Author Archives: Will Gons

Six Hours in Oslo, Norway

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Royal Palace – unique in that the grounds are completely open to the public during the day

Leaving Copenhagen, we had a long journey ahead of us to meet my parents. There were two trains to Oslo, then a planned 6 hour evening layover, followed by an overnight train to Bergen. While looking at possible stops to make on our way north, we learned that Oslo is considered the most expensive city in the world so we figured a layover was the only way for us to experience it on our budget. In fact it seems like all of Scandinavia is surprisingly expensive. During our short visit I made a short video about how Continue reading →

Unwinding in Copenhagen, Denmark

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Passing another ferry while crossing Fehmarn Belt

I was excited for the train from Hamburg to Copenhagen because I saw it’s one of the last places in Europe where a train is put on a ferry for part of the journey. As we secured our seat reservations, we learned that part of the scheduled train line was down for service so we would be transferred to a bus. Unfortunately, we were put on busses before the ferry across the Fehmarn Belt so we just boarded with all the other vehicles. The trip was still neat and it was nice to be able to walk around the ferry as a break from traveling.

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Our bunks at Generator Hostel

Surprisingly, the bus arrived at the train station right on time (seems a lot of bus trips take longer than scheduled). After a bit of a walk, we arrived at the Generator Hostel where we checked into a dormitory room with 8 beds. We haven’t had to stay in a hostel since Singapore because hotel rooms are usually Continue reading →

Bratwurst and Beer in Hamburg, Germany

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Zollkanal

Surprisingly, there wasn’t a direct train from Amsterdam to Hamburg but it was still an easy journey with only one connection. Soon enough, we were pulling into the center of Hamburg with our hotel, Kieler Hof, only a couple blocks away. Thankfully, the hotel was cheaper than Amsterdam so we planned to go out for dinner. After we completed some much needed laundry, we set out to explore the area and get food.

We found a pedestrian street lined with stores and full of people enjoying the beautiful eventing. We stopped at a fast food stand called MöGrill which Sara saw online. We ordered a currywurst because it seemed to be the most prominent thing on the menu. It was basically a sliced bratwurst covered in a curry flavored sauce that tasted fine but we were glad we only ordered one to split.

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Dinner at Gröninger Braukeller

I was excited to try some local German Continue reading →

Wandering the Streets of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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The train from Brussels was quick so before I knew it we were easing into Amsterdam Central Station. I love how the trains are so efficient and with our Eurail Pass we arrive right in the city center.  We had ended up booking a room at the Amstel Botel which was on the other side of the river from the station. Their website mentioned a free ferry transfer from the train station which Sara and I expected was run by the hotel. As we exited the station towards the river, we saw what looked like a public ferry in the final stages of boarding and the signage made it seem like it was going towards our destination. We jumped onboard and hoped that we weren’t supposed to have a ticket. A few minutes later, we neared a dock and cruised past an old decommissioned submarine. In fact, we were surrounded by interesting and antique ships! This was an awesome city so far and we’d only just arrived.

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Our hotel, Amstel Botel at NDSM pier

The Amstel Botel looked like a large houseboat. It was permanently attached to the dock and didn’t look like it would fare well if it tried to set sail. Our room was near the waterline and we could listen to the waves lap against the side of the boat. Several times, we looked out the window and saw several Continue reading →