Since we landed in Calais almost a week ago, we have embarked on a whirlwind tour of several European cities on our way to Norway. Our route took us through Utrecht, Hamburg, Copenhagen (although this was a bit of a detour by train), and finally Oslo. In each case we only had a few hours to explore the city, which is obviously not enough time to truly see the sights. However, we really wanted to prioritize giving ourselves more time in Norway, and since we have a time constraint at the end of the Norway leg we decided to make the drive up pretty rapid (while still seeing friends and family along the way).
From Calais, we drove straight to Utrecht, where we had a campsite booked for two nights. The weather was hot and sunny, and we were looking forward to getting our comfy camping chairs out. Unfortunately, as we were driving along the A27, the ETA on Google Maps kept going up and up, and a long red line of traffic appeared. Thankfully I remembered the Dutch word for traffic jam (“file”) so I could look up the issue on my phone. There was an accident (“ongeluk”) and we had no way of rerouting around it, so we ended up sitting there for over an hour. One nice thing about being in a motorhome: I could dash into the back while we were stopped to grab some snacks and water and books to keep us entertained while we waited!
We eventually made it to our campsite just outside Utrecht, where we were joined by Jacob’s sister (who lives there) for a nice BBQ dinner. When checking in to the campsite, I made an effort to speak Dutch, which went rather well. My Dutch is rusty but useful, and although as a perfectionist I am often embarrassed to even try, I knew I needed some practise before visiting my relatives at the end of June.
The next day, we cycled into the heart of the city to go kayaking along the canal. I was pretty excited to ride my bike in the Netherlands and experience the cycling culture firsthand (as an adult). It was fun to be one of so many cyclists on the road, and I enjoyed seeing people wearing a variety of outfits I would not usually consider cycling-friendly, and carrying more children/groceries/household items than I would have thought possible on a bicycle! As much as I love my own bike, I had a lot of bike envy in Utrecht and now also want a cute Dutch-style bike to cruise around the city on.
Kayaking along the canal was such a fun experience. We went at a relaxed pace so we had lots of time to look at everything as we went by (nothing to do with lacking arm and core strength, of course!) My favourite part was looking up at the many bridges, which were adorned with beautiful flower baskets and had innumerable bikes chained to them. I also loved how there were cafes and shops along the lower (water) level of the canal in addition to the upper (street) level. There were lots of people around, eating and drinking at the cafes, relaxing along the banks of the canal, and wandering around the city, but it didn’t feel too busy. Overall the city had such a vibrant, easygoing feeling, and I really loved paddling around. We also made sure to keep our strength up by enjoying some stroopwafels along the way!
Enjoying a stroopwafel along the canal in Utrecht
The next city on our hit list was Hamburg, where my friend Toby lives. We met up for dinner at Hofbräu Wirtshaus, which serves traditional Bavarian food. I enjoyed the “hearty roast neck of pork” (“Deftiger Schweinsbraten aus dem Nacken”) which lived up to its name: it was very hearty and tasted delicious. We then embarked on what I’ve dubbed the “Toby tour” of Hamburg. He offered to show us around, and it was honestly one of the best tours I’ve been on. He incorporated multiple modes of transportation (HADAG public transit ferry, U-bahn subway train, and walking), stopped at some of the key sights (the Rathaus, Elbphilharmonie, Binnenalster lake, Hafencity, his apartment), and left us wanting more, as there was still so much to see and do. I’m definitely keen on visiting again and spending more time in the city, especially in summer when an ideal day seems to involve paddleboarding on the lake, lying in the sun and eating a churro gelato sundae (which I saw advertised and sounds delicious).
A canal boat in Hamburg
From Hamburg we drove up into Denmark, leaving the van in a city called Nyborg so we could take the train into Copenhagen. When we looked at the map beforehand, it looked like there were two long bridge sections at the start of the journey, and we were anticipating good views of the coastline. Unfortunately, one of those bridges turned out to be a tunnel, but we still got some nice views on the first one. To our surprise, when we disembarked at Copenhagen Central Station, the train was much longer than when we boarded! Several additional cars had been added at some point along the way. I’m sure there had been announcements to that effect, but since they were all in Danish we were oblivious.
We were pretty hungry when we arrived, and as a hot dog fan I was delighted to learn that they are very popular in both Denmark and Norway. We tried one of the local hot dog stands, and after polishing off our lunch set out to see the city. We headed for Nyhavn, the picturesque canal-side district with colourful buildings that is the classic postcard view of Copenhagen (see the top of this post). We treated ourselves to a canal tour, which covered a lot of the city sights. (The canal theme continues!) My favourite part of the tour was our guide, who was friendly and funny and explained some of the history of the city. A lot of the historic buildings were attributed to Christian IV, who ruled Denmark and Norway from the late 1500s to mid 1600s. The canal system was also part of his vision for the city, which he modeled off of Amsterdam and other Dutch cities, hoping to attract Dutch sailors to Denmark. Apparently that was somewhat unsuccessful, but the canals are still a part of the city’s appeal today. It seems to me that Dutch canals are often imitated, but never duplicated! I certainly preferred the atmosphere of the Utrecht canals to those in Copenhagen.
After the tour, we walked over the Knippels Bridge to the Church of Our Saviour (Vor Frelsers Kirke), a Baroque church with an ornate spire. Inside the church is a set of wooden steps up to the spire, and the stairs continue around the outside of the spire itself. We climbed the 400 steps to the top and were treated to scenic views over the city, along with high winds! It was fun to point out some of the landmarks that we had seen on the boat tour from up above.
The spire of Church of Our Saviour - we climbed all the way to the top!
We capped off our day with cake and drinks at the Coffee Room, a relaxed cafe with great ambience. It was nice to have a chance to decompress and chat about all the sights and scenery we’d taken in over the past few days. We then headed back to the station to catch our train back to Nyborg. After some confusion reading the departures board, we found our platform. Before boarding the train, I double-checked the list of stops on the sign, and it was a good thing I did! Just as our train had gotten longer on the way to Copenhagen, this train would get shorter, and sections would split off for different destinations. We had nearly gotten on a carriage that did not go to Nyborg at all! We quickly found the right section and thankfully made it back to the van with no further issues.
Cafe treats at Coffee Room in Copenhagen
The final city in this tale is Oslo, which we reached via ferry from Denmark. The Color Line SuperSpeed 2 had more of a cruise ship feel than other ferries I’ve taken, with a cafe/bar complete with a large lighting rig and speaker system (disco, anyone?), as well as a large duty-free shop. Again, the boat did not feel crowded and we found a quiet spot to read and relax. The boat docked in Larvik, and we avoided the ferry traffic by popping into the closest MENY to grab a few groceries and experience the sticker shock of Norwegian prices. We made sure to pick up some brunost, the classic “brown cheese” which is a famous Norwegian food staple.
The next day, we headed into Oslo, meeting up with a friend of Jacob’s from university who lives there. He gave us a high-speed walking tour of the city, including a stop at PARADIS, which is apparently the best gelateria in town (it was very tasty). It was sunny and hot, and I wished so badly I had brought my swimsuit when we ended up at Sørenga Sjøbad, a swimming area incorporated into the waterfront docks. The architecture and city structure of Oslo was an interesting contrast: most was built either in the 70’s, during Norway’s oil boom, or was very recently constructed. So much land reclamation is underway that properties recently purchased as “waterfront” are no longer on the waterfront at all!
A view of Oslo from a nearby viewpoint
What I loved most about each of these cities was all the water! Growing up on an island has given me an affinity for being close to the water, whether it’s the ocean (preferred) or a lake (an acceptable substitute for the ocean if necessary). It was fun to be able to explore each city from the water, whether via kayak or ferry or canal boat. During this week of city-hopping, I’ve been thinking a lot about different ways to experience cities, what it truly means to experience a city, and what sight-seeing is all about (nowadays, it seems like getting that perfect Instagram shot is all that matters!). I think I prefer more active experiences, like kayaking or cycling, and often visiting a local coffee shop to debrief is my favourite part of the day. It also seems like some cities have two selves, where one is full of tourists checking out the popular sights, and the other is the day-to-day life in the city for folks who live there. Both are valid experiences, but I think the former is starting to feel a bit shallow for me (or maybe it takes more than a day to go in-depth enough!). It makes me excited for our next big adventure after this road trip, re-locating to a to-be-determined city in western Europe, where we can experience the latter. Dear readers, what do you enjoy about traveling? What are some interesting or different ways you like to explore new cities?
Stay tuned for our adventures outside of the city, exploring the mountains and fjords of Norway, in the next post!