Leaving Stockholm with a  regret, as it is such a beautiful city with so much to see, we caught the  ferry and then boarded the train. First class carriage, comfy seats, coffee, muffins and mandarins all ready for us. As we are now versed in the way of European train travel, we had purchased healthy stuff..bananas and apples, naughty, but nice Danishes and ,very naughty chips. Being virtuous, I bought salad from a mix your own bar. Oops ,is my halo slipping.

Travelling along at 148kph , we were confident that we would make our connection in Copenhagen for Hamburg. Alas, the train slowed, the train stopped ,and not at  a station. It went fast again , the green farmlands and forests blurred into little towns. It slowed again…15 mins delay, 30 minutes delay, 60 minutes delay…… The connection had a 15 minute window . We would not be on that train…all is not lost, there is a connection two hours later with seats. Hurrah!…and the guard did say he would post my postcards.

Arriving  at Copenhagen 20 minutes before the Hamburg train was due to leave, we quickly located a ticket office to get a new ticket. European trains start out very long and then divide off to go to different locations. Our train was verrrry long and we were not sure where to get on, we asked….go down there, no that’s not right…the other end run. We ran. Scrambling on the train, we looked for our carriage. Drag,bump,bump,sorry,bump,drag, bump oops, sorrrry. Eventually we found some seats, sat down with red faces. Guard comes. Sorry your seats are three carriages down so drag, bump,bump,drag,bump bump. They were excellent seats.

Some Stockholm to Hamburg trains cross the small islands between Sweden ,Denmark and Germany by bridges and a ferry. Onto the ferry, the train goes and it is parked between the buses and trucks. Everyone upstairs , go to the cafeteria or buffet for dinner. Boarding in 45 minutes. We arrived in Hamburg in the dark, and with a few errors found our hotel. It is close to the station. Noisy but it is only for two nights.

Our purpose in going to Hamburg was to check out the new additions to the Miniature Wonderland train model exhibition. Hamburg boasts of having the biggest model railway. It is 15000 metres of track and has scenes representing both European and overseas locations. The newest section is an airport where you can watch planes take off. Check out the information board . If you look carefully, you can see the Millennium Falcon to the Death Star has boarded and is in  taxing position.

Now, take off!

There are many clever and quirky details in the display. It requires artistic, creative people as well as computer literate staff to keep it all running smoothly. 

 New exhibits are planned each year.

 Fairyland  ,accidents,a heist , Vikings…keep looking.

Hamburg is an industrial city and was badly damaged in the last war. Few of its old buildings were rebuilt so it is definitely a working rather that leisure city.

Would you believe we spent four hours at the exhibition, it did include a short coffee break. Footsore, and having caught lots of underground trains, we headed back to the hotel. A trip to a laundromat was planned but we confused the instructions . Tomorrow we will head off, only slightly odoriferous, to Rothenburg. Yes by train, in fact one express and two local. Wish us luck……..rain is predicted too.