Checked out of the hostel first thing and hopped on the tram to see the Atomium sculpture thing in Brussels. Absolutely freezing and blowing a gale but the Atomium was very impressive nonetheless. It was apparently built in the 50’s when it was thought nuclear energy would save the world – though this vision hasn’t quite materialised this sculpture is an amazing piece of work; looking like a cross between something from Thunderbirds and Dr. No’s lair!
Had some time to kill until the overnight train in the evening so avoided the torrential rain by diving into an awesome little cafe near the station. As we were in Belgium we got a pair of super-strong beers in for the super-fast trip from Brussels to Cologne. Fran did impressively well at almost finishing hers – it was a pretty horrible raspberry-flavoured Hoegaarden to be fair!
Arrived in Cologne surprisingly fresh, checked into our hotel (a bit of luxury which was very welcome (thanks Victoria!)), grabbed some bargain tucker and checked out the awesome sight that is the Dom at night!
Explored Cologne the following day, first by running by the Rhine then by walking what felt like about a 10 mile whistle-stop tour of all of the sights! Climbed the 533 steps to the Dom (think I did this back in 1995 on my German Exchange!) – slightly puffed out at the top but the views are amazing!
Met up with the Cologne branch of the Friend family for a couple of beers in the afternoon in an amazing beerhaus / brewery where Tristan and his fiancée are planning to have their wedding reception – good choice!
After we left the Friends, we had a bit of time until our overnight train in the evening. Did a bit more walking around the city and stumbled across a random German Jazz bar. We were the only people in there when we arrived so it did feel a bit bizarre but within half an hour it was packed and a bunch of geriatric crooners were belting out some Jazz classics! Chatted to a friendly middle-aged German couple using a combination of GCSE German and English – great fun!
Yes, that is a flying gold Fiesta on top of a building – those kerrazy Germans!
Left at about 9ish but turns out we might as well have stayed there as 10 minutes before the train was meant to depart it was cancelled! Mild panic ensued, however a number of people were in the same boat as us and we eventually found out we had to board a train to Dortmund then change onto the train we were meant to be on in the first place! Ended up having a fairly dreadful nights’ sleep courtesy of a stroppy German woman insisting on opening the curtains in our cabin at silly o’clock in the morning, and snoring like a trooper the rest of the time!!!
Arrived in Copenhagen on 2nd April – FRAN’S BIRTHDAY!!! -somewhat exhausted, dropped off our bags and got exploring with the modicum of energy that we both had left from the previous day! Had to plough through a couple of coffees but after that we were on fire! Copenhagen’s a lovely city – so much beautiful architecture, fresh air and friendly people. Stayed at a hotel again as it was literally only a few more quid than a hostel – if you ever go to Copenhagen definitely stay at wakeup copenhagen – awesome hotel and great value!!!
Christianshavn or ‘Little Amsterdam’
Our hotel – awesome!!!
Today was another jam-packed day of exploring – did a run this morning again in the blazing sunshine (though it’s still bitingly cold and windy) then set off for the Carlsberg factory! Did the tour (thanks Pedro & Suzanne!) and found out about beer and then tasted some. Saw the world’s biggest collection of unopened, unique beer bottles which was impressive – over 19000 at last count! Felt pretty sozzled after the tasting in the bar afterwards then staggered back into town to go to the Danish Architecture Centre. Had a pastry and coffee (thanks again Pedro & Suz!) and watched the world go by from the cafe overlooking the river – sweet! After that, headed over to Christiana – an amazing former army barracks declared by the local hippies a ‘free city’ in the 70’s and now a buzzing commune. Relaxed out in the sunshine with about a hundred other people listening to a DJ playing chilled out dub tunes – great way to finish off the day! Headed back to the hotel after that - must’ve covered about 50 miles on our feet over the past 6 days so an evening off our feet is very welcome!
Riding the beer carriage!
Some old old beer
Before…
After…
Off to Stockholm tomorrow morning on the train – hopefully going to meet up with some family friends who live there which is cool! Anyway, hope everyone’s well – we miss you all! Rich & Fran x
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