Hamburg - Copenhagen

This morning, after a good night’s sleep, we go to a bakery and grab a variety of pastries, which we eat in the Planten un Blomen park in Hamburg’s city centre. The beautiful, spacious park really has all kinds of plants and flowers. We like it so much that we have to force ourselves to leave. In Hamburg itself there is a lot going on today, because a big bicycle race is taking place: The whole city centre is closed off, which makes it quite difficult to get around, even on foot. We take a look at the town hall and the famous Chilehaus, which is named after Chile: The man who commissioned it, Henry B. Sloman, had made his fortune there in the saltpetre trade. It is considered one of the best-known buildings of Brick Expressionism, and it really is a special structure, if only because of its pointed yet rounded architecture.

Of course, a short detour to the Speicherstadt is a must today, before we ride e-scooters to the harbour one last time and have lunch there. Then we go back to the hotel, where our luggage is stored, and order a taxi to the train station. But the taxi doesn’t come. The app searches for an available car for minutes on end, until it dawns on us that because of the bicycle race there is probably no way through for cars. So we have to walk with our bulky and heavy luggage through the chaotic city centre to the train station. We arrive totally exhausted and barely make it onto our train to Copenhagen. It leaves on time, but due to a border check, we miss our connecting train in Fredericia and have to catch the next one. But we don’t have to worry about food, because in Denmark snacks and drinks are included in first class. We arrive in Copenhagen at midnight, just over an hour late, but have no trouble checking in at our Wakeup Copenhagen hotel, where we get a very nice, clean room.