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Before going to bed yesterday night, we ended up playing L’auberge des pirates with the scouts, it was great fun.

I couldn’t book a seat on this morning’s train, so I had to go to the information desk at the station, but all good, no need to make a reservation. So now I have 45 min to accomplish the oh so vital mission of finding a German flag that I can take a pciture of (you’ll see why later).

That seem like a trivial task, but it was actually much easier said than done! Germans have this thing that they really don’t like to show off their national flag. My theory was that it was a way to not encourage patriotism and its inevitable drifting into fascism, and the truth is actually not too far. The flag has been appropriated bye neo-nazi groups and other wretched of human beings. We have that in France too to an extent, but Germany is next level. I had to walk a kilometer to the townhall of Hamburg… And it doesn’t even have the German flag floating! Only the state flag and an Ukrainian one. Defeated, I sprinted back to the station just in time to catch the train.

However, soon after we left and we cossed the Elbe river, there were a couple of big official buildings with a German flag each. I had time to snatch pictures of them. Oof!

Upon reaching Rendsburg, I got quite a surprise. While we were just crossing the flat countryside, we found ourselves out of nowhere 41 m above ground level on the Rendsburg High Bridge! Apparently it’s the longest rail-only bridge in Europe, and underneath it is a very rare transporter bridge (a kind of horizontal elevator, above the river)! As it is curved, it was quite a sight. The railroad then goes through a descending loop to reach ground level again. Pretty cool stuff.

My stay in Germany was barely over 24 h, and I haven’t visited much, it’s true. I can’t say that what I saw on this trip was the most exciting either. However, there may be one or even two future occasions where I’ll enter Germany again on this trip, in the North-East, and/or in the South.

Hej det Kongeriget Danmark!

It’s my second visit to the Danish Realm, but the first time on the continent, as I’ve only previously seen København [Copenhagen]. I’m excited to see more of the country this time! Already I’m surprised by how hilly the countryside become as we get closer to Kolding, where I change train.

The next one was a Danish train, and wow! Now that’s what I call comfort! I was sure that I was in first class, but no, every car is like that. Super large, comfortable seats, reclining, plenty of leg space. My only regret was to be on the wrong window when we ran along the Vejle Fjord. It was a great ride, and I’m eager to do it the other way around in two days.

At Aarhus station, my stop for the next two nights, I stumble upon a pro-Palestinian demonstration, which I meet again when getting out of the hostel. I suddenly feel quite culprit of being a privileged white European boy who can afford to travel an entire continent just for the fun of it, whilst some corrupt power-angry wannabe dictators everywhere around the World are happy to send disposable heroes on the pretense of serving their nation, just to satisfy some overgrown leader ego.

Still, I went for a little walk in Aarhus, which is very pleasant to stroll and rather pretty, although nothing much extraordinary.