After an epic 21 hour bus ride from Basil (France) to Copenhagen, we were excited to have arrived and keen to reunite with fellow adventure gang members Caroline and Jens, not to mention our bikes, which they had dutifully taken to Denmark with them a couple of months prior.
We were both warmly greeted by Caro (Jens was working) and shown around their spacious flat, with bonus adorable house mates. We chatted for a while, then headed to the airport to welcome Charles (Jon’s son) who was flying in from Jersey.
We stayed in Copenhagen for three days and thoroughly enjoyed the bike-friendly and relaxed pace of life. Caro and Jens hosted several meals with traditional smørrebrød and delicious risotto with a few of their Danish friends and Caro’s Cousin (Milena?). We built our bikes, Charles borrowed Vishwan’s bike, and we explored the city. We were lucky enough to visit Caro’s work place in the United Nations building. We had a tour and made to feel like VIPs!! We further explored heaps of the city’s historic sites, national parks and waterfront. We can understand why Caro and Jens love living in Copenhagen so much.
Sweden: 4th May – 7th May
On the 4th day of our stop in Copenhagen (a Thursday as the following day was a public holiday) at around 4.30pm, we all headed for the central train station, either on foot, by bike or train. 10 of us in total (Vishwan, Claire, Ted, Nadine, Caro, Jens, Charles, Caroline, Jon and Vanessa) and set of to Gothenburg. The train ride started off fine, until we suddenly were told that we had to get off. This took a while as the doors wouldn’t open at first. A train malfunction.
After waiting for 30 minutes another train arrived and we boarded safely, but a more spread out as there was less room. Again, the first part of the journey was fine but we were then told that we had to move to the first two carriages, as the train was about to split into 2. This proved quite a challenge, but we managed to get out with bikes, panniers and other baggage, speed down the platform and enter the front carriages. Then off we went again. This time with no hiccups.
On arrival in Gothenburg, Jon and Vanessa cycled whilst the others took public transport to our booked accommodation and were warmly greeted by our beautiful friends Katka and Jiri, who had flown in from Czech an hour or so earlier. We ate together and chatted a while.
Day 1: We spent the day exploring the city with Kayla and Jiri initially, looking at forts and eating local Hagen.
Later we met up with Caro and Nadine and hung out at an outside food court. The two of us spent some time trying to organise buses for our journey to Oslo and then on to Bergen. This proved challenging, but we worked it out.
The next two days we enjoyed using the sauna/swimming pool at the house, going for walks, a park run,island hopping, and eating together. It was a lovely few days of getting to know Caro and Jens friends from Copenhagen and spending time with old friends from Australia.
