After a night at the Intercity Hotel Hauptbahnhof it was soon time to get moving again. Although we had a few hours to kill before our 18.45 departure, so since our next train would not have any dining car (but you can order some food to your compartment from the staff), we thought we’d have an early Berlin kebab dinner. We took the S-bahn commuter train a few stops from Berlin’s centrail station to Zoologischer Garten, took a walk to Kurfürstendam and the famous department store KaDeWe, before ending up at Zaddy’s kebab very close to the station as the line was long and that is usually a good sign.

The kebab was actually really good – thin juicy döner kebab meat, pickled red cabbage, lots of onion and pink kräuterßose in a fluffy sesame bun. The place was packed with people, and we had to stand on the sidewalk eating our food, but absolutely worth it in my mind.

Anyway, it was time to get on the S-Bahn train again and go back to the Berlin Hauptbahnhof to catch our next train, namely the sort of famous ÖBB Nightjet.

We rode the Nightjet once before, between Berlin and Zürich in Switzerland on our trip to Malta in 2019 and loved it. Our hopes was that it would at least be much better than our recent experience with SJ on the way to Berlin, but that wouldn’t be too hard to be honest.

We had paid roughly the same for the ÖBB Nightjet trip from Berlin to Graz in Austria as the trip from Stockholm to Berlin, which was roughly €350 for two. This time however we also had our own bathroom and shower in our private sleeper, which of course makes it a whole lot more comfortable.

The train arrived on time, and boarding went smooth. The train we were on had three different destinations; Wroclaw in Poland; Budapest in Hungary, and of course Graz in Austria, where we were going. The train did split up eventually, but all carriages would first go to Wroclaw.

Our sleeper compartment was very clean, quite large and super comfortable. It was especially great to have our own bathroom again. It’s not that bad to have it in the train car of course, but it’s inconvenient in the night for instance, although it definitely is a luxury problem. Another luxury problem is that ÖBB clearly states that a welcome onboard amenity kit is provided, as well as a welcome onboard drink. We did receive one amenity kit, and no drinks without any explanation. We asked about another amenity kit when our tickets were checked but the onboard stuff just shrugged and said they had a shortage. We later heard another passenger ask about the welcome drinks, we did not hear exactly what was answered but it sounded like the warm tiny bottle of water in the amenitiy kit had replaced the cold bottle of prosecco we had our last trip.

But, apart from this, the rest of the trip was immaculate. As we started to leave Berlin, we went to the small compartment from where staff were selling drinks and paid for some Austrian sparkling wine instead. A half bottle, 37,5 centiliters, was priced about €14. We had also bought some snacks at the Rewe supermarket at Berlin HBF, and as we were crossing the border to Poland the train feast was on. Nibbling on olives, pretzels and having a few drinks we went through eastern Poland on the way to our train’s first major stop in Wroclaw.

After stopping at Wroclaw, it was time to get some sleep. The bed was comfortable and we slept okay – but I never sleep that good on trains unfortunately.

We woke up already in Austria with approximately half an hour to breakfast and two hours to Graz where the train was terminating and we were getting off.

We had a go with the onboard shower and I actually think it was quite alright. It wasn’t one of those where you had to sit on the toilet and shower, but you had a small but manageable shower cubicle with both decent pressure and temperature of the water.

After the shower it was time for breakfast. At the ÖBB Nightjet, breakfast is included and what is very nice according to me is that you can order what you want (maximum 6 picks though) from a small selection of different breakfast options.

Altough our selection of gouda cheese had run out, we got both salami, ham and cream cheese as compensation and was happy anyways.

As we rolled through a fantastic mountain-y landscape close to Graz, we enjoyed our breakfast of semmel bread rolls, butter, salami, yoghurt, coffee and juice.

A little while after breakfast we arrived into Graz, Austria’s second largest city. And like in Berlin, walked a few 100 meters from the station to our next Intercity Hotel, this one the IntercityHotel Graz.

It is always super convenient to stay near the train station, especially with bags. But although the hotel was quite nice, the immediate area around the train station wasn’t really that fun. It wasn’t very seedy or anything, but central Graz a kilometer away felt like another world.

I’ve grown fond of train travel the last couple of years with train trips from Stockholm where I live, to both Malta in 2019, and to Scotland last year. It’s an incredibly (mostly) comfortable experience compared to flying, you just take your bags to the central station, no lines, no checking in, no waiting, no slow boarding. Just jump onboard and you are already on your way.

This year we wanted to visit Slovenia which we had planned to go to in 2020, but due to a certain pandemic, we had to cancel the trip. When we started to look at ways to get us there, and while studying the map we noticed that Venice, where I’ve never been, but always wanted to go, is quite close, and from Venice there are lots of ferry lines connecting it to Croatia. Our goal was to finish the train travel part of the trip with a week of sun lounger-ing in a nice resort somewhere, and Croatia has a lot of such places.

Okay, so with the route set, it was time to start building the trip. We do not use a travel agency or a rail pass as we usually go by a combination of private sleepers on night trains and then in first class on day trains. Instead we just logged on to each train company’s website and booked straight through them. Mostly we used Austrian ÖBB’s website which is quite easy to work out. The Stockholm to Berlin train we booked on Sj.se and paid for with credit card.

A reason for the entire trip was that I wanted to try out the new SJ Euronight train, that goes from Stockholm to Hamburg, and during the summer all the way to Berlin. Since a first class sleeper compartment with private bathroom was quite insanely priced at around 6500 sek (~€550), we opted for a second class one, where you have the compartment to yourself, but with shared bathroom and shower in the carriage. For that we paid the still very costly price of 4000 sek (approximately €320).

Before boarding our train, we went on a dinner shopping spree in Stockholm’s central station since there’s no dining car onboard the train, although there’s a small kiosk. In Stockholm’s Centralstation there’s quite a lot of eateries such as McDonald’s, Burger King, Urban Deli’s take out kiosk, and several bakeries from which you can bring take away food. There is also a large COOP supermarket, and proper restaurants such as Luzette and Urban Deli where you can have a sit-down meal. We opted for a mix of McDonald’s cheeseburgers and fries; shrimp salad from Urban Deli; a bag of chocolates and water from COOP and some dinner rolls from Gateau bakery for a train picnic.

Then it was time to board the train, which left right on time just before 18:00 o’clock.

Our second class sleeper was quite dirty when we entered it, crumbs on the floor and also an empty champagne bottle under the bed which we found after a while. It was also quite dusty and when touched, our sofa gave a way a little dust cloud. Not so nice.

Despite this, we had our little train picnic dinner and was still quite happy with being on our way. After a while we heard some clicking noises and suddenly a child appeared in our compartment, seemingly the door lock between ours and our neighbour’s compartment wasn’t too effecient and despite being locked from our side the child could still easily open it. He looked as surprised as we did though, apologized and quickly retreated back to theirs. But not very safe.

After dinner we went to check out if there was any life onboard, remebering a night on the Arctic Circle Train with a dining car full of happy beer drinking tourist on their way to see northern lights. No such luck though, we overheard the staff telling another passenger that they wanted a dining car for the train, but since there are different train tracks in Sweden, Denmark and Germany, they couldn’t find any that worked all the way. My suggestion is take one from Stockholm and leave it in Malmö then, no one’s going to eat after midnight any way. But maybe that delays the trip too much.

What was offered was a small kiosk where staff sold drinks, snacks and I think maybe some kind of light meals. In our compartment ’information folder’ it was stated that staff would come around with a trolley service, but that never happened.

After a quite reasonably priced (for Sweden) €5 cold German beer together with watching the moonlight crossing of the Øresund Bridge to Denmark, it was time to hit the sack. Sleeping quality was standard for a train I’d say. It was quite comfortable and we both slept okay.

The next morning, we had to go out to the kiosk to pick up the breakfast box that was included in our sleeper compartment. It consisted of a bread roll, jam, butter and juice, and you also got free coffee or tea.

At this point, towards the end of the trip, the train looked like a dump unfortunately. The hallways had trash and paper on the floors, and the toilets hadn’t been cleaned and was really, really gross. I’ve sent SJ a complaint about this, but they haven’t yet responded about a month later. We’ll see if they do.

In the end though, we arrived safe and sound, and on time, to Berlin Hauptbanhof, one of my favourite train stations with lots of food, shops and connections. For us it was time for a brief one night stop though in the nearby Intercity Hotel, a few 100 meters from the station.

A tip, if you stay near the Berlin HBF and want to have a proper German dinner, is to visit Zollpackhof restaurant and biergarten. Good prices, full of locals and tasty food. It has both a quite affordable self service part where you pick up you food yourself from a sort of food court concept, or a terrace with table service. We chose the former and were quite happy.

When I was around 10 years old, the Eurostar opened and for the first time in history, people could travel by train from the United Kingdom to the rest of Europe. I don’t really remember how I got this information, probably from tv as the internet took another year or two to reach my 1990s family home. Anyway, since then, I’ve dreamt of going with the Eurostar, through the Eurotunnel, and finally, after stuffing our faces in Amsterdam food for three days, it was time.

We had booked tickets in Standard Premiere, which is the Eurostar’s middle option, where you get better seats than in Standard, as well as drinks and a meal onboard. But you don’t get access to the extra benefits of Business Premiere such as lounges, fast track and a nicer three course meal with champagne served onboard.

As we lived basically in Amsterdam’s Centraal station, at the very comfortable Ibis Amsterdam Centraal, we had just a few meters walk to reach the station. Upon arriving the correct platform we entered a quite long que to reach safety control and immigration. Since train travel until this point had been basically to just jump on and off trains, this was the first time since leaving Stockholm we actually had to wait. We did not mind though and everything went quite smoothly and I think we waited for maybe 20 minutes or so to get into the waiting area. The waiting area consists of a few chairs and benches, and not everyone was able to find a seat. I don’t think there was even a cafe in there, but there were a few vending machines for the hungry. The most interesting part of our waiting experience was a couple of Dutch ladies that cracked open a bottle of sparkling wine to kill some time. Reasonable!

After a while we were let out to the same platform that we had queed on to get in to the waiting area, and finally our Yellow ride arrived. I tried to go and take a picture of the locomotive, but a staff member told me (nicely) to get on the train instead. Fortunately there was plenty of opportunity to take pretty train pictures in London later on.

Our carriage on the train was probably half full (or was it half empty?) and we were told to put on face masks because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Netherlands had just scrapped mandated face masks shortly before we arrived, as had the UK mostly, but not onboard trains.

We were welcomed personally (nice touch) by our carriages attendant and shortly afterwards presented with drinks and some snacks. We were given the option to have either white, red or rosé wine, beer or softdrinks, and went for wine. Throughout the trip they were quite generous with wine, and we, being in holiday mode, probably had 3 or 4 “mini bottles” each before arriving in London. After stopping in Rotterdam, the train started to fill up, and we were served a ‘light lunch’. I opted for a leek, Red Leicester cheese and rosemary tart together with a sticky date pudding with butterscotch cream. The tart aka pie was served with a little bit of coleslaw-y root vegetable salad as well as a bread roll. Maybe the wine and views of rural Belgium had a little bit to do with it, but it was really good.

So, after a few hours of wine drinking and European landscape watching it was time. We entered the legendary tunnel. I thought it would take a longer time beneath the sea, but it was probably 15 minutes or so until we popped out on the other side of the channel and could continue to watch the landscape go by for a while before reaching London’s St. Pancras International station, and our next stop on the way to Scotland.

In conclusion I really loved the Eurostar. Comfortable seats, friendly onboard staff, great food, and a generally nice modern train. And of course it was also very convenient being able to go directly from Amsterdam to London instead of having to first go to Brussels or Paris. Price was a little bit high as we waited a bit too long to book. When we started checking, a one way ticket in Standard Premiere was €120 per person, but we booked them at €180 due to our own laziness. Despite this, and compared to flying, 180 euros for four hours in a comfortable seat with views of four European countries, free-flowing (at least basically) drinks and a nice meal felt very much worth it.

After a quick walk from our hotel to Copenhagen’s railway station, we reached our platform where the next train was due to leave for Hamburg. We had booked DSB (Danish Railway) 1’, which is their first class, via Deutsche Bahn’s website, and because of that we couldn’t choose our seats beforehand. I’m not sure that you can if you book directly through DSB, but I would guess so. Anyway, we were lucky and got a 1 to 1 pair, eg. facing each other with a table between us and no one sitting next to us. Not so lucky were all the passengers boarding the train with ”open” first class tickets, as the train was fully booked. On SJ you need to have a seat when you board the high-speed trains, but apparently not on the Danish trains. This caused a trip-lasting chaos with the non-reserved passengers jumping back and forth around the carriage, alternating between for the moment empty-seats, and sitting on the floor. Must have been quite stressful for them.

Apart from that, the seats were comfortable, there’s a self service bar with coffee and sweets, and the views were at times stunning. Last time we went we used the now terminated train ferry, but I’d say this train was more comfortable as you did not have to get on and off, and could just relax in your seat for the entire trip.

Just before we entered Germany there was an announcement that face masks are still mandatory in Germany due to the Corona pandemic, so the totally maskless carriage suddenly masked up as we crossed the border which was a little bit funny.

The trip lasted about four hours, and we rolled into Hamburg Hauptbahnhof railway station with no delays. The station is quite big, but we found our way and walked to our nearby hotel, Intercity Hauptbahnhof in a few minutes. The hotel was nice, and had what you would expect in terms of a nice bed, a tv and a decent bathroom. But mostly it’s convenient if you’re using the train station, if I’d stay longer in Hamburg, I’d stay in a nicer area. After settling in, we took a walk to the nearby Poggenmühlenbrücke (say that fast 10 times), with its famous canal view.

On the way back from the canal we picked up kebab from a place called Salli’s Döner. It was pretty good, although not fantastic. Tasty meat, decent bread, okay fries and good sauces. It costed us something like €20 which included two beers each to go. We finished our kebab and beers in our hotel room, and then went to bed.

We had no breakfast included in our room, so next morning we took a walk to a small coffee place we’d seen the day before when walking to the bridge-with-the-long-name. The place was called The Bakery and was also very close to the kebab kiosk where we bought dinner the day before. The coffee was really good and we also had a yoghurt with mandarins and ’homemade’ granola that was delicious.

After spending five days eating and touring Chiang Mai, the end of our quite extensive South East Asia trip approached. But first, one of my most anticipated events of the trip awaited us: catching the number 10 train to Bangkok.

How to book the train

Allegedly, you can book through Thailand State Railways’ website about two months/60 days in advance. As we were planning this trip far earlier than two months before, I couldn’t really wait and instead (again) opted to use 12go.asia for our tickets.

What you do is that you pick and pay your choice on their website, in our case for a private VIP/deluxe sleeper and then, when tickets are ready, 12go staff will go and purchase a ticket in your name. If the ticket you wanted has sold put immediately, you’ll get your money back (possibly excluding some kind of admin fee). Also, be wary that other train numbers than number 10 – or 9 if going from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, means less modern trains which may not have the same standard as in this post. But you choose your specific departure on 12go, so it’s only on you to pick the right one.

Getting on the train

What you finally do before boarding the train is that you need to pick up your ticket(s). You can pay to have them delivered to your home country, a hotel in Thailand, or you can pick them up at the Bossotel just across the road from the train station, which is what we did. It was super easy with a sign and we just walked in, showed our passports and was handed our tickets and a surprise partial refund since we initially had overpaid. Nice!

You can also stock up on some snacks, drinks and food items from the seven eleven which is next door to the hotel to enjoy onboard. They also sell alcoholic drinks, but big signs on the train made it quite clear: no drinking (alcohol) onboard!

Right on time, together with a beautiful Thai sunset, the train rolled into Chiang Mai’s main railway station, and our trip to the Big Mango begun.

Deluxe sleeper on Train no 10

As mentioned, we had opted to go for the maximum comfort onbord, which is the deluxe sleeper or VIP compartment. It’s by no means super luxurious, but quite comfortable and for instance nicer than the night trains I’ve been on in my native Sweden (it does not beat my number one experience on the Nightjet to Zurich last year though🤓).

Anyways, when you board the train, the lower bed is in sofa mode as you can see from the picture above. After an hour or so a staff member came and turned it into two beds as can be seen on the picture below. The beds weren’t that comfortable, but not bad either.

There is also a tv-screen per bed which shows a map where you currently are positioned and the next station. You can also (theoretically) order food from it, and I have a vague memory that you also in theory might’ve been able to watch tv or some video too. Neither food service or any video content worked for us though. There was however a great function which allowed you to see when one of the three bathrooms in our carriage was available. Cell phone connection was spotty at best, but worked here and there.

The train bumped a bit, during the night and sleep quality was so-so, but who cares when you’re on a train going straight through South East Asian jungle.

One of my favourite moments during the ride was around midnight when the full moon came out and you could actually see what was outside of the window for the first time since the sun went down an hour or so into the trip. I probably spent an hour sitting in my bed looking out the window at tiny villages, hills and jungle. I crossed my fingers to see some wildlife, but no luck unfortunately. Imagine to see a rare Thai tiger from the train. But I’m guessing the few remaining ones stay well clear of loud moving trains.

After a slightly rocky, but still decent night of sleeping, we approached Bangkok. For the last hour before arriving we went through cityscape while the big red sun was going up. At approximately 6.30 a.m. we rolled into Hua Lamphong railway station. Leaving the train was a quick affair and just minutes after relaxing in our cosy compartment, we suddenly found ourselves in the midst of a crowded megapolis.

We went to the super long taxi queue to try to get a taxi to our hotel as we for once had opted out from a hotel pick up, as they charged something ridiculous for the five minute or so ride. But the queue was super slow and we had read that the railway station is connected to the subway, so we thought “why not”. Our hotel (Amara Bangkok) was just one stop away, and using Google Maps we managed to get ourselves there in about 20 minutes.

After spending three days in fantastic (but super expensive) Positano, we were back in Salerno for a last night at the Hotel Plaza. After breakfast we went to a nearby sandwich shop to stock up on some provisions for our next leg on our way to Malta; Salerno-Catania on a Trenitalia intercity train.

Salerno-Catania in Trenitalia Intercity First Class
As the grafitti covered train rolled into Salerno Centrale station we realized that we might not be as happy with this trip as our latest onboard the amazing Italo. We had paid roughly €30 per person for “1 classe” which was about the double from 2nd class, but still a worthwile upgrade for the nearly 7 hour ride. The carriage felt quite modern, and there were electrical sockets so we could charge your phones which is always appreciated.

Unfortunately we sat on the wrong side of the train, going backwards, and in a seat where we were facing our co-passengers. Great if you want to chat with other people for a while, but not fantastic if you want privacy and to mainly relax for a 7 hour trip. To add to this the grumpy guy that sat on the “right” side of the train shut his window blind meaning all the pretty sea views were gone. The lady that sat facing us tried to convince him to open it up, but no success unfortunately. After about three hours with constant stops (meaning the air con was turned off) we arrived Villa San Giovanni from where we was to take our second train ferry of the trip, the one crossing the Messina straight over to the city of Messina and thus Sicily.

The ferry ride was a quite nice break from the train, and we went up on the deck to get some air and eat our sandwiches we bought in the morning. I did not check the ferry interior, so not sure if there are any restaurant or similar onboard (there isn’t any on the train). We were free to stay in the train, and some of the other passengers did. The views from the ferry is quite nice though, so in my mind it is definitely worth it to get up on deck. We left our bags while away, but as mentioned the train is open (unlocked) if you have valuables with you.

A few minutes before arrival in Messina we were told via loudspeakers to head back to the train, and shortly after we rolled off the ship and into Messina Centrale. Here we had to stop for about 30 minutes for an unknown reason, and many in our carriage got off getting some air. Since we did not understand the announcement that was made in Italian (and too lazy to ask someone) we remained onboard. After 30 minutes we took off again, only to stop every 10 or so minutes for about the same time. This time though, we sat on the right side of the train and could view the beautiful Sicilian coastline while slowly progressing. A word of warning here, the train stops shortly at the smaller stations, and a couple of older tourists missed their stop, just because they were too slow disembarking. So they had to go to the next station and get off there instead, which probably was a good 20 minutes later. Eventually and finally we reached Catania, where we stayed at Hotel Villa Romeo, which as most of the other places we stayed was basically next to the railway station.

This was probably my least favorite train of the trip, but if we’d have had our own seat pair I think it would’ve been an entirely different story. The carriage was quite nice and modern, but it got super hot since the regular stops meant that the air con was off and did not fully cool the train until it was time to stop again. But this might have been extraordinary and not something that always happens.

Ristorante I Moschettieri
We arrived quite late and through Google Maps we found a restaurant next door that had good reviews and decided to head there. While not maybe a 4,6 as the current rating states, we were quite happy with the food and the price. The food was rustic and tasty, and we had Sicilian starters, a huge plate of spaghetti alla norma (eggplant tomato sauce) covered in ricotta salata, and a mixed grill platter with sweet Sicilian onion & tomato salad. All this was washed down with house wine, and I believe the total bill was around €40. Staff spoke good English and were very friendly. A classic cozy family restaurant, that felt super Italian.

After arriving Zürich by the Nightjet train we left the Zurich HBF for a quick walk around town. I’ve been to Zurich before and because of that we kind of knew our way around. Since it was Sunday and early, not that many shops were open, and not that many people were out either. But the town is pretty and we had no problem killing a few hours walking around checking buildings, views and the few shops that were open. At the station however most venues were open.

Zürich-Como San Giovanni
This time it was time for second class, and we had paid approximately 30 euros each for our seats for the three hour journey from Switzerland to Italy. The tickets were booked through the Trenitalia website, but were carried out by Swiss train operator SBB. The train looked very modern and sleek, and the interior was pretty modern and nice too. We had a seat pair in the end of the carriage, and space was decent and there were electrical sockets we could use to charge our phones.

The trip itself went quickly, we had a loud but happy group of tourists onboard the train, and when they finally got off, the trip was very relaxing. The cool thing with the trip is that although quite short, you very much notice how the landscape changes from a Northern Europe landscape to the more Southern warm kind of climate as you get closer to Italy. Some of the views over Lake Lugano from the train was spectacular, and you see everything from snowy mountains, small alp cottages and turqouise lakes.

When we neared the border to Italy, the train staff announced that police would enter the train and that we should have our documents ready. No police came onboard though, not in our carriage anyway, and a few minutes later we were in Italy and our station, Como San Giovanni, a few hundred meters from Lake Como, where we were to make our first proper stop of the trip.

Two days in Como
Situated next to the super scenic Lago di Como, Como is a quite luxurious little town. Prices weren’t that horrible though (at least not compared to Positano where we were going next), and we ate very well there, possibly the best during the trip. We also took the funicular up to a surrounding mountain and then walked up to the Faro di Voltiano lighthouse where you could walk up a semi-claustrophobic staircase to a crazy (and vertigo bringing) view of the area.

Our favourites in Como

Ristorante Rino
A Tuscan restaurant that focuses on truffle and steak. We had no reservation, so we went when they opened at 7 pm to see if they had a table. they had one at 9 pm, so we went to nearby Posta Bistrot and had a few drinks were each round gave us a free platter of charcuterie and other small nibbles.

Rino itself was great and we had a divine truffle taglioni as well as a super tasty platter of steak with shaved fennel salad.

Locanda Barbarossa
Another great place. Prices were very affordable and we had a caprese mozzarella salad, spaghetti vongole and a pizza which were all amazingly good.

Gelateria Al Bottegone
Super tasty gelato ice cream and friendly staff in the middle of Como.

After an early rise from Axel Guldsmeden we went to find where the bus that was temporarily replacing the train (I guess due to some kind of maintenance work) left. The guy in our hotel told us that it was “to the right of the Central Station”. We found the spot, but quickly realised that it was seemingly only private companies using it. We asked a Flixbus driver at the spot and he too confirmed we were in the right spot. But fortunately, we were getting a little paranoid at this time and doubled checked the info and realised our bus was leaving next to the central station building in a totally different spot.

Where togbussen leaves from
After a semi-panicked brisk walk we found the right spot for “togbussen” (there were signs inside the central station building) and was safely on our way to Rødby.

Taking the train onboard a ferry
In Rødby we boarded a train just next to the ferry terminal and were driven onboard the Scandlines ferry, quite cool and there are only a few ferries like this left in the world (we’re taking one of the others in a week or so.).

The ferry was packed with Germans, Danes and probably the most by fellow Swedes. We had a quick curry sausage with fries for breakfast (when in Rome) and after 45 minutes we jumped back on the train and rolled off into Puttgarden and Germany.

This leg we had upgraded to first class, and we were sat in a mini cabin with two comfortable chairs facing each other. There were electrical outlets in the roof (took me half trip to realise) and free wifi. No food or drink of any kind by some reason. DSB’s website promised breakfast for before-10-departures as well as coffee. But you couldn’t even buy any.

We were about 35 minutes late arriving Hamburg where we had a connection that we hence missed. On the train they told us to go to the ticket office to get a new ticket in Hamburg, which we did with very little effort. Convenient.

From Hamburg to Berlin in ICE First Class
For our final leg to Berlin we got to try Germany’s famous ICE high speed train, a very sleek, spaceship looking vehicle.

The interior was nice and comfy with leather seat and 1+2 seating across the cabin. We sat next to an older guy that seemed to be some kind of celebrity since people stoped and took selfies with him. In first class there was table service from the dining carriage, but you had to pay for it. We tried an apple spritz that came in proper glassware by the super friendly attendant. Since the train goes up to 330 km/h the trip to Berlin took only 1.45 hours and we arrived right on time, an hour after our intended arrival, giving us nearly 6 hours to explore Berlin before our next train. We locked our backpacks in a locker for €6 (coin locker) in the station and went on our way.

5 hours train transit in Berlin
And what do you do in Berlin if you are a hungry person like myself if not taking yourself to the nearest decent kebab shop? The likes of Müstafas gemüse kebap were a bit too far, so we found a place called Kebab Baba looking nice within a 15 minute walk from the central station. The kebab was really good and the guys working there friendly.

From there we walked to Brandenburger Tour, the Reichstag and then back to the central station where we had a faßbier or two on Hans Im Glueck, which had a nice outdoor terrace. Half way into our beers two police men arrived and started cordon off the area. We were told a suspected bag was found and hence evacuated indoors. We never saw how it all ended, since we had to get to our train, but I guess it was in a good way since we could not find any more info online after leaving.

This Summer we’re trying something new: taking the train all the way from Sweden to continental Europe, and then on to the tiny mediterranean island of Malta.

The first step: catching Swedish SJ’s X2000 high speed train to Copenhagen. The trip is about five hours and we paid the equivalent of €30 each per person in second class. 2nd class was quite decent actually with good legroom, space and electrical outlets at every seat pair. There was also free wifi which worked okay. We brought our own food (from Urban Deli) onboard, but they do have an onboard café with food and drinks that looked decent enough.

Onboard picnic.

When arrived in Copenhagen we checked in at Axel Guldsmeden, a really nice four star hotel a couple of minutes’ walk from the central station. Then we took a short walk to Hija de Sánchez for above tacos and a cold beer or two.

Also in the area is Mikkeller Bar, where we had a night cap before heading back to the hotel. Lights out quite early as we had an early start the following day for the next leg of the trip.