Hello Going Expat people,
It’s summer and I’m late with the blog posts. I try to make it up to you with this article about my recent road trip between Germany and Denmark.
We were, Martijn and I, traveling for a week, we literally ground the km on highways that did not always make our life easy, we saw 5 different realities, The city and its inhabitants. In short, we came back tired but with the eyes full of beauty.
Although, from some cities I expected more!
As always I remind you that the travel section of the blog is not a collection of travel blogger info but my personal experience, sometimes disorganized, of the places I visit.
First stop: Hamburg
I arrived in the German city full of expectations and also a little bored by the German highways. I thought that because of too many works during the flood, little maintenance (which then leads to do everything in one vote) Italy was the worst in Europe, But I was wrong. Italy 1 – Germany 0.
The city centre has its own undisputed beauty, especially the town hall, Rathaus, is really beautiful, whether you go there by day or by night will leave you speechless.
During the day you can enter (it is open until 18:00) and/ or even admire the fountain of Hygiene in its external courtyard. The fountain was built in memory of cholera in 1892 and symbolizes victory over the epidemic and purity of water.
The area that struck me most was Speicherstadt, not surprisingly a UNESCO site. It is an area that between the end of 800 and the first 20 years of 900 has seen the growth and creation of maritime warehouses. Today, the buildings are still the exterior of homes and offices. The look of the house has given me a really positive vibe.
Seeing how they managed to keep the quality of this place, converting it back to current needs, I really liked it.
I won’t go into much of other areas of the city, I’m not a travel blogger, although there are some nice ones. I will give you a short list to move on to the next stage.
Elbphilharmonie Hamburg – we are not far from the district of Speicherstadt, In fact this theatre has been created as a modern building above a warehouse that has kept its historical aspect. The entrance fee is €3 (do it online so you avoid the line). Nice, but nothing that I think. It is advertised a lot for the 360 view* on the port, in fact you can do all the tour but the view is better from the park (Alter Elfbpark) above the station (Landungsbrucken) which is located right in that area.
You must try the burger at Otto’s Burger.
Good food, friendly staff and the place is welcoming and cute. It feels like being in a waiting room of an old station.
The area where it is located, if you arrive from the station, might seem a dangerous powder. In fact, there is a lot of poverty and many homeless people in the square between Otto´s and the station.
Do not worry too much. Despite everything you walk quietly and it is really worth it.
As the title says, this trip was a on the road, that’s by car. In this case we left the car in the hotel parking and we walked or we took public transport. It’s better to download the HVV app and make the daily tickets from about €8.80 (2 zones are more than enough) starting at 9 am. Vending machines often do not accept cash or do not recognise foreign cards.
Besides that, the metro and bus lines are well organized and it will be easy to get from one point to another in the city.
One stop out of the chaos before reaching Denmark.
Hamburg beautiful and chaotic made us want to make a quiet stop in some remote village before passing in Denmark.
We stopped in Fehmarn. An island that is a collection of small villages characteristic motorcycle. And among which is a beautiful lighthouse where we enjoyed a wonderful sunset (before and after a shower)
To really admire the beauty of this place I leave you the link to the reel on Instagram by Martijn.
Isn’t it wonderful?
Third stage: Roskilde and Copenhagen.
With great joy we reach Denmark, it’s my first time in this country and I’ve always heard about it so well, so imagine the curiosity.
Before leaving with Martijn we decided to book in a nearby town: Roskilde!
Roskilde surprised us and we liked it very much. We visited with extreme pleasure the Cathedral, UNESCO site, for which is necessary about 1h. The tour includes various rooms and details about the royal family and their lives.
The building itself is of an indescribable beauty both furoi and inside, and stands between the medieval streets and small houses of the town.
The cathedral can also be seen from the port, which always has its charm for me. Roskilde, centuries ago, was the capital of Denmark and its history is particularly linked to that of the Vikings. You will find here several museums dedicated to them and a boat.
We preferred to visit the historical museum and walk through the various streets of the center and the port. But having more time, we would have visited the Vikings one for sure.
Roskilde is only 20 minutes by train from Copenhagen. Also in this case so we left the car in the hotel to venture with public transport and even in this case we were not disappointed.
With €25 each, we bought the City pass which we used not only to go and come back to and from Roskilde (the retourn ticket would have cost 18€ each) but also to use all public transport in Copenhagen for 24h. In short, perfect for us.
We didn´t find convenient the City Card that also includes the attractions, because we would not had the time to visit everything that is included for 1 day, so at the end we would have spent more.
Copenhagen doesn’t need introductions. I liked it? Yes.
made me crazy thinking I would move there? No! no wow effect for the Danish capital, although it remains a beautiful city.
Again, as for Hamburg, I will not go into detail in everything I saw in 24h but I will give you my opinion, and a tip, on some places.
The colourful houses along the river are charming, although living in the Netherlands I got used to this kind of beauty which perhaps does not surprise me anymore.
The colour of the buildings certainly brings joy and liveliness to the Nyhavn district, which is in any case flooded with tourists.
This is the most popular area, around here there are several places to eat or drink, but we did not stop and continued our journey towards the Little Mermaid.
Before arriving at the famous statue, we stopped in the area that both liked the most: Amalienborg.
Here we not only saw the changing of the guard, but we visited the Frederiks Kirke that is truly beautiful both from outside and from inside with its dome and round shape. The neighborhood is a kind of royal village that is worth visiting and where to dream with eyes, and it’s own in the center of the city.
We had already seen the church when we climbed up from the Christiansborg Slot (Copenhagen from above gave me no emotion). The castle tower is accessible for free, while the most famous spiral staircase (Starway to Heaven) is for a fee. We didn’t find an available the slot when we were in the area and thought we’d try it later. But since the view has not been very exciting we did not do it anymore.
Despite the complaints of many about the size of the Little Mermaid, I must say that to me it did not disappoint, indeed I felt it was correct had those proportions as a human. Also the expression is really intense and I felt emotional looking at her, despite the crowd around me.
Do not miss the botanical gardens in Copenhagen. A tour to Christiania must be one, at least out of curiosity and to understand what was this place once detached from the rest of the city, from an administrative point of view. Today it has become a neighborhood of the city and it attracts a lot of travellers, it kept is hippy nature. but certainly no longer at the limity of legalty. In fact, it seems that we want to fight the use of drugs and the police are welcome with their patrols.
I conclude the short story about Copenhagen, saying that first of all it is better to prep everything, Otherwise, like us, you end up not being able to go to some attractions because they put a limit on the day tickets. We did it for the Rosenborg slot.
Get lost in the streets of the center that are very cute and if the weather is nice, go to eat in this kind of big market, not far from the station, in the Kodbyen area. You will find any kind of food, canre, fish, vegetarian etc. and many bars where to drink a good beer.
Last but not least: Lübeck.
If they told me, I wouldn’t believe it. The city that fascinated us most about this trip is the one we visited, almost in a hurry, in the street of the Ritz. Lübeck is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and you can see why from the entrance gate to the city, the huge churches and the old town partly rebuilt after the World War.
In this case the view from above is definitely necessary and deserves. We climbed the tower of the church of St. Peter (St. Petri) at a cost of € 5 and we fell in love with it. I really was enchanted.
I should dedicate a separate article to this city of which some buildings have a very special history and architecture.
One of them is the Rathaus, which although it retains some gothic elements, like most of the historical buildings and churches in the city, has a number of different elements.
Every facade is different. Enchanting.
It would take hours to visit it (a guided tour is also available) and understand what each detail symbolizes.
The old salt warehouses also have a lot of charm, they also recall the typical brick structure of the area and overlook the water. On the other side of the river many places and a free space to walk.
Another characteristic of Lübeck is the small streets, to which it is given by a gate or a gate. They are private, the houses are very small and very well maintained, at least externally in the smallest details. I think it was a house that in the past was given by the rich to less miserable, a powder for charity and a powder to wash your conscience.
The one in the picture is Hossenhof. You find it between the town hall and the Hospital of Santo Spirito. It will seem strange to hear this, but this is an additional point of interest to visit absolutely. It has not been a hospital for a long time, part of the building is now a nursing home.
The visible part is a work of art that will surely intrigue history lovers.
What can I say?! Of photos, places and stories I would still have many others but I must stop here.
Have you ever visited these cities? What did you think?
Rossella
