All packed again, and back on the rails, all the way up North to Scandinavia this time! To get there would take me two Deutsche Bahn ICEs—what could possibly go wrong?—and for the very first time an SJ EuroNight sleeper train.
As often before, the ICE 15 from Brussels-Midi to Köln Hbf was already waiting at the platform by the time I arrived in the station. While the DB app warned me about border checks, in the end there weren’t any, or at least not in my carriage.
Nevertheless, we still arrived in Köln ten minutes late. However, my connection left twenty minutes late, so I had plenty of time to take a seat at the Heberer bakery in the station for my classic Schnitzelbrötchen lunch with an Apfelschorle.
The second ICE couldn’t quite make up for the lost time, so I arrived in Hamburg Hbf behind schedule. Luckily I had the foresight to leave plenty of time before my sleeper train departure, so after dropping off my bag at a Nannybag location—the station lockers would be closed by the time I’d come back—I had time for dinner at Im Sprinkenhof: a Hamburger Schnitzel mit Bratkartoffeln, one local specialty I hadn’t had yet.
Then it was about time to retrieve my bag and head back to the station, for the SJ EuroNight 344 to Göteborg. That’s actually not my final destination for this leg of the trip, but more about that tomorrow. Meanwhile, time to enjoy my private, first class sleeping compartment, read a bit, and go to bed, to hopefully wake up in Sweden… Goodnight!
