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Adventures of a Global Wanderer
Todays confusing itinerary was to get from Hamburg to Copenhagen. There is an intercity express that stops in Lubeck. I got a local ticket to Lubeck, then needed to be on the Intercity Express from Lubeck to Copenhagen.
I'd bought a Denmark Rail Pass for my 3 days there but that was only valid from Denmark. I still needed a local ticket from Lubeck to the Denmark border which is a ferry crossing not a land border.
You also needed a seat reservation from Lubeck to Copenhagen, even though I would have two tickets, one from Lubeck to the border, from where my Denmark Rail Pass would kick in. I also wasn't sure about the ferry. Does my pass only kick in from the Denmark side of the mainland? Do I need a separate ferry ticket.
The lady at the Adventure Travel Company on King St that sells the rail pass told me the ferry was included in the pass. I still wasn't sure and didn't want some train guard to try telling me something in German that the pass only works from the Denmark mainland.
She checked into it further so booked me a ticket from Lubeck to an imaginary station in the system in the middle of the waters, to clarify any disputes, as no such station existed so there was nowhere for me to depart from. The system does not let you use the station on the Denmark side which I tried to get her to do originally as the ICE does not stop there.
The next issue the pass is only valid on a Canadian Passport as you have to be a non European resident. I was travelling on my UK passport as its much easier to travel with in Europe being an EU passport.
Before the ferry crossing German Customs came by thru the carriage to identify bags and ask if you have anything to declare. I didn't realize I had both passports lying on the table and they didn't think to ask why I was travelling on two passports.
The train was actually coming from Berlin, via Hamburg, to Copenhagen. We passed lots of wind farms the closer we got to the coast. I didn't know if we all had to get off the board the ferry and board another train on the other side.
Remarkably the train actually goes onto the ferry. The travel agent had mentioned this as I wasn't sure if might have been a bridge crossing either. I've never seen a train slide into a ferry before so it was actually quite interesting.
We had to leave the train for the crossing though we could leave our bags there. It was quite a modern boat a duty free shopping arcade and currency exchange.
Unfortunately the rain had started this afternoon in Lubeck and it was still coming quite heavy the further we went. I was hoping to outrun it as the extended forecast for Copenhagen had kept saying clear and sunny.
As we neared the other side we needed to be back on the train prior to docking so that it could pull out. No time for stragglers or taking photos, these ferrys are all very punctual as I had been observing.
I couldn't find my seat and wandered thru Business Class before eventually finding it.
We passed thru small towns and the rain did not seem to be clearing. There were more wind farms this side of the border too. They actually paint the bottom different shades of green to blend in with the landscape.
Eventually we made it to Copenhagen and I exchanged some Euros for Kronas. I didn't know if pricing would be back on the outrageous Norwegian level back in a Scandinavian country. I was told they are all the same and they were on par on my last visit in 2003.
Taking a quick peek thru the 7-11 they seemed reasonable at not at the Norwegian level which was reassuring. I then had to walk about a 1km to my hotel further away.
Copenhagen has aggressively expanded its biking culture so it was sometimes tricky walking as a pedestrian with luggage in a new city trying to find your route. The hotel was not easy to find as it does not have a sign.
I went to their sister hotel to get directions and eventually found it having passed it. The room had its own sink and tv which was nice but there was only one toilet in a small cupboard for the entire floor.
I'd bought a Denmark Rail Pass for my 3 days there but that was only valid from Denmark. I still needed a local ticket from Lubeck to the Denmark border which is a ferry crossing not a land border.
You also needed a seat reservation from Lubeck to Copenhagen, even though I would have two tickets, one from Lubeck to the border, from where my Denmark Rail Pass would kick in. I also wasn't sure about the ferry. Does my pass only kick in from the Denmark side of the mainland? Do I need a separate ferry ticket.
The lady at the Adventure Travel Company on King St that sells the rail pass told me the ferry was included in the pass. I still wasn't sure and didn't want some train guard to try telling me something in German that the pass only works from the Denmark mainland.
She checked into it further so booked me a ticket from Lubeck to an imaginary station in the system in the middle of the waters, to clarify any disputes, as no such station existed so there was nowhere for me to depart from. The system does not let you use the station on the Denmark side which I tried to get her to do originally as the ICE does not stop there.
The next issue the pass is only valid on a Canadian Passport as you have to be a non European resident. I was travelling on my UK passport as its much easier to travel with in Europe being an EU passport.
Before the ferry crossing German Customs came by thru the carriage to identify bags and ask if you have anything to declare. I didn't realize I had both passports lying on the table and they didn't think to ask why I was travelling on two passports.
The train was actually coming from Berlin, via Hamburg, to Copenhagen. We passed lots of wind farms the closer we got to the coast. I didn't know if we all had to get off the board the ferry and board another train on the other side.
Remarkably the train actually goes onto the ferry. The travel agent had mentioned this as I wasn't sure if might have been a bridge crossing either. I've never seen a train slide into a ferry before so it was actually quite interesting.
We had to leave the train for the crossing though we could leave our bags there. It was quite a modern boat a duty free shopping arcade and currency exchange.
Unfortunately the rain had started this afternoon in Lubeck and it was still coming quite heavy the further we went. I was hoping to outrun it as the extended forecast for Copenhagen had kept saying clear and sunny.
As we neared the other side we needed to be back on the train prior to docking so that it could pull out. No time for stragglers or taking photos, these ferrys are all very punctual as I had been observing.
I couldn't find my seat and wandered thru Business Class before eventually finding it.
We passed thru small towns and the rain did not seem to be clearing. There were more wind farms this side of the border too. They actually paint the bottom different shades of green to blend in with the landscape.
Eventually we made it to Copenhagen and I exchanged some Euros for Kronas. I didn't know if pricing would be back on the outrageous Norwegian level back in a Scandinavian country. I was told they are all the same and they were on par on my last visit in 2003.
Taking a quick peek thru the 7-11 they seemed reasonable at not at the Norwegian level which was reassuring. I then had to walk about a 1km to my hotel further away.
Copenhagen has aggressively expanded its biking culture so it was sometimes tricky walking as a pedestrian with luggage in a new city trying to find your route. The hotel was not easy to find as it does not have a sign.
I went to their sister hotel to get directions and eventually found it having passed it. The room had its own sink and tv which was nice but there was only one toilet in a small cupboard for the entire floor.
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