Day 21 - Wednesday May 10, 2017 - Copenhagen

We leave the apartment at 5.22; we’re at the station by 5.37. A pale blue sky, cool and crisp and a beautiful morning. As we walk the streets of the Old Town towards the Vasabron bridge and the station, there’s not a soul about and we have the place to ourselves – now is the time to go exploring and avoid the tour groups! The only people we see before we cross the bridge are two guards outside the Royal Palace, dressed in army fatigues – no ceremonial uniforms at this time in the morning.

We head down to track 11 and wait for the train. We’re car 1, seats 35 and 36. The train at track 12 is going to Goteborg so, assuming the car numbers are arranged in the same direction, we position ourselves appropriately. In due course the train arrives and we find our seats. The carriage is full; looking online at the trains later today and tomorrow, many of them are sold out.

Shortly after we leave, the attendant comes round, checks tickets and offers a boxed continental breakfast. We roll southwest across Sweden, en route to Malmo and Copenhagen. Nothing to do for the next five hours except to sit back, relax and watch the world roll by.

Sweden rolls by. It’s largely flat, green and wooded. We stop here and there and various people get off and others get on, so the carriage stays full.

We arrive at Malmo, where there is apparently a crew change. As we start to glide out of the station again, we suddenly lurch to a halt. We understand nothing of the subsequent announcement other than that it involves a phrase that sounds very like ‘technical problem’. Perhaps today’s Danish driver doesn’t know how to drive a Swedish train?

After a few minutes, we’re on our way again, heading for the Oresund Bridge (yes, that Bridge). It’s not clear where the border is and when you’re on the Bridge you obviously can’t actually see the Bridge. However, the sim card in the iPad switches from 3 SE to 3 DK so I guess we crossed the line. We stop at Copenhagen airport, where a lot (actually, most of our carriage) get off. Presumably for many of them, taking the train to Copenhagen airport is quicker or easier than going to Arlanda, which is north of Stockholm.

Our arrival in Copenhagen is even less appealing than our arrival in Stockholm, where the bus from the ferry dropped us off behind the back of the City Bus Terminal. In Copenhagen, we end up in what looks like a siding. We wander down the platform, wondering where on earth the station is. At the end of the platform there’s an elevator so we take that rather than the stairs. Exit the elevator, turn left (no other choice) and …. where the f**k are we? We appear to be behind the station, the train not having managed to actually make it into the station. Well, if that’s the station over there, if we turn right and then right…. We find our way to the hotel without any problem but it’s not exactly a stellar start to our visit. That said, the train journey itself was fine and the time (five hours) seemed to pass reasonably quickly.

We checked in and fortunately the room was available. It’s small but functional though somewhat lacking in amenities (I’m sitting drinking our red wine from the local supermarket out of one of the two paper cups provided). We’re signed up for breakfast so maybe they’ll have some plastic cups we can nick.

We went out for a walk, vaguely following in reverse a suggested route in the Lonely Planet guide. Lots of large, square buildings. Various banks, museums, the odd Palace and so on but all rather a bit grey and somehow not overly appealing. We’re probably out of sorts from our arrival in a train siding and the day is rather grey and drab but, at first blush, Copenhagen doesn’t have the grandeur of Stockholm (or the charm of Gamla Stan but then it’s hard for anywhere to compete with that).

We wander and end up at Nyhavn, the old harbour, which certainly does have a certain charm but none of the restaurants lining the quayside appear compellingly attractive so we wander on to Kongens Nytorv, apparently Copenhagen’s main square. The fact that it is completely boarded up as they build a new metro line underneath it gives it a rather desperate and desolate air. On the basis that it’s always better to avoid restaurants on the main square, we spot a Cafe sign off down a side street and go to investigate. Cafe Ermanno provides a coffee and a hot chocolate and a shared sandwich and, though they take a while to arrive as there was only one person working, they do the job for lunch.

We wander off again and find ourselves on what must be the main shopping street, though we start out on another square, with Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Prada and George Jensen setting the initial tone. Given that we already have several George Jensen pieces at home, I’m afraid to go anywhere near what may turn out to be the George Jensen store. As we continue along the street, it’s a bit downmarket from there, particularly when you could be anywhere (a Disney store, Zara, H&M, you name it – we could be anywhere). We stop in the Church of the Holy Spirit (directly across from H&M) and sit for a while. Every now and then, the organ bursts into life and snatched pieces of conversation drift down, suggesting that perhaps an organ lesson is going on. All in all, a pleasant interlude.

It’s starting to drizzle so we head in the direction of the hotel. We cross H C Andersens Boulevard (wonder who he was?), past the entrance to the Tivoli Gadens. On the way home, we stop at the local supermarket down the street to get some supplies, which we’re consuming as I write this.

Not sure what we’ll be doing tomorrow – have to do a bit of planning. One thing we won’t be doing is going to see the Little Mermaid. As the Lonely Planet guide says:

“When the world thinks of Copenhagen, chances are they’re thinking of the Little Mermaid. Love her or loathe her (watch Copenhageners cringe at the very mention of her), this small, underwhelming statue is arguably the most photographed sight in the country, as well as the cause of countless ‘is that it?’ shrugs from tourists who have trudged the kilometre or so along an often windswept harbourfront to see her.”

Dinner round the corner next to the Tivoli Gardens at Wagamama – now there’s somewhere we haven’t been in a long, long time.