How we traveled from DENMARK to SWEDEN by train and got lost there.

24 January 2012 Travel time: with 09 April 2010 on 12 April 2010
Reputation: +7449.5
Add a Friend
Send message

On the last day of the "Copenhag Weekend" we faced a dilemma - how to spend time after dinner? To go on a "visit to Hamlet" in the Danish town of Elsinore, or pay a visit to neighboring Sweden, to its "southernmost" city - Malmö . What is Europe? - "Patchwork quilt" on the mainland of Eurasia. We spend 8 hours to get from Kyiv to Kherson, while from Denmark to Sweden you can get in just half an hour, so it was very tempting to take advantage of this opportunity. And no matter how the "Hamlet Places" beckoned to itself, the Slavic nature, wanting to get "two in one", and the husband's assurances that he dreams of Malmö since he read a story in childhood about a modest Swedish police inspector who catches in this "small seaside town" desperate smugglers, helped make the right decision.

Having thoroughly refreshed ourselves at Laura's and having "reserved" by drowning a coin in Nyhavn a second return to Copenhagen (the "next time" - exactly to Elsinore! ), we headed towards the station.


Copenhagen did not want to let us out of its embrace and tried to throw an "alternative" in the form of an intelligent-looking middle-aged man, with whom we decided to clarify the way. "Yes, the train station is there, " the man replied in English. "And it's a very good art museum, I highly recommend it. An excellent collection of paintings! " And he pointed to the orange building of the Glyptote across the road. "Thank you! - I answer. - But we have already planned a trip to Malmö . Can we leave for Malmö from the station? " "Yes, you can. But the museum is better, " the man replied sadly. Few tourists can be "tempted" by visiting an art gallery, when the prospect of a trip to a neighboring country looms before him ..."Today, visiting the museum is free!

- the Dane shouted hopelessly after our retreating silhouettes.

I liked the Copenhagen station. Big, light, clear. We bought train tickets from the machine at the entrance to the station. Buying tickets is so easy that I don't even remember the details : ) There are ticket machines for Danish and Swedish railways at the station. In preparation for the trip, I got the most complete information about the Copenhagen-Malmö railway service on the Swedish Railways website (http://www. sj. se). The Swedes actively use and promote their "steel highways". On the website of the Swedish Railway Authority, you can even download the tourist brochure "By train in Sweden" in Russian. Such a reverent attitude to the railway, as the daughter of railway workers, impresses me. So I used the Swedish machine with the letters "SJ".

In addition, the Danish train site did not have English language, and I was afraid that the Danish machines might be deprived of a "friendly" English menu. For people who prefer "live communication", there are traditional ticket offices with English-speaking cashiers at the station. The cost of an international one-way ticket is 107 SEK, which in April 2010 was approximately $13. Trains from Copenhagen to Malmö run with a ten-minute interval, but we had to wait 30 minutes, as tickets were already sold out for the near future.

We hung around the station a little more, drank coffee, bought local marzipan sweets (they turned out to be cheaper at the station than in the city), and now, sparkling with the inscription "Helsingor-Malmo", our packed "to the eyeballs" electric train rolled up. Quite a lot of people got off on the platform of Copenhagen, and after the airport the carriages were almost empty. There were enough seats for everyone.


The train is new, with soft seats and special carriages for passengers with bicycles and carriages. Tickets were not checked at the entrance, and the conductor never showed up until Malmö . You should go to the stop "Malmo Central" (not to be confused with "Malmo Syd"! ). Having crossed the Ersund Strait, which separates Denmark and Sweden, along the famous eight-kilometer tunnel bridge, we ended up in Malmö in 35 minutes.

A guide to Sweden, hitherto respected by the publishing house "Thomas Cook", promised to show all the beauties of Malmö in just an hour and a half on foot. This suited us quite well, since it was already four o'clock in the afternoon, and we wanted to have a bite to eat, go to some museum, buy magnets and souvenirs ...pack a bag before tomorrow's morning flight home.

Who else would think of driving tourists in circles for 40 minutes so that they finally look at the "Museum of Modern Art" located in the building of an abandoned power plant? ! We were lucky, in short, that day to the fine museums : )))

Malmö , besides its difficult fate and long history, is marked by the love of representatives of the local "bohemia" (poets, artists, actors), in this it is not much different from the "southernmost cities" of other countries. In the summer, "celebrities" from all over Sweden and the world come here to take part in colorful festivals and ambitious projects. But to be honest: on Sunday, in April, after lunch, there is absolutely nothing to do in Malmö . EVERYTHING is closed. From pharmacy to museum. A self-respecting tourist can't even buy a magnet! Of the restaurants, there is only a fast food stall at the bronze legs of the horse of King Charles X, and several expensive restaurants on Lila Torv. In a word - PROVINCE!


: ) There is an opinion that life in Swedish Malmö is much cheaper than life in Danish Copenhagen. Therefore, poor citizens and thrifty tourists prefer to settle in Malmö and from there travel daily to Copenhagen - some for an excursion, and some for work or study. I can't confirm this "theory", because our only purchase in Malmö that day was a cup of coffee, which we bought for 12 euros (! ) in a restaurant located on a quiet street near Lila Square. Twelve euros for a cup of espresso! I have not seen such prices even in Copenhagen. I don’t know, maybe Malmö hotels are cheaper than Copenhagen ones, but the prospect of spending 26 bucks a day on travel is unlikely to seduce a stingy tourist. Well, except perhaps to stop by Malmö for a month, renting a room from some old Swedish woman and buying a travel pass.

I love small neat towns.

Therefore, I absolutely do not regret a trip to Malmö with its "gingerbread" houses, cobbled streets and wild ducks. Of the most memorable and "struck the imagination": a not very old cemetery (the freshest graves are about 50 years old), turned into a city park, on the main alley of which there is a CASINO (! ). Shaved-headed Swedes with gold chains around their necks drive up to the casino past the graves in white Mercedes. The streets in Malmö must be crossed carefully because, unlike in Copenhagen, only bus drivers give way to pedestrians. I was very touched by the tiny old houses, two human heights high, often "sandwiched" between the houses of modern buildings. And the laconic sculpture "Swedish Melancholy" in the form of a man in a beret, who turned his weeping gaze to the fire station on the other side of the canal, touched to the core.

The sun began to go down and we, still not losing hope of getting hold of a magnet from Malmö , decided to come to the station a little earlier. But alas, contrary to our expectations, there were no souvenir shops at the station, and a small station supermarket sold only international "mass-market" products ("Snickers", "Mars" and "Orbits"). Whilst away the time, we made a couple of shots of the interior decoration of the Malmö station, which was partially under reconstruction. Not having found our train on the electronic scoreboard, we were not at a loss, but, having learned from the experience of traveling to Vienna from Budapest, we "calculated" our train on the paper timetable at the departure time at 20:15 ("Lund-Malmö -Copenhagen").

The composition on which we went back was different from the train that took us to Malmö . There were only two cars in it, and the color of the train was not black, but lilac.


Slightly marveling at the local habit of indicating the station of departure rather than arrival on the train (the first car was marked "Lund"), we comfortably settled into six seats inside the train. Tired of the walk and frustrated by the search for a magnet, my husband dozed off almost instantly, and I began to look at the advertisements on the walls with curiosity, urging the Swedes to visit the Danes in Copenhagen. But then, finally, a pleasant female voice purred something from the speaker, the doors closed and we, COMPLETELY ALONE, set off on our way. Fifteen minutes later an elderly conductor appeared in the car. He looked at the tickets and asked where we were going. "To Copenhagen: ), " I replied in English (actually, it's written on the ticket). "But we're going to Lund, " grandfather answered in bewilderment. "Lund? ! ! But we need to go to Copenhagen !! ! "- I blurted out cold with horror.

“The train is heading to Lund, ” grandfather looked at me sympathetically over his glasses, and the grin hidden in his gray mustache seemed to say: “Aha! estimate how much money we will have left after paying the fine ..."I was at the first car, and if you had shown me a ticket before getting on the train, this would not have happened, " the gray-haired conductor broke the silence. "We were there, but you weren't there, " I blurted out. The old man flashed his glasses at me resentfully: “I have been serving on the railway for thirty years and I know my business well! There was not a day when I did not go out to the first car before the train left! ” Meanwhile, the hands of the clock were inexorably approaching nine in the evening.

While my grandfather initiated me into the intricacies of the conductor's work, a small lilac train raced through the expanses of Sweden, taking us farther and farther from Malmö , from Copenhagen and from Kastrup Airport, from which we were supposed to fly home to Kyiv at 9 am the next day. "OK! Here's a shud vi du nau? " - I interrupted the story of the honored worker of the Swedish railway. Grandfather thought for a moment, looked at me with blue Scandinavian eyes and asked: "Do you speak English? " And in what language are you and I, dear man, communicating for the last five minutes? ! Stunned by such a formulation of the question, I answered: "YES !!! " In pure Russian: ) Satisfied with the answer, grandfather nodded his head, saying: "I'll arrange everything right now. " And rushed "boar" into the driver's cab. The train began to slow down...

Upon returning, Grandpa began to pronounce English words loudly and slowly, accompanying his speech with active gestures (apparently he finally realized that there were foreigners in front of him): “Now, you go out to the stop, go to the opposite stoooooooooo. In five minutes (shows five fingers and tapping on the dial of the wrist watch) will eeaaat the train to Maaalmö ö ö . Stop the train (literally: "Stop the train"). Oooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaing tickets of the conductor (shaking our tickets), explain the situation, return to Malmö , transfer to your train to Copenhagen. "Then, giving parting advice: "Carefully cross the road! " he dropped us off on a deserted platform somewhere in the middle of the vast expanses of the Swedish kingdom and disappeared along with the train in the dense Scandinavian twilight.


The station was "in an open field" in the literal sense of the word, surrounded to the very horizon by high-quality Scandinavian deadwood. A hundred meters from the railway platform there was a capacious hangar, upon closer examination it turned out to be a Casino (gambling people, these Swedes! ) and a Hotel all rolled into one. Both the hangar and the railway platform were called the same - "Burlev". After some time, as if emphasizing the "color" of the current situation, a freight train rushed past us with a quiet rustle ...

I stood sadly on the platform, thinking about what grandfather had in mind when he advised us to "stop the train", and also that it would hardly occur to anyone to look for us in the Swedish outback.

At this time, my husband, realizing that none of our acquaintances, even those who had been to Sweden, could boast of being in Burlev, enthusiastically rushed back and forth along the platform, trying to capture every minute of our stay on it. But then a lilac train from Lund appeared on the horizon, the husband raised his hand and ...stopped the train! : ) From the doors of the first car, the surprised face of the conductor - an Afroshwede, looked out. "Wee tuk ze rong train! Wee nid tu get tu Copenhagen! Wee tuk ze rong train! . . "- I chattered, shaking the tickets. "Its no problem, " the dark-skinned Scandinavian said in surprise and gently pushed us inside the car.

Once again in front of the train timetable at the station in Malmö , we were horrified to find that the LAST train to Copenhagen leaves in three minutes! Naturally, we did not have time to buy new tickets.

In addition, due to the reconstruction of the station, in order to get to the platform, it was necessary to make a decent five-minute "detour". But God saves fools and tourists! When we, out of breath and frightened, flew onto the platform, a miracle happened - the punctual Danish train was 10 minutes LATE! : ) In order to avoid "explanations" with the Danish conductor, we decided to "get lost" in a special carriage among carriages and bicycles. Sitting between a pram with a little Indian and a sports bike, I mechanically examine our "expired" tickets. Mom dear! 20:15 - this was the time of our ARRIVAL in Copenhagen, not the time of departure from Malmö ! It turns out that not only did we mix up the trains, but we also safely "missed" our own train! At that moment, the conductor entered the car. I blush profusely and doomedly hand her the tickets.


The woman looked at the tickets, smiled, put a squiggle on them and mumbled something in an unfamiliar language, patted me on the knee: "Don't worry. " Having returned our tickets to us, she retired to the next carriage. This is where our "adventure" ended. We safely returned to Copenhagen and then home to Kyiv, bringing with us a bunch of Danish souvenirs and Swedish memories.

I wish you all pleasant travels and vivid impressions! : )

Translated automatically from Russian. View original
To add or remove photos in a story, go to album of this story
Вагоны поезда следовавшего в Лунд. Швеция.
Глипотека Карлсберга. Здесь находится
Ж/д вокзал в Копенгагене. Дания.
Интерьер жд вокзала в Копенгагене. Дания.
Автомат шведских ж/д по продаже билетов на вокзале Копенгагена. Для покупки билета в таком автомате вам понадобится кредитная карта.
Так выглядят билеты из Дании в Швецию и обратно.
Пассажирский вагон поезда, следующего из Копенгагена в Мальмё.
Malmo Syd. Швеция. Девушки в викторианских купальниках на плакатах, напоминают пассажирам, что они находятся на Юге Швеции.
Справа на фото поезд, в котором мы приехали в Мальмё из Копенгагена.
Платформы ж/д вокзала в Мальмё. Швеция
Железнодорожный вокзал в Мальмё и стоянка велосипедов перед ним.
Вокзал в Мальмё. Вид внутри.
Железнодорожный вокзал в Мальмё. Вид внутри.
Памятник королю Карлу X на Ратушной площади в Мальмё. Два больших яйца перед ним - остатки пасхальной
Памятник шведскому королю Карлу X. В 17 веке шведский король Карл Х Густав отвоевал провинцию Сконе, а вместе с ней и Мальмё у датчан.
Вид на городскую Ратушу Мальмё. Швеция.
Герб города - голова красного грифона, достался Мальмё
Скульптра у входа в Ратушу Мальмё.
Фаст-фуд около Ратуши. Мальмё, Швеция.
Колоритная Лилаторв (
Эта аптека - одна из
Финская церковь в Мальмё, Швеция.
Из окна многоквартирного дома справа, на рукав моей куртки выплеснули немного воды (нечаянно). Я подняла голову и увидела, что жильцы моют окна. На дворе весна - пора уборки. За углом дома виднеется финская кирха.
В одном из шведских двориков
Пожарная станция и канал в Мальмё.
Улицы Мальмё
Та самя
Та самя
Кладбище-парк в Мальмё.
Что это? Жилой дом? Торговый центр?.. Шестиэтажная парковка!:) Мальмё, Швеция.
Великовая стоянка в Мальмё, Швеция.
Паром и маяк в Мальмё
Церковь св.Петра в Мальмё.
Церковь Св. Петра внутри. Мальмё, Швеция.
Ратушная площадь в Мальмё. Швеция.
Главпочтамт Мальмё.
Главпочтамт Мальмё.
Вывеска компании занимающийся борьбой с грызунами. Мальмо, Швеция.
Я на фоне домика. Мальмё, Швеция.
Маленькие домики в Мальмё.
Домики в Мальмё.
Маленькие домики в Мальмё.
Такие упитанные утки гуляют в городском парке Мальмё (Швеция)
Казино на кладбище. Мальмё, Швеция.
Платформа
Ж/д платформа
Шведская глубинка как оная есть -
Поезд в Лунд
Similar stories
Comments (15) leave a comment
Show other comments …
avatar