Thursday, April 16, 2015

Recap of a Trip 13 Years ago {Train to Hamburg, July 2002}

After spending the first week of July, 2002 in Stockholm for the Clarinetfest, it was time to take the long ass train ride to Hamburg, Germany.

We boarded the train with our monster suitcases and enjoyed the scenery. We passed fields full of cows and sheep as the train  flew through the countryside at what seemed like 125mph! Every time the train descended into a tunnel, my ears would pop immediately.

I marveled at the sight of windmills, something that hadn't caught on in Florida at the time.
All the wind mills!

After changing trains in Copenhagen after 5+ hours and eating at the grossest Mc Donalds ever (piles of trash on the floor), we boarded another train which eventually pulled onto a ferry for a 50 minute trip across the Baltic Sea. It was such a surprise that this happened!

Sunset from the ferry.

We eventually arrived in Hamburg after 10+ hours of travel and were exhausted!
Hamburg train station at night.

The next morning we wandered around the city to kill time before our train to Amsterdam. 


We came across a canal filled with swans and I had to get a photo with them. They were super aggressive and started swimming towards me while hissing. I got the photo and walked quickly away from the water.

We walked around some more and enjoyed how clean and beautiful Hamburg was before heading back to the train station for the next leg of the journey.


It was nice to be able to see Hamburg a little and stretch our legs before going to Amsterdam.
Inside the Hamburg train station.

I really wish travel in the USA was more like Europe. It is so easy and fast to take a high speed train to different countries in Europe as opposed to riding sketchy buses or taking airplanes in America.
Hamburg train station in the daytime.

Unfortunately for this leg of the trip we did not have reserved seats on the train- which meant we found a random car and just hung out for a few hours. Luckily we found a space in the bike car, which was super cramped. I say "luckily" because it was either bikes or the smoking car...

Being cooped up in the bike car with a huge suitcase for 5 hours wasn't terribly fun, but being in Europe and experiencing something completely different with friends was a hoot!

Next up on these lame ass recaps of a trip 13 years ago:  Amsterdam.

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6 comments:

  1. AnneApril 16, 2015 at 2:46 PM

    Your blonde hair and super white tennis shoes are killing me. Pretty sure at that time I had black hair, or maybe "dark red" (which basically looked like purple).

    I wish we had high-speed rail here, too! There's so many places that I'd love to visit, but plane tickets are so expensive, and the process is so time-consuming.

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    1. XaarlinApril 17, 2015 at 6:12 AM

      Hahaha it was blonde that month, green in HS, black red everything at some point. The past 2 years I haven't dyed my hair which is the longest I've gone since HS! Yes. Lolz at the "look at me I'm American" white tennis shoes. ;)

      It's a travesty USA didn't make the infrastructure for high speed rail early on...

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  2. KimApril 16, 2015 at 2:49 PM

    When I went to Sicily our train did that - got on a boat! It kind of blew my mind!

    I wish US travel was as easy and inexpensive, too. Maybe someday!

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    1. XaarlinApril 17, 2015 at 8:46 AM

      That's so cool you were on a train that did that too! I fully expected to have to get off the train, board the ferry and then board another train. I guess it makes sense since cars can board ferries...

      I wish the USA would be more travel friendly, but it seems too late and too $$$ to get a train system going :(

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  3. Christy @ My Dirt Road Anthem: A Runner's BlogApril 17, 2015 at 5:23 AM

    A train that gets on a ferry! I didn't know they could do that. You look so young!

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