The train station in Hamburg is the second busiest in Europe to Paris.
Our train was 1 hour late, which made us miss our connecting train in Neibull, however, we were fortunate enough only to wait 1 hour at Neibull for the next train to Esbjerg. Once you get on board with your heavy bags its a very relaxing way to travel. The country side is loaded with environmentally friendly energy production with paddocks full of wind and solar farms. Lots of food crops, with some sheep and cattle. We crossed the border to Denmark (the only noticeable change was the style of the houses) and finally arrived at Esbjerg. Esbjerg is a seaport town on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark, 3 hours by car from Copenhagen. With an urban population of 72,044 it is the fifth largest city in Denmark. It was very much a sea port with car ferries running to Fano. Fanø is a Danish island in the North Sea off the coast of southwestern Denmark, and is the very northernmost of the Danish Wadden Sea Islands. It is 12 minutes by car and passenger ferry.
After a short walk from the train station we arrived at our hotel. It is very central and walking distance to the local shops and eateries. We chatted to a taxi driver and arranged for him to drive us around and give us a brief tour including the harbour area.Esbjerg has a very big port with oil and gas sourced from the North Sea being their major local exports. It was originally a fishing village but unfortunately, this is no longer the case as it has basically been fished out. The oil and gas income has filtered down to the local area and they are in the process of constructing a local recreational Marina and waterfront homes are demanding premium prices. We stopped off at the “Men by the Sea”, a monument of 4 painted white men, which was created in connection with Esbjerg Municipality's 100th anniversary in 1994 and has since become an internationally known landmark for the city of Esbjerg. It overlooked the ocean front. The town was bustling tonight with the Year 12 students on their mock up week. They provided us with good lighthearted entertainment. Our first night in Scandinavia and we have definitely noticed how expensive food and drinks are here. The sun rises here at 4.47am and sets at 10.12pm. So you think your going to bed early and getting up late. We boarded the ship at 9am. It was great to finally be here and settle in. We start on our 10 day cruise and look forward to seeing Scandinavia.
Panther and Vicki
2022-06-29
Hooray ! You made it 🍾 🥂