Copenhagen - Days 8 - 9 - 10 with Sveeden Mixed In !!

Day 8

It Rained.

            I blogged.

                        I rested.

Day 9
 Day trip to Sveeeden! (Yah!)

They (whoever 'they' are) built a 16km (about 9 ½ miles) lonnnng bridge over the water between Denmark and Sweden.  The upper deck is for vehicles, while the train travels the lower deck.  I got on the wrong train partly because the reader boards didn’t correspond to the information on the computers that I bought my ticket from.

To explain, I selected to buy a ticket going from the CPN central station to Malmo, Sweden (about $12 btw).  But, the readerboards that list all the trains, destinations, boarding platforms, and times didn’t display ANYTHING about Malmo!!!  They displayed street name destinations and none of them matched the street printed on my ticket either!   Finally, I recognized Kastrup and thought I had seen that name when I was researching Malmo stops the day before.  So, I got on that one.  And, I rode it to the end.  I wasn’t in Sweden and we didn’t cross any water.  Damn.

Since I had arrived at the last stop, I decided to just stay on the train because, after all, it would have to return to the central station, right?  The train moved forward a bit and stopped.  I was the ONLY person on the entire train.  I presumed it would have to switch tracks to go back the other direction.  Then I saw a man walking along the tracks and I opened the door.  I asked him if he worked for the trains.  He asked me if I was lost.  DUH!   Well, he was the conductor and I told him of my confusing situation.  He was super nice and informed me we were indeed headed back to the Central Station and, once there, he would take me up inside and show me where to go (so to speak).  And, that’s exactly what he did.

In the meantime, I figured out what I did.  The train line I was on went to Taastrup.   I didn’t notice the ‘T’ in Taastrup.  I wanted Kastrup…with a ‘K’.  DOH!!!

But, even though I goofed on recognizing the different spelling, I wouldn’t have wanted to go to Kastrup anyway!  Why?  Well, the reason I thought I recognized the name ‘Kastrup’ is because….days before….I looked it up using a translation software and ‘Kastrup’ means ‘Airport’ in English!   So, Kastrup was NOT a destination stop in Malmo, Sweden after all !!!   Confused?  So was I.

Anyway, the conductor showed me on the readerboard which line to get on to get to Malmo, Sweden (though it didn’t SAY Malmo…GRRRR!!!) and that’s exactly what I did.  I finally ended up getting to where I wanted to go all along.

I wasn’t in Malmo very long…only a few hours on a Saturday afternoon.  It was strangely quiet…not many shops open even in the old town area.  There were far fewer bicyclists but they did have the same wide bike lanes.  I didn’t find Malmo all that interesting.  Oh well.  At least I can say I’ve been to Sweden!

Malmo, Sweden Train station

Gigantic (about 6 ft diameter) flower ball outside the train station.

St Peters Chuch, built in the 14th century.

Central Square

City Hall on the Main Square

You can rent these 'GoBoats' and tootle about the canals of Malmo.  The motors are electric and the boat features a picnic table so you can enjoy some snacks and bevs while you're tootling.

When I flew into Copenhagens airport, I spotted these windmills out in the bay.  I was able to see them again from the train as I crossed the bay between Denmark and Sweden, headed for Malmo.

Day 10
Time to Wrap it Up

Ready to head home, I walked over to what had become my regular daily bus stop 2 blocks away.  After waiting a while, I realized they weren't running because of a run/race about to commence.  So, I had to hoof it, schellping my bags, sweating profusely, all the way to the central train station.

The CPN airport is older which is very noticeable given the 9ft ceilings in most of the corridors, no moving sidewalks, walk, walk, walk.  After walking from the train stop to the check-in counter, then thru security, then a lot more walking I ended up having to wait in a central area for my gate # to be published.  Seems to be a common method used in every European airport I've been in...publish the gate # about 1 hour before departure.  Meanwhile, chill and hang out.  Great for the retail shops in that area!  The overhead readerboard finally displayed my gate....A17.   I walked to A17 which of course was the LAST gate at the end of a long concourse.  When I got there I noticed the gate's signboard said 'Barcelona'....NOT where I was headed!

After some time of confusion, another passenger announced it was changed from A17 to A20…which was NOT 3 gates away....noooo.  I had to walk alllllll the way out of the concourse and down another concourse to get to A20.  In this airport, the concourses are narrow, the bathrooms are ‘cubes’ in the center of it, and there's not much seating/standing area.

My 'luck' continued.  After boarding the plane I found my seat was double-booked.

No meals, snacks, or drinks were served on our 3-hour Iberia flight...it had to be purchased if you wanted something. 

In the end, it was a great 10-day trip, great weather, friendly people, great sightseeing, and all at a pretty low cost given I had no cost for accommodations by participating in a HomeExchange.  

• Airfare from Palma to Madrid = $50 RT
• Airfare from Madrid to Copenhagen = $120 RT
• Copenhagen City Card - 5 days unlimited use of transportation system (bus, subway, trains) + no cost entrance fees to many sites (ie; Aquarium, Rosenborg Castle, Tivoli Gardens amusement park, canal boat tour, etc) = $140
• 4 hour electric bicycle rental = $16
• Plus groceries, eating out, drinks, etc = (forgot to track that)

• Total = $500 (mas o menos)

• Approximately 400 photos taken.

THE END!!

Dano

Where am I headed next?   The island of IBIZA!!!