#Rådehus

[greenbagjosh]

Monday 11 November 2002 - daytime stroll in Copenhagen before returning to Germany - windmill sightings - the night train to Switzerland

11 November 2002

EN   Hi everyone.  Twenty years ago today, I took the night train to Zürich, Switzerland, through Bremen and Baden in Aargau.  I had to take a 9:30 AM train from Copenhagen to Hamburg and have a layover for a few hours to see whatever I did not see on the 8th and 9th.  When I boarded the train about 8 PM in Hamburg Hbf, I had a nice first class compartment to myself.

DE   Hallo allerseits. Heute vor 20 Jahren bin ich mit dem Nachtzug über Bremen und Baden im Aargau nach Zürich in die Schweiz gefahren. Ich musste einen Zug um 9:30 Uhr von Kopenhagen nach Hamburg nehmen und ein paar Stunden zwischenhalten, um zu sehen, was ich am 8. und 9. nicht gesehen habe. Als ich gegen 20 Uhr in Hamburg Hbf in den Zug einstieg, hatte ich ein schönes Erste-Klasse-Abteil für mich allein.

DK   Hej allesammen. For 20 år siden i dag tog jeg nattoget til Zürich, Schweiz, gennem Bremen og Baden i Aargau. Jeg var nødt til at tage et 9.30-tog fra København til Hamborg og have en pause i et par timer for at se, hvad jeg ikke så den 8. og 9. Da jeg gik ombord på toget ved 20-tiden i Hamburg Hbf, havde jeg en fin førsteklasses kupé for mig selv.

SE   Hej allihopa. För tjugo år sedan idag tog jag nattåget till Zürich, Schweiz, genom Bremen och Baden i Aargau. Jag var tvungen att ta ett 9:30-tåg från Köpenhamn till Hamburg och ha en paus i några timmar för att se det jag inte såg den 8:e och 9:e. När jag gick ombord på tåget vid 20-tiden i Hamburg Hbf hade jag en fin förstaklasskupé för mig själv.

FR   Salut tout le monde. Il y a vingt ans jour pour jour, je prenais le train de nuit pour Zürich, en Suisse, en passant par Brême et Baden en Argovie. J'ai dû prendre un train à 9h30 de Copenhague à Hambourg et faire une escale de quelques heures pour voir tout ce que je n'ai pas vu les 8 et 9. Lorsque je suis monté à bord du train vers 20 heures à Hamburg Hbf, j'avais un joli compartiment de première classe pour moi tout seul.

Guten Morgen!  Good morning!  God morgen! It was Monday 11th November 2002, and I had to go back to Germany and then on to Switzerland for my second part of the November 2002 journey.  I woke up about 7 AM, decided not to have breakfast at the hostel, took a shower and checked out.  I took the metro to Nørreport and the S-Tog to København H.  I left my wheeled bag in a locker.  I was able to find some place selling pastries and coffee.  I wanted to also see Tivoli Gardens, or whatever I could, and have a daytime view of Rådehus, Rundetaarn and a part of the Kongens Nytorv and Rosenborg Slot, or Rosenborg castle.    

After I saw the Rådehus, Rundetaarn, Kongens Nytorv and Rosenborg Slot, I took the S-Tog to Svanemöllen.  There was not much to see, I just wanted to ride the S-Tog as far as I could.  I went back to København H and did a little more shopping.  I managed to buy some CDs, "Da Capo" by Ace of Base and "Another Chance" by Roger Sanchez.  The prices were a bit more reasonable, about $22.00 per CD as opposed to $30.00 in Sweden.  After putting those in my green backpack, I went to collect my wheeled bag, and boarded the IC3 diesel train to Hamburg Hbf.  

The train left about 9:30 AM for Høje Taastrup, Rødby Færge, Puttgarden, Lübeck Hbf and Hamburg Hbf.  The weather was kind of chilly, maybe in the mid 40s, about +7 C, sometimes with rain.  Along the way, I saw several windmills.  The train was at Rødby Færge about 10:30 AM and rolled on to the ferry after dropping off passengers.  About 10:45 AM the ferry departed for Puttgarden.  It took around 45 minutes to cross the Femer Bælt, which to me, seemed like a part of the Baltic Sea.  The Duty Free shops were open around 11 AM until 11:20 AM.  The train rolled off the ferry around 11:35 AM and stopped to pick up passengers at the Puttgarden rail station right outside the ferry terminal.  Until we reached Lübeck, the train would be relatively slow, probably the train might not arrive in Lübeck until 12:15 PM.

The train arrived in Hamburg around 12:45 PM.  Everyone departed the train, and the cleaning crew got to work, before the next departure to Copenhagen about 1 PM.  I on the other hand, took my wheeled bag and placed it in a locker.  Then I had some time to do a little sightseeing of Hamburg until about sunset.  I walked along the Reeperbahn and then near Rathaus and Dammtor.  About 4:30 PM, the sun was about to set, so I went back to Hbf.  The train would not leave until 8 PM, so I took an S Bahn to Harburg, which is the furthest south station in Hamburg before crossing the Ländergrenze into Lower Saxony.  I explored there for about half an hour, and bought myself a hamburger without cheese, at a snack bar in the station, to prove that I actually ate a hamburger in Hamburg.  I went back to the train platform for Hamburg Hbf, and I saw this youth that was either drunk or under the influence of some hard drug, sleeping on the stairs.  The police were on scene and had nudged the man to see if he were still alive.  My train to Hbf came in time so I did not have to continue watching.

At Hbf, I bought some reading materials, before collecting my wheeled bag.  It was about 7:45 PM when I went to the platform and car where I would sleep for the next twelve hours.  The train that I booked the first class cabin, was a EuroNight train.  My compartment had two beds but the top one was not booked.  I had a sink in the compartent but was asked not to drink the water, for that reason, they gave me a bottle of water free of charge.  The bathrooms were down the hall.  About 7 AM they would serve me breakfast.  The train staff took my passport for the evening, and they would give it back at breakfast time, prior to arriving at Baden AG.  

The train left at 8:05 PM.  Its first stop was Bremen Hbf, southwest of Hamburg.  I had never been to Bremen, and the stop was so far my only visit up to November 2022, though I plan to visit it in February 2023.  Bremen is, like Hamburg, a Hanseatic city-state.  Berlin, to some degree, is its own city state within the Bundesland of Brandenburg.  About 8:45 PM, the train left Bremen to head south.  About 9 PM I went to sleep, waking up on occasion to go to the bathroom.  Sleeping in a moving train has its merits and faults.  One of the concerns is the feeling of moving laterally in the compartment bed.  The train did not stop in Hannover or really anywhere else in Germany, except Basel Badischer Bahnhof.  Then it crossed into Switzerland, but that will be for tomorrow.

Please join me again tomorrow, for when I arrive in Zürich HB, and then take the train to Bern and also to Frauenfeld in Thurgau and back.  

Gute Nacht!  Good night!  Godnat!