Category: Travel

It’s now Saturday, I think….Yesterday was crazy. We woke up in Germany, travelled to Denmark to visit for a few hours, then got on a train to Sweden that evening. On paper, that seemed reasonable, but was rather a mad thing to do!

Our first train, from Hamburg to Copenhagen boarded a ferry in order to cross the sea to Denmark, which was an experience! Some people didn’t make it quite that far, as there was an ID check just before the train boarded the ferry and some people had been trying to cross the border without correct documentation. Having seen the customs officers and a few armed soldiers marching these families and individuals to the border control office made me appreciate my very welcome Irish passport!

We visited Copenhagen in December 2014 for a few days and absolutely loved it. It was much warmer this time round and after a rest in the sunshine at Nyhavn, we headed for Christiania, often called Freetown Christiania, and established in 1971 by a group of hippies who occupied some abandoned military barracks on the site. They created their own set of society rules, completely independent of the Danish government and Christiania is now well known for its graffitied walls, workshops, homemade houses and cannabis sellers. I found the vibe a bit weird there. I can appreciate the intention behind it, but I didn’t quite feel comfortable. I doubt that was anything to do with the the Christianites themselves. Nevertheless, we filled up on lamb, hummus and tzatziki to keep us going for our long train journey ahead!

At 21:47 we left Denmark for Hässleholm in Sweden, where we then changed onto a sleeper train for Stockholm at 23:35, disrupting a few of our  compartment companions  who had already settled in for the night by the time we boarded. We arrived in Stockholm at 5:31.

Coffee. Required. Stat.

-F xx

Yesterday (Thursday), we travelled from Cologne to Hamburg. On the train, we shared stories with a German man who lives in Canada, but was home to attend a conference. Arriving into Hamburg mid-afternoon, we didn’t have time to waste.

After dropping our bags at the Airbnb, we took the U-Bahn to Haubtbanhof and began a self-guided walking tour of the city. We walked to the impressive Rathaus, before heading to the river, passing the enormous Elbphilharmonie on our way to the regenerated industrial area of HafenCity.

Having quenched our thirst with a Fritz-Spritz in the setting sun, we followed the river to the Alter Elbtunnel. A quick walk underground complete, we headed for the Fischmarkt and browsed through the windows of the massive former fish auction hall. We ate dinner nearby, then, tired from overconsumption of pizza, took the U-Bahn home.

This morning, we were up early to beat the queues for pastries at Kamps, which was fortunate, as our train to Copenhagen departed at 07:24.

G

Our first German stop was in Cologne, and it was Graham’s birthday!
We’ve chosen Airbnb’s to stay in for the first part of the journey as they are slightly cheaper than hostels and so far, they’ve been pretty good.

Cologne’s biggest attraction is its cathedral and it dominates the city centre. It is a gothic cathedral and was fully completed in the 19th century, having been started in 1248. Naturally, we climbed to the top of the belfry, 97 metres up. The views of surrounding Cologne were stunning, with multiple bridges of different styles crossing the expanse of the river Rhine.

We were keen for another run that evening and a loop from one side of the river to the other proved worthwhile, as we saw the sun setting behind the cathedrals impressive spires. If I’m not as fast as Mo Farah by the end of this, I’ll be disappointed!

Birthday dinner consisted of German beers and hamburgers, in preparation for our trip to Hamburg. We don’t have much time there, as we have a long trip to Stockholm ahead with a brief stop off in Copenhagen.

Happy birthday Graham!! 🎉🍔🍻🎉

I think lots of cities have little statues or buildings that have become icons to tourists and locals alike. La Tour Eiffel and the Brandenburg gate are two that spring to mind immediately, but there are some smaller ones too, such as Greyfriars Bobby in Edinburgh and Molly Malone in Dublin!

In Brussels there is Manneken Pis! It is a small bronze statue of a chubby little boy peeing into a fountain. He is truly loved in Brussels and even has a section in the Brussels City Museum dedicated to the outfits that he gets dressed up in periodically.

You can buy a statue of him to take home from all the tourist shops or even a chocolate version….was tempted, but didn’t indulge! We did come across some cool street art of Mannekan Pis, called Mannekan Peace. It was quite uplifting, considering that throughout the day we were met by soldiers with very large guns, as a stark reminder of recent tragedies and heightened security throughout the city.

Today, we have started the day with pain au chocolat and coffee, before our train to Cologne, to celebrate Grahams birthday!

– F xx

On Sunday, We stayed the night with Diarmaid and Aine in London. We set off early on Monday morning, and, after my customary search at security, we boarded the 08:04 Eurostar for Brussels.

Having left our bags at the apartment, day one involved walking to the Grand Place, eating massive burgers at Cafe Novo, and walking past the Palais Royale to the Palais de Justice. The viewing point there gave great views of the north of the city.

Today started with our first #travelintrainers experience, as our morning run took us to Laeken, the residence of the Royal Family, Atomium and the red light district. Fuelled by waffles, we headed for Brussels City Museum to find out a little more about the lovely country of Belgium.

Tomorrow, Cologne. G

So when you and your other half decide to move to New Zealand, what do you do?

1.Open laptop

2.Look up flights

3.Book two seats on a comfy Emirates/Quantas plane

4.Pack two large cases and off you go!

It seems that we don’t do normal! Instead of the above, Graham and I have decided to hop on a train in London and travel mainly by land to New Zealand.The real journey starts in Newcastle, where all our travel planning happened on the floor of the living room!  On our journey we’ll be taking in stops in Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Finland until we hit Russia. Then we hop on the Trans Siberian railway and over the course of a month we’ll see 10 stops in Russia, with our final stop being Vladivostock on the eastern coast. Then a quick flight to South Korea followed by a ferry to Japan! From there, our plan is to see Hong Kong to visit a friend who has just moved there. Then hopefully explore some of South East Asia until we fly to New Zealand and see what that has in store for us.

 

Oh, and no suitcases with worldly belongings……just the one backpack with everything you might need for Scandinavia, Siberia and South East Asia. Packing Gods, I need your help! The first thing we packed were running trainers….hence the name ‘Travel In Trainers’. A quick 5k run on a morning in a new city is a nice way to discover places (breakfast/coffee spots) that you might not normally see!

We will do our best to update our blog as we go, so watch this space. I am off to London from Cork tomorrow morning and then the real countdown to the big adventure starts!

-F xx