I booked a late train on purpose. Copenhagen had worn me out. From bonfire parties to hostel happy hour to early morning fire alarms, I was wiped. I stayed up late last night, through happy hour and into the evening chatting with Monica and Camilla, the girls from the other night, and another American we just met, Nye from NYC. I even met two US Navy submariners last night. Crazy. They just finished power school and had two weeks leave before prototype in upstate NY so they hopped a flight to Europe. They even knew a girl I know at power school. Small world. But those guys went out on the town after awhile. The four us just chilled in the hostel bar until late. So I slept in this morning, checked out at 10, hung around a bit in the lounge, and then walked to the central train station to catch my train to Hamburg.
The whole of Denmark is pretty flat. The countryside looked much like southern Sweden, rolling hills and farmland with scattered Scandinavian cottages. The view out the window was beautiful but a bit monotonous. I tried to look through my German language study book, accompanied by tracks on my iPod, but the train put me to sleep. I never had a chance. About two hours into the ride there was an announcement made over the loudspeaker in Danish, and then German, and then I think English. But the message was a long one and if it was later retold in English, I was too drowsy to have paid attention. I drifted off to sleep again. A few minutes later I remember stirring awake because the train had started to slow. The train began coming down to a pretty slow speed as I watched the country scenery through the window. Suddenly my view from the window turned from beautiful countryside into white, metallic walls. When the train was completely enclosed within this odd box, it screeched to a sudden halt. Then everyone got up from their seats, leaving their luggage behind, and began to file out of the train and into the narrow walkway within the mystery compartment we were in. I had no idea what was going on. At first I thought maybe the German government was going to do a thorough search of the cabins while we waited outside, like maybe we had just reached the German border. But being in this box made it feel like we were being quarantined for some reason. Like maybe Germans had some really strict border crossings (even though there aren’t any border crossings in the EU, I don’t know what I was thinking). Remember, I had been sleeping and was still drowsy when the train stopped, so my brain wasn’t working properly. I just kind of went with it. I hopped in line and filed out with everyone else. We walked up some narrow, steel steps and into a large, open waiting room surrounded by huge windows that looked up at the big gray sky. There were shops, cafes, and some restaurants in this waiting hall. I kept walking through wondering what magical place we had just entered and then over to the windows I saw the open ocean. I was still puzzled. I started to head back to the information booth to ask what the heck was going on - I didn’t want to accidentally miss the train. And then all of a sudden I figured it out. We were on a boat. Before I knew it, the ferry took off on its 45 minute ride south to Germany. I never expected that we’d be on a ferry. There is a route, a much more out of the way route, that the train could take to get between Denmark and Germany continuously using bridges. This route goes straight west awhile from Copenhagen before eventually turning south towards the German border. The route we took was by far more direct, going instead straight south from Copenhagen towards Hamburg, but the ocean crossing is far too long for a bridge. But okay, so yeah, we went that way.
I felt pretty foolish, being on a boat without realizing I ever went onto a boat. But the ride was quite nice. I bought some duty free cashews and orange soda and sat by the window over the bow as the smallish ferry rolled over the large waves and strong current of the seas. The sky was bright but very gray and looked a bit stormy. As we got closer to the German shore, the land looked bleak and ominously deserted except for a wind farm of humongous modern windmills. There was no town, no buildings, no people by the landing. Just a lot of bleak shoreline. It was beautiful, but very ominous looking. We were told to return to the train, and then we rolled off the ferry and into “the continent”.
It didn’t take long for me to fall back to sleep again but it was just another two hours to Hamburg. I hopped off the train at the station and realized that I completely forgot to look up the location of the hostel that I booked. Usually I take the time beforehand to prepare detailed maps of the location of the hostel so that I can self navigate my way there either by foot or by public transportation. I refuse to take taxis in Europe - too expensive. But I just hadn’t done that at all for Hamburg. Realizing that, I had to try and get a wifi connection somewhere so that I could look it up. Every other train station in Europe that I have been to so far comes with free public wifi. But obviously Hamburg had no such convenience, not when I needed it. They had hot spots you could pay for but you usually need a local phone number to sign up for these deals (like I’d pay for it anyway, ha!). But even the McDonald’s at the station didn’t have free wifi. I thought that was a sure bet.
Annoyed, I left the station and headed to an area that I thought I might be able to find either a street map or wifi access. I had the street address of the hostel in my inbox which I cold access from my iPhone. Eventually, after walking down a large shopping street, and past many street activists trying to get me to sign something, I found a map of the city and located the neighborhood, several neighborhoods away from where I currently was, but reachable by metro. So I hopped the metro to Reeperbahn, also know as Hamburg’s red light district.
So I didn’t realize this when I booked the hostel, the reviews online didn’t key me in on this, but it’s located right in the heart of the city’s red light district. And this hostel was one of the cheapest and best rated in the city. So I booked it. When I walked out of the metro station and towards the street where the hostel was located, I started passing strip clubs and sex shops and shows and all kinds of red light district-y stuff. And even the hostel is located in an old brothel. The hostel is just one hallway with 4 or 5 identical rooms on each side and one small reception room. It’s pretty funny. But the hostel is actually really nice, the staff is very enthusiastic, and everything is quite normal. I actually read a little later too that the red light district of Reeperbahn in St. Pauli is the safest neighborhood in the whole city because of the intense Polizei (police) presence. They sort of keep everything in check. Plus the area is quite touristy.
After settling in a bit, I went for a walk down to the harbor and away from the lights, now blaring and blinking on the signs in Reeperbahn, to get a look at the city and orientate myself a little. Hamburg is one of the busiest shipping ports in northern Europe and many call it, I recently read, the Venice of the north because of its vast canal systems that cut threw the city. The harbor area and the canals around the old town are remarkably beautiful. The NYTimes travel article had said this city was vastly underrated. I am starting to see why. The sun had just set below the horizon over the water and the sky was clear of clouds, giving way to the multi-colored sunset over the many ships along the harbor. I circled around the main part of the old town, doing a sort of late evening stroll, amazed at how pretty everything was, and then eventually made my way back to the hostel. I’ll have plenty of more time over the next couple days to properly explore.
I’m typing this now, getting ready to crash. I just found out that a friend of mine from Berlin, Alex (a friend I met in Chengdu), is going to take the train out to meet me tomorrow. I think he’ll stay with me for a couple of days and then we’ll take the train to Dusseldorf, spend a day there, meet up with his brother, and then drive to Berlin. It sounds like an awesome plan.
The whole of Denmark is pretty flat. The countryside looked much like southern Sweden, rolling hills and farmland with scattered Scandinavian cottages. The view out the window was beautiful but a bit monotonous. I tried to look through my German language study book, accompanied by tracks on my iPod, but the train put me to sleep. I never had a chance. About two hours into the ride there was an announcement made over the loudspeaker in Danish, and then German, and then I think English. But the message was a long one and if it was later retold in English, I was too drowsy to have paid attention. I drifted off to sleep again. A few minutes later I remember stirring awake because the train had started to slow. The train began coming down to a pretty slow speed as I watched the country scenery through the window. Suddenly my view from the window turned from beautiful countryside into white, metallic walls. When the train was completely enclosed within this odd box, it screeched to a sudden halt. Then everyone got up from their seats, leaving their luggage behind, and began to file out of the train and into the narrow walkway within the mystery compartment we were in. I had no idea what was going on. At first I thought maybe the German government was going to do a thorough search of the cabins while we waited outside, like maybe we had just reached the German border. But being in this box made it feel like we were being quarantined for some reason. Like maybe Germans had some really strict border crossings (even though there aren’t any border crossings in the EU, I don’t know what I was thinking). Remember, I had been sleeping and was still drowsy when the train stopped, so my brain wasn’t working properly. I just kind of went with it. I hopped in line and filed out with everyone else. We walked up some narrow, steel steps and into a large, open waiting room surrounded by huge windows that looked up at the big gray sky. There were shops, cafes, and some restaurants in this waiting hall. I kept walking through wondering what magical place we had just entered and then over to the windows I saw the open ocean. I was still puzzled. I started to head back to the information booth to ask what the heck was going on - I didn’t want to accidentally miss the train. And then all of a sudden I figured it out. We were on a boat. Before I knew it, the ferry took off on its 45 minute ride south to Germany. I never expected that we’d be on a ferry. There is a route, a much more out of the way route, that the train could take to get between Denmark and Germany continuously using bridges. This route goes straight west awhile from Copenhagen before eventually turning south towards the German border. The route we took was by far more direct, going instead straight south from Copenhagen towards Hamburg, but the ocean crossing is far too long for a bridge. But okay, so yeah, we went that way.
I felt pretty foolish, being on a boat without realizing I ever went onto a boat. But the ride was quite nice. I bought some duty free cashews and orange soda and sat by the window over the bow as the smallish ferry rolled over the large waves and strong current of the seas. The sky was bright but very gray and looked a bit stormy. As we got closer to the German shore, the land looked bleak and ominously deserted except for a wind farm of humongous modern windmills. There was no town, no buildings, no people by the landing. Just a lot of bleak shoreline. It was beautiful, but very ominous looking. We were told to return to the train, and then we rolled off the ferry and into “the continent”.
It didn’t take long for me to fall back to sleep again but it was just another two hours to Hamburg. I hopped off the train at the station and realized that I completely forgot to look up the location of the hostel that I booked. Usually I take the time beforehand to prepare detailed maps of the location of the hostel so that I can self navigate my way there either by foot or by public transportation. I refuse to take taxis in Europe - too expensive. But I just hadn’t done that at all for Hamburg. Realizing that, I had to try and get a wifi connection somewhere so that I could look it up. Every other train station in Europe that I have been to so far comes with free public wifi. But obviously Hamburg had no such convenience, not when I needed it. They had hot spots you could pay for but you usually need a local phone number to sign up for these deals (like I’d pay for it anyway, ha!). But even the McDonald’s at the station didn’t have free wifi. I thought that was a sure bet.
Annoyed, I left the station and headed to an area that I thought I might be able to find either a street map or wifi access. I had the street address of the hostel in my inbox which I cold access from my iPhone. Eventually, after walking down a large shopping street, and past many street activists trying to get me to sign something, I found a map of the city and located the neighborhood, several neighborhoods away from where I currently was, but reachable by metro. So I hopped the metro to Reeperbahn, also know as Hamburg’s red light district.
So I didn’t realize this when I booked the hostel, the reviews online didn’t key me in on this, but it’s located right in the heart of the city’s red light district. And this hostel was one of the cheapest and best rated in the city. So I booked it. When I walked out of the metro station and towards the street where the hostel was located, I started passing strip clubs and sex shops and shows and all kinds of red light district-y stuff. And even the hostel is located in an old brothel. The hostel is just one hallway with 4 or 5 identical rooms on each side and one small reception room. It’s pretty funny. But the hostel is actually really nice, the staff is very enthusiastic, and everything is quite normal. I actually read a little later too that the red light district of Reeperbahn in St. Pauli is the safest neighborhood in the whole city because of the intense Polizei (police) presence. They sort of keep everything in check. Plus the area is quite touristy.
After settling in a bit, I went for a walk down to the harbor and away from the lights, now blaring and blinking on the signs in Reeperbahn, to get a look at the city and orientate myself a little. Hamburg is one of the busiest shipping ports in northern Europe and many call it, I recently read, the Venice of the north because of its vast canal systems that cut threw the city. The harbor area and the canals around the old town are remarkably beautiful. The NYTimes travel article had said this city was vastly underrated. I am starting to see why. The sun had just set below the horizon over the water and the sky was clear of clouds, giving way to the multi-colored sunset over the many ships along the harbor. I circled around the main part of the old town, doing a sort of late evening stroll, amazed at how pretty everything was, and then eventually made my way back to the hostel. I’ll have plenty of more time over the next couple days to properly explore.
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| Sunset over Hamburg Harbor |
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| This photo doesn't capture how built up the harbor is, with restaurants, cafes and a promenade just off to the right |
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| The industrial side of Hamburg |
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| A clear night over Hamburg |
Hi Stephen. The Scandinavian portion of the trip sounds like it must be a real vacation after cold weather of Russia. Just wondering, how widespread is the English in all the places you are visiting. Is it taught to kids in rural areas as well as the cities? Again, I really get mad when you don't write. Thanks. Carl Restivo
ReplyDeleteHi Mr. Restivo, sorry for the late response. I realize I've been a bit absent from regular posts - I apologize for that...
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, English is very widespread throughout Europe - even here in places like France, Italy, and Germany. In these countries, English is a compulsory subject for students in schools, both in rural areas and in cities. But also in these countries, English language movies and tv shows are dubbed into their native languages. I've found that watching English language TV and movies and listening to English language music is the best way for people to learn English. So in these countries, English is around, but always the preferred method is to speak the native language.
However, in places like Scandinavia and Holland, English is basically a native language. Not only is it taught (and often spoken) in schools, but it is spoken almost as much as the native language between locals. English to them requires no effort. Movies and TV, it should be noted, are not dubbed in their local languages, they are viewed in English.
The same can not be said in Russia however. English is not usually taught in rural areas (from what I've heard) and it optional to students in the city. English is not spoken at all around the country and very few people are comfortable speaking English with foreigners. Tourism hasn't really taken off yet there so it is possible that it is really not necessary to ever learn it. With that said, I did find many people who did speak English, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and certainly everyone I wrote about and had a conversation with. Getting around Russia though is challenging and communication has to be either in broken Russian/English or via other means.
China is a little different. All students study English in China but very few of them are comfortable ever speaking it. So for all practical purposes, getting around the country just speaking English is difficult. It is more common in the cities for you to run into someone who speaks English but even then it can be difficult. Students who learn English are required to pass an exam in order for them to enter into university studies, but oral exams are not part of the test. So practical speaking skills tend to be low. And rural areas are generally left out of this entirely. It is rare for effective English lessons to be found in the countryside. Luckily I was able get by in China with my rudimentary Chinese. But much of China becomes virtually inaccessible without some knowledge of the language. English doesn't go too far.
Hopefully that answers your question and hopefully I haven't lost you as a reader in my absence from posting.
Take care!