Day Trip to Germany

3 countries in one day? No match for a European. Yesterday my family and I went to Bundesrepublik Deutschland. We drove from Laholm to the Swedish city of Helsingborg, took the ferry over to the Danish city of Helsingör, drove across Denmark, took the ferry over from Rödby to the German city of Puttgarden with end destination the city of Burg (auf Fehmarn). The cost for 4 ferry crossings with a car is the equivalent of 150 US dollars. The first ferry ride is only 20 minutes so it’s quick. You park the car and enjoy the crossing sitting in the ship’s cafeteria. I always force my family to not buckle up until after we have exited from the ship's "stomach" safely unto land. What I would do if we actually drove off the ramp and into the water I don’t know. But not having the seat belt on may save us a few seconds. My family lets out a sigh and complies. The drive across Denmark takes about 2 hours. When I told my parents it used to seem so much shorter they answered: “That’s because you used to be sleeping the whole way to Rödby.” Hm…good and valid point. The next crossing takes about 45 minutes. And then you are in Northern Germany.

We arrived in Burg and visited one of my favorite surf shops in the world. I haven’t been there for a few years and was thrilled it was still open. During my heyday of being a hardcore surfer girl (before an intense fear of sharks ended my goal of becoming a full time wave rider) I could spend hours in there! Burg is a very old and picturesque town and has many restaurants, gelatorias (is that a word?), chocolate stores, clothes shops etc. We sat down at a restaurant, at a table outside and had fish, schnitzel and beer. Massive beers. I am not a beer drinker per se, but when I am in beer countries such as Denmark and Germany the old phrase “when in Rome…” comes to mind. Sitting down at a restaurant is also great for people watching! I used to never think that was fun, but now when I am older, it’s actually great fun to watch how people dress and see what kind of tattoos they have.

Every trip to Burg always includes a visit to a shop called Stolz. It’s a big department store that sells a little bit of everything. Saw many, many books commemorating the German win in the 2014 World Cup! Then, in order to finance this little excursion, it’s time to buy some wine and beer. And now

it sounds like we buy and sell it on the streets of Laholm. That is not the case! It sounds a bit sketchy, but seriously, the price of alcohol in Germany is about half in comparison to Sweden. In Sweden you buy your wine and beer from a state run store called Systembolaget. It’s a fine establishment, but oh so expensive. So Swedish people living in the southern part of the country drives to Germany. I used to hate this part when I was a kid. Had no idea why we had to spend time in those kinds of stores and did not understand the cost of well, anything…hahaha…I was a kid! Later as an adult, when I wasn’t drinking anything for a few years, a visit here would have been unthinkable. Now, when I do enjoy wine and understand a bit about various types of wine, it’s very enjoyable. You get to try all kinds of wine and there is a large selection of wines from all over the world. There is also a huge supply of Swiss chocolate (Toblerone), Italian chocolate (Kinder Eggs - I always thought they were German, but a German friend pointed out they are indeed from Italy, thanks Sarah!), and Italian crack (that would be Nutella). People who are going to have a big party or host a wedding may only drive from the ferry to the nearest liquor store. There is a ship, which is a store, permanently docked in the harbor called Bordershop and is owned by the ferry company. Many people go straight there. My family always drive into the country for a bit, to Burg, so that the trip includes an actual experience of Germany. 

 

Going home we took a shortcut and opted to drive across the bridge from Denmark to Sweden and did not take the last ferry. I love that there are options on getting back to Sweden. So convenient! And I love that you can visit three countries in one day. No passport necessary for us. It’s interesting to see how similar the environments are in all three places. We are similar people, yet different. Once upon a time, when Sweden was a nation of great influence, we controlled huge parts of land in Europe, including northern Germany. That was quite a few years ago. In Burg you can hear all kinds of languages and prices in the stores are sometimes in Danish currency and in Euro. We communicate with the store clerks in a mixture of Swedish, Danish, German and English. It works, somehow it works. 3 countries in a day, yes indeed.