check out the Danish countryside. 

France Daily: Part II Marseille

After yesterdays exploits in Nimes today I went to Marseille.

I boarded a rather expensive regional train (40€ return) and ran the gauntlet of only a cursory look at my Lonely Planet before heading off. With a rough ticklist - the Vieux Port and the Med - in my mind, I boarded the train. Sometimes I prefer to travel without a guide or  map and follow my nose, sometimes this time it led me straight to ´Grotty Marseille´, down at heel, full of beggars and somewhat lacking in charm. So my first recommendation for Marseille is when you arrive, feel free to take a photo of the pretty station and then board the Metro - easy to do with self service machines, fairly cheap and will save you pain.

Go to the Vieux Port (just 2 stops) its a gorgeous harbour surrounded by Phonecian outcrops, castles and abbeys. There also lots of places offering ´authentic seafood´especially Bouillabaisse - these are pretty effective tourist traps but depends what you are after I guess.

(Vieux Port from the Jardin du Pharo)

 I walked from the Vieux Port round to Porte de l´Orient which seems to be a war memorial to Kennedy. The coast was wild and beautiful because the wind was up, but not the sort of day for sitting on the beach. I also stopped at the pretty Jardin du Pharo which seems to double up as a botanical garden. Great views especially as Bas Fort St Nicholas was shut. I got the bus back - turns out the tickets for public transport are  transferrable - like an oyster card.

(Kennedy´s Door)

Making my way to the 2nd quarter was the best decision I made all day. I stopped at a gorgeous restaurant (l´Effet Clochette - Place des Augustines) intending to have something small but ended up having fresh sardines, rose- petal icecream and then coffee because the food, and the company were so good. I met a lovely couple from San Diego who were struggling because their google app couldnt translate handwritten french on a blackboard - first world problems! We enjoyed swapping unmissable sites and I hope they go on to visit the lavender fields of Provence.

I really enjoyed the old town of Marseille, loads of winding roads with faded shutters, an invitation to dance, emblazoned on a wall, even the old workhouse building is beautiful. The Cathedral Major looked lovely from outside, I assume it is great inside too but like all of France it seems God doesn´t work Mondays either!

As I say, Marseille has a lot to offer, if you look in the right places, 2nd and 7th arondissements were great, avoid 1st arondissement at all costs! Oh and beware the pickpockets, especially in the train station.

(Old Marseille, dance, and Cathedral Major)

Adventures in Europe III - Hamburg then home :)

I had been very excited about the trip to Hamburg as we had planned to take the ICE train; but it was cancelled as it pulled into our station, so we rode a slow inter-city train from Budapest to Hamburg. It was really hot and Dad mischievously pulled the emergency brake on the first class door-close mechanism ensuring we all got to share their air-con.

When we eventually arrived at our accommodation for the night we were disappointed. It had taken a long time to get there and our ‘twin chalet with garden entrance’ turned out to be a converted garage by the bins. Worse, the room had not been cleaned! Having had the train ride from hell, I was not OK with the situation. I marched to the reception and demanded the receptionist do something about it. He looked scared and needless to say we were upgraded. To be fair to them the room price was maybe a third of Industrie Palast but we had got used to a superior service. 

New room moved into we headed to Hamburg Harbour which was having some kind of noisy festival. Our oasis of calm was a little Portuguese riverside restaurant that offered food at 10pm on a Sunday night. Dad marvelled that any restaurants were open after 6 (this was not how it was in Austria in 1987!) and I enjoyed the most amazing John Dory and veg I’ve ever had!

(Hamburg Rathaus)

With the reassurance that Hamburg could do good food, even if it was Portuguese, we set of the next day hopeful. We headed straight for the Rathaus because I had recently learned my Granddad had been stationed there in the war, we took lots of nice photos and enjoyed the posh bits of Hamburg, all the big designers were there.

Dad and I found somewhere we felt much more comfortable, the St Nickolas Memorial Church. One of the highlights from my Lonely Planet Guide to Central Europe, the memorial is thoroughly reminiscent of Coventry. The church was totally flattened by the Allied forces during campaign Gomorrah and only the steeple remains. The church building area is slowly filling up with various memorials, I liked the one with the hands, and the emphasis is on world peace rather than German victims. As before there was a lift to board and Dad and I enjoyed another view of another German city from the air - this one looking completely unrecognisable from its pre-war city. This led Dad and I to several discussions on what constitutes ‘Just War’ and bravery. The museum at St Nickolas is also worth a visit for the photographic collection.

Hamburg from the air looks distinctly like a city that does not look back, it does not renovate, it innovates.

(St Nikolas Church)

After a nifty little lunch at the Crobag and an amusing incident where Dad was determined to ask for an ATM by showing his card to strangers, in full knowledge I knew how to ask in German, followed by several iced drinks we headed for the old harbour. Dad found a massive model railway, luckily for me it was the wrong gauge for him, and then I got an exciting missed call from an old friend, you know who you are and I’m really happy for you. Buoyed by the knowledge a good friend was very happy Dad and I boarded a boat on the lake at Hamburg. It was a glorious day and I’ll admit its a middle-aged past time but we enjoyed the German boat-tour, trying to guess the detail and occasionally checking with a Lithuanian girl who had the tour in English and was trying not to fall asleep.  The lake was pretty and I enjoyed watching sailors of different ages master their crafts.

(View from the boat, Hamburg Lake)

After this leisurely tour, some paddling, and some envy over a paddle-steamer on Dad’s part, we discovered a quite different boat-tour. Down at the harbour our rail-tickets were also valid for the boat taxis. These little boats zip about the harbour at speed throwing spray in the faces of anyone mad enough to stand on deck, like us, doing our best Reepicheep impressions. Although I was hungry and a bit sleepy by this stage, I did feel very alive and I got a great view of the futuristic Elbe Philharmonic Hall. On our return Dad reminded me of the poignancy of the area we had just jetted about, the U-boat harbour. Over dinner, at the Portuguese place we thought about our trip and all it had entailed, the things we had learned, the reasons we were grateful and the memories we’d keep forever.

(Elbe Philharmonic Hall from the Harbour)

By the Tuesday we returned home, from Hamburg to Southend, we were getting quite used to long periods of time on trains and the thought of the slow train from Osnabruck was actually alright. I listened to tunes and stopped Dad snoring too loudly, drank cheap off the trolley coffees and made the most of the spare seat spaces for napping. The trip across the channel takes literally half an hour, there isn’t really even time for the loo sign to come on, but I did manage a celebratory gin and tonic. Within an hour and a half of landing, my sister had already dragged me out to our Zumba class and things were definitely back to normal! But I really enjoyed Europe, especially speaking German, eating tasty things outdoors and lots of sunshine!