Scandanavia, September 1998

September 3, 1998
As I write this, I am in the first class section of a train between Flåm and Nesbyen, Norway. I took an overnight train from Køvenhavn (Denmark) to Oslo and decided to keep going. First, about Denmark.

I arrived in Køvenhavn at 8:40am on September 2, 1998, threw my backpack in a locker, and went off to explore. I made a reservation to go to Oslo on a night train at 22:05, so I knew that I didn't have a lot of time. I bought a 24 hour public transportation ticket for 70kr ($1 = 6.7kr). It was very expensive, but worth it, as I had to move fast.

My first stop was the public library (at Krystalgade 15) to check my email (access is free).

Next, I headed over to where Christianborg Palace is. that is where the Danish Parliment is and a lot of other government buildings, including the Queen's residence. It's seperated by the main downtown area of the city by a canal on 3 sides and the harbor on the 4th side.

Next was the big thing for me. I went to the Frihedsmuseet (the Freedom Museum). I had wanted to visit it every since someone told me about it when I was in Derry, Ireland. Basically, it's a museum about the Danes during World War II, with emphasis on the Resistance. All I can say is that it's one of the best museums that I have ever been to and, it's FREE!!!!!!!

My next stop was lunch at Peppe's Pizza, Rådhaspladsen 57. It was great, but a bit expensive.

The next stop on my whirlwind tour was the Carlsburg Brewery. You get to take a tour of the working brewery and museum, then get free samples.

Then, I took bus 6 from there down to the stock exchange building and walked across the canal for a canal tour. the company I used was called Meddo-Bidena, and it cost only 20kr. It was suppose to be a 60 minute tour, but it turned out to be 75. We went through many of the different calams and were given a commentray on what we saw. I highly recommend doing a canal tour and using that company.

The final stop on my tour of Køvenhavn was the Strøget area. It is a shopping/dining area right downtown. From there, I just kind of hung out until I had to catch my train, then sped off to Norway.

Overall, I totally loved Køvenhavn. It's a good size city with a lot to do. It is VERY clean and I left quite safe there. The downtown area has a lot to do (restaurants, clubs, shopoing, etc) and people actually do go downtown. There's even an amusement part (Tivoli) there. However, I did find it to be quite expensive.

The train to Norway was an older, but well taken care of, DSB (Danish State Railways) train. the cool think is that going from Køvenhavn to Oslo, the train got on a ferry in Helsingør (Denmark) to Helsingborg (Sweden). I loved it, even though it was only a 25 minute ferry ride.

Onto Norway... I can't tell you much about the trip, as it mainly was night and I was sleeping). However, coming into Oslo was nice. Oslo, the capital, is a city that appears to have a main downtown area, however, it is also very woodsy outside of that area. The only place I can really compare it to is Flagstaff, Arizona, however, Oslo also has a harbor with many islands in it. I hope to spend some time in Oslo on my way back.

The train that I am on, Norge Statsbaner (NSB) #61, the Bergensbaner, takes one of the most scenic routs in the country. We are travelling way up in the mountains, passing many huge lakes and, at times, following a wider riber. It is kind of like a long train trip through the Rockies. The entire trip takes 6 hour and 18 minutes. However, I will get off at Myrdal (4 hours 43 minutes into the ride) for a side trip throught the fjords. Thr train istels if basically perfect. It is very comfortable, has reclinign seats and is extremely clean. They even have recycling bins!!

September 5, 1998

The side trip that I took was a rail/cruise throught Sognefjord. I got off the train at Myrdal and connected to the Flam railway. It's a reilway that goes from the main Oslo-Bergen route down to the center of one of the fjords, to a town called Flam. You can tell it's a steep route, as the trail is only 12.4km long, but the decent takes 1 hour. When I go tot Flam, I bought a cruise/bus (to get back to the rail station going towards Bergen) for only 190Kr ($24.39)

The cruise was great!!! It's only 2 hours, but the scenery is spectacular. It's kind of like being at the Grand Canyon, looking up from the bottom (but the water is a clear agua color and there's more of it, the fjords are charcoal gray, and there are trees and green grass on the land of the sides). There are houses as well, on the banks. In the commentary, they even told us about one bank that has 6 people living in it and a post office. It is the smallest postal zone in Norway. The bus ride after the cruise takes you up and over the fjord and back down to the Voss train station, where I caught a train to Berge (1 1/2 hours).

Bergen.....aaaahhhhhhhhh...Bergen.... I didn't even want to come here, but it was better than waiting in Voss for my 23:00 train to Oslo. It's the second larges city in Norway, but, by far, probably the prettiest. It's situated on a penninsula and is baskcally surrounded by water. It also is surrounded by mountains on all sides exvcet the west (whyere it has a few islands then the Altantic Ocean). As with the rest of Norway taht I havve seen. everything is extremely clean and perfectly manicured. There are very green parks, all with carefully placed and colorful flowers. The only place I have ever seen better at was Disneyland.

I took the funnilcar (34kr) up the mountain and had a look around. All i can say is "WOW". Granted, I love San Francisco and Prague, but this really is the most beautiful place I have seen so far.

I didn't have a lot of time to spend (only 2 1/2 hours) so, next, I strolled around, admired the beautiful houses them went down by the harbor. it's an area built up with shops, restaurants, clubs, etc. People were out and about going to dinner, hanging out, or doing whatever. I liked Bergen a lot. So, 23:00 came and back on the train I went. The train was very similar to the DSB train that I took to Oslo from Kobenhavn (a bit older but very well kept. We arrived at 7 and, once again, I threw my backpack in a luggage locker (20kr) and took off to see the city (just in case anyone is wondering, the tourist office at the Central Train station opens at 8am).
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OLSO INFORMATION COMING SOON
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After Oslo, as my train pass was almost finished, I decided to get back to Eastern Europe, where it was immensely less expensive

After Oslo, as my train pass was almost finished, I decided to get back to Eastern Europe, where it was immensely less expensive. My train left Oslo at 23:00. I was due to arrive in Helsingborg at 05:30 and catch another train (leave at 05:45) to Malmo (arrive at 06:45), where I would catch another train (leave at 07:00) to Berlin (arrive at 16:21), where I would catch my final train (at 17:21) and would arrive in Warsaw at 23:40. That would have been fine, except for one thing. The train RAN OVER someone about 3 hours out of Oslo. I didn’t realize what was going on, as I fell asleep shortly after we left Oslo. I woke up and saw police and fire crews. I thought something was wrong with the train, and shortly after that, the conductor walked by and let us know what was going on. We finally got to Helsingborg at 07:10 and I had missed 2 connections. Also, the customer service booth would not open until 09:00 since it was Sunday.

So, I was stuck. Luckily, someone must have made an emergency call, as a customer service supervisor showed up to help us at 07:45. He didn’t have time to get me on the 07:50 commuter train, so he tried to reroute me on a ferry through Copenhagen, but it pulled out as we walked to the area it would depart from. Finally, he put me on the X2000 (the high-speed train in Sweden) at no charge and got me down to Malmo, (he had called ahead to let them know that I was to be rebooked (also, since there were no seats available, I was even upgraded to a sleeper) at no charge through to Warsaw). All in all, it worked out well for me. It ended up costing them 745kr ($95.51)! The only problem was that the next train didn’t leave until 21:15, so I had to spend the day in Malmo. Luckily, the train station had a place where you could pay and take a shower as I was in need of one. It also had luggage lockers.

Malmo isn’t the most exciting city in Europe. It is the 2nd largest in Sweden, but there’s not a lot to do there. I saw all 5 sites and it was still only 11am. So, I had lunch, and walked around the harbor. I also found an Internet café to do some emailing. Then, I just kind of bummed around and didn’t do much of anything. I mainly just wanted to go. I would have rather been stuck in Berlin than Malmo.

I boarded the train and met my "roommates" for the trip (2 Brits, a Swedish girl that spoke perfect English, and a couple from Berlin). We didn’t really sleep, as it was about a ½ hour ride to where the train would board the ferry to be transported to Germany. I love the trains that do that. I have never heard of such a thing before coming to Europe, but think it’s a great idea.

Once on board the train, we headed for "duty free". I was thinking it would be like the Stena lines I took from Wales to Ireland (they had everything under the sun for cheap). However, it wasn’t. It only had alcohol, candy, and perfume. Next stop as the cafeteria for a late dinner. I had a great meal of meatloaf, veggies, and mashed potatoes for 15DM ($8.50 USD). Then, I went off to explore the ship.

It was a beautiful, but chilly, summer evening. There was a full moon and, from the back of the ship, you could feel a gentle sea spray. I went out to the bow of the ship and looked at the moon shining on the water as if to leading to Germany. It was one of those nights that you don’t ever want to end. Then, I went back to the train and went to sleep. The ferry ride was about 3 ½ hours long; I slept the rest of the way (I don’t even remember the train leaving the ship). I slept until the conductor banged on the door and yelled "Berlin 30 minutes".

Berlin is a HUGE place. I wish I had an extra day on my train ticket so I could explore, but I didn’t. I just had an hour layover at the Zoo Train Station. As I got on the other train to go to Warsaw, we went through a good part of the city. There were construction cranes everywhere. I guess there was a lot of building going on, mainly in what use to be East Berlin. Then, off we sped to Warsaw.

Berlin to Warsaw is a 6-hour train ride. It’s basically a boring, flat ride. The only real entertainment is watching them switch from a German engine to a Polish one at the border.