It took more than a year to finally blog completely our epic Europe trip at the end of 2014. Life just has a way of keeping you busy.

It was a trip that took more than half a month, visiting countless cities and towns, speeding without a speed limit along the Autobahn, experienced countless Christmas markets, took trains through 3 countries, stayed in a wooden cabin log during Christmas eve, saw 2 nights of Northern Lights, experienced enough snow to last a lifetime, thrown off the dog sled by the dogs a few times, survived a night in freezing temperature in an Ice Hotel, ate many delicious meals, and many other experiences. The word that I think is most appropriate for describing this trip is, ‘epic’.

These memories will stay with us forever, and may our wanderlust leads us to new adventures and experiences.

“Not all those who wander are lost”

I had to break the trip into multiple posts as there were just too many photos and words to put everything into one. Here is a consolidation of all the posts :

Germany 13122014 – 21122014

https://wenjie.xyz/2015/02/24/europe-2014frankfurt-germany-13122014-15122014/

https://wenjie.xyz/2015/06/23/europe-2014-romantic-road-germany-15122014-16122014/

https://wenjie.xyz/2015/06/26/europe-2014-romantic-road-germany-17122014-18122014/

https://wenjie.xyz/2015/10/27/europe-2014-munich-germany-18122014-20122014/

https://wenjie.xyz/2015/11/30/europe-2014-nuremberg-germany-20122014-21122014/

https://wenjie.xyz/2015/11/30/europe-2014-germanydenmarksweden-21122014-22122014/

Sweden 22122014 – 30122014

https://wenjie.xyz/2015/12/01/europe-2014-stockholm-sweden-22122014/

https://wenjie.xyz/2015/12/01/europe-2014-kiruna-sweden-23122014-24122014/

https://wenjie.xyz/2015/12/02/europe-2014-kiruna-sweden-24122014-25122014/

https://wenjie.xyz/2016/01/12/europe-2014-ice-hotel-sweden-26122014-27122014/

https://wenjie.xyz/2016/01/27/europe-2014-stockholm-sweden-28122014-30122014/

Denmark 30122014 – 01012015

https://wenjie.xyz/2016/02/03/europe-2014-copenhagen-denmark-30122014/

https://wenjie.xyz/2016/02/03/europe-2014-copenhagen-denmark-31122014-01012015/

Germany 01012015 – 03012015

https://wenjie.xyz/2016/02/06/europe-2014-frankfurt-germany-01012015-03012015/

We left Copenhagen and took the train to Frankfurt, with a stopover at Hamburg. This time when the train got onto the ferry, it was daylight, and we could see outside the ferry.

We arrived at Hamburg station feeling sore and tired after close to 5 1/2 hours journey. There was a German broadcast at the station and we realised those waiting at the platform for the train to Frankfurt started leaving. We suspected something was wrong, so we dragged our luggage all the way to the train station. We were informed that the train had some technical fault and we need to switch to another train. So we got our train tickets changed and proceeded to the next platform. After waiting a while, there was another German broadcast, and again, people started leaving the platform. We dragged our luggage again to the train station and was informed that the train was also cancelled due to technical fault. Imagine that. 2 trains all cancelled due to technical fault. We had to take the next available train, again getting our tickets changed. This train finally arrived. We reached Frankfurt tired and sore.

We checked into the same hotel that we stayed when we first arrived in Frankfurt, the Hotel ibis Frankfurt Centrum. For the next few days, we shopped (Rimowa luggage bags), and ate. As it was New Year, a lot of the shops in Frankfurt were closed.

On the 3rd January 2015, we took a morning flight back to Singapore, thus ending our epic Europe adventure.

The next morning we made our way to the first ferry stop along Nyhavn to purchase our ferry tickets. It was a cold winter morning, and because it was New Year’s eve, a lot of places were closed. The canal ferry tour was fantastic, as it provides a guided tour of the canals, and even allowed you to disembark at various points, do some sightseeing, and board the subsequent ferries.

We disembarked at the Langelinie Pier to meet up with this little lady.

Frankly, the Little Mermaid was in the middle of nowhere. Beside the pier was some army barracks. We explored a bit and decided to head back to the pier to board the next ferry back to Nyhavn.

We then had some of the best kebab we had eaten for lunch, and at a relatively cheap price too.

We then visited the Rundetarn, or the Round Tower, which offered expansive views over Copenhagen at the top.

We then walked to Rosenborg Castle, which was closed on New Year’s eve.

We made our way to Christiansborg Palace, which was also closed on New Year’s eve.

The sun was setting, so we made our way to Tivoli for the New Year’s eve fireworks.

Tivoli is so beautiful with all the lights. It was a wonderful place, with much fun and laughter.

And then there was the fantastic fireworks display.

After the fireworks display, we walked more within Tivoli. It is really huge.

We left Tivoli to head back to the hotel. That is when we realised people were releasing fireworks around us. It seems that while there is a ban on fireworks in Copenhagen throughout the year, the only time fireworks is allowed is on New Year’s eve. From our hotel room window, we could see people unloading a whole year supply of fireworks. This went on for more than 6 hours, through to the new year 2015 early morning.

It was a fantastic way to celebrate the New Year for us. We stayed up till the early hours of 2015 watching the fireworks.

We took a very comfortable train from Stockholm to Copenhagen early in the morning. Breakfast was even provided on the train.

After arriving at the Copenhagen train station, we walked about 10 minutes to check in to our accommodation Wakeup Copenhagen on Carsten Niebuhrs Gade. The hotel is located in a quiet area but still walking distance to the train station and Tivoli. We were offered a chance to upgrade our room upon checking in which we accepted. It turned out to be a good decision as our upgraded room was on higher floor, thus offering us very nice views. The room was small but then we did not expect much as the price was relatively cheap.

After unpacking and resting a while, we went out to explore Copenhagen.

We walked to the main Lego store in Stroget, the popular shopping area. We also did a fair bit of shopping here. The shopping here is really lovely.

We walked to Nyhavn, where the colorful facades along the canal is a popular picture on a lot of Copenhagen postcards.  It was well lighted up at night.

We then went back to the hotel for an early sleep.

It was a long train journey back from Kiruna to Stockholm where we had to share the cabin with another 4 strangers. We were very tired and the lady who insisted waking us up rudely because we were soundly (snoring) asleep did not help. We finally reached Stockholm on 28th Dec 2014 morning and was very happy to learn from our hotel that we can do an early check in.

We stayed at the Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel. It is a very nice, cosy and conveniently located hotel in Stockholm. After washing up, it was time to explore Stockholm.

The last time we were here a few days back en route to Kiruna, it was really cold and foggy. The weather has improved, and with the sun in the sky, we realised Stockholm is actually a very beautiful city. We fell in love with Stockholm.

After much walking and a bit of shopping, we decided to retire for the day as we were really exhausted. The next day, we visited the OM SkyView which we saw a very nice view of the city from the top.

We then went to the Fotografiska Museum, which was located along the waterway.

After that, it was more walking.

We ended our last night in Stockholm by doing a night cruise along the waterways.

The next morning, we bid a reluctant farewell to Stockholm, and caught an early morning train to Copenhagen.