More train woes

Copenhagen is only an hour away by train from Lund, so I've taken a couple of day trips to this capital of Denmark and a few areas around it over the last few weeks.

I'll spend a bit more time talking about my amazing experience there. But in the meantime, let me recount another very eventful train-riding experience.

It happened on my second trip to Denmark. I spent my first day going to the touristy sights in the capital, so on my second visit, I decided to take a trip to Helsingor to visit Kronborg castle and swing by the Louisiana museum along the way. Then when I get back to Copenhagen in the afternoon, I would visit a couple other places before swinging by Tivoli at the end of the day.

As it turns out, my plans all went awry due to problems with the trains.

First, I was supposed to take the 8:17am train from Lund which would bring me to Copenhagen shortly after 9. Since the Tourist Information Center opens at 9am, the line wouldn't be too long just yet. But the train from Lund was delayed by close 20 minutes, and for some reason there was a change in schedule and the train no longer went directly to Copenhagen. So I change trains in Malmo. The Malmo-Copenhagen train was supposed to leave at 8:53am but it was delayed by about 10 minutes. Then I made the mistake of getting of at the airport before realizing that all trains that pass through the Copenhagen airport actually head straight to the City Central Station as well. So I lost about another 10 minutes which meant I arrived in Copenhagen at around 945am.

By this time the line in the tourist info center was quite long. I finally got the info I needed to visit Kronborg castle and Louisiana museum shortly after 10am. I head back to the central station to take a train to Helsingor, but I get back there at 10:19am and apparently the Helsingor train had just departed at 10:18. Damn!

The next train was at 10:51am, which meant I had more than a 30-minute wait (thank God for my ipod). The train leaves about 5 minutes late, and my estimated arrival time at Kronborg Castle was now shortly before noon. But after a few stops, an announcement is made in the train and everyone starts getting off. I had this "duh" look on my face and one of the Danish guys on the rain explained to me that the train had to stop due to some technical problems so we all had to get out. I asked him what time the next train would be available and he said no one knew. A few more announcements in Danish were made, and the guy told me that they had no clue what time the next train would come but more buses were being made available. He was about to head out to take the bus when I asked him if he was going to Helsingor, and apparently he is. So I ask him if I can just go with him since I had no clue how to get to Helsingor by bus. He was nice enough to agree. (Another one to add to my growing list of helpful and friendly Scandinavians!)

The problem with this bus is that it stopped everywhere and took so many turns that I only go to Kronborg castle shortly before 2pm. I spend some time taking photos here before I decide to take the train to Louisiana museum. There was a 2:45pm train but this was delayed as well. So I decided to take the bus to the museum. But everyone was now taking the bus. So it got really delayed too. I finally get to the museum at around 3:45pm and it closes at 5pm. Note that at this time, I have had only one croissant to eat the entire day. There was a cafe in the museum so I figured I would go around the museum first then head to the cafe shortly before it closed to get something to eat. I spend under an hour looking through the museum and when I get to the museum at around 4:40pm, it had apparently closed. Sh*t!

So now I was tired, sweaty, hungry, and dehydrated. But I just wanted to get back to Copenhagen. So I once again took the bus to the Helsingor station, get on the train at 6pm (finally, it was on time!) and get back to Copenhagen at 7pm. I ended the day with a massive buffet dinner that cost roughly P2300 (I felt that after my day, I deserved it, even if it is was pricey) and a calm walk around Tivoli.

I must've spent about 10 hours that day either in transit or waiting for transportation to arrive.
Not the most ideal way to experience a new city. Of course, I still believe that Copenhagen is a beautiful city with lots to do and definitely worth a visit. Good thing, too, that this was not my only trip to Copenhagen. Maybe I can try to squeeze in another visit before I return to Manila.