After a comfortable night at Hotel Kolding we started our first part of our rail journey back to Holland, with ongoing rail strikes in Holland we needed to cycle to the ferry.And with rail strikes in Uk we had to come back on the ferry a day early otherwise we couldnt get back to London! So we sadly farwelled Denmark and climbed onto the Danish train, yes climbed 3 huge steps even though it was a cycle carriage.The Danes havent got everything hi tec yet! It was a smooth trip and smooth change at Flensburg, even though the train to Hamburg filled up fast as it had sat on the station at Flensburg for 15mins Tim and I could get on and anchor the bikes at leisure.We were dreading Hamburg station but with the cheap 9 euro travel anywhere deal finished it was all quite normal and the lifts were working.

We checked into a hotel around the corner after purchasing our ticket to Hengelo just over the border in Holland. We were quite excited as the ticket office had managed to get us plus bikes on an intercity train so plush reserved seats and our bikes got there own spot such a much better way to travel.

We had the afternoon strolling around Hamburg, we visited the oldTown Hall which we hadnt seen before.Interesting seeing the make up of Hamburgs current parliament now very left wing and green.Returning to the hotel we encountered a protest march coming towards us all very peaceful but anti government and with messages like “out with Carl” “save our farmers.”Plenty of police on hand aswell. It was a fast return to our hotel as I was literally cooking as Tim had said the weather is changing now so I’d put on warm tights etc and was about to pass out as it was 29C and humid, not cool like the previous day in Denmark.It was about 830pm when we heard lots of police cars and ambulances all descending on Hamburg station,literally about 15 police cars and 15 ambulances. We checked the news but couldnt find anything about it so thought maybe it was a practise run, we did find out that the german train drivers were about to start striking now..no..let us leave Germany first.

It was an early start the next day to get on a series of trains to get us to Holland.As we went to take our bikes outside the hotel the manager said don’t do that bike thieves round here are so fast you will lose your bikes. So we loaded up in the hotel lobby. ….and we thought bike thieves were bad in Perth.!We were very excited to be going on a fast intercity.We found the appointed platform,then found that our carriage was right at the front of the train way down the platform so waited there happily. We admired an intercity train on the next platform and couldn’t wait for ours to arrive. We were looking forward to our reserved seats getting drinks from the buffet car it was to be so good,I then looked at the screen it was blank where was our train.We were so far down the platform that we hadn’t heard the announcement that our train had moved to another platform at the last moment.The train we had admired and we watched leave had been ours….Worse still our ticket was only valid for that specific train and it meant all of our other trains would not be correct for the day.It was now 715am and we were meant to be on our way at 645am.

We decided to pretend to be dumb tourists and jumped on a slow train going south but in the right direction.Nobody checked our tickets so far so good.As we were heading into Bremen where we were to change trains we got off the train as did everyone else and Tim declared this doesnt look right its not Bremen.We got back on the train and people started getting on the train, I then noticed the information board saying Bremen main station. I got off saying we are here, Tim reluctantly got off the train fortunately before it took off with him back to Hamburg.

I needed a good cup of tea after the events of the morning, I did have to take Tim outside the main station entrance to convince him we had got to Bremen!The next train didn’t go smoothly either as it came in we couldn’t see the bike carriage sign anywhere. We bundled on to where we saw 4 seats that would fold up and put our bikes there. This proved fortuitous as when the ticket inspector came she spent so long telling us off for putting the bikes there and that on these trains if you are going north the bike carriage is at the back of the train and then south it will be at the front etc. She then never checked our tickets. So now I realise you need to take a compass when you catch a train.!!

So it was onto Osnabruck and finally a train to Hengelo, we had made it to Holland with invalid tickets, phew.. It was a relief to be finally back on our bikes peddling through the dutch countryside on our way to our bed and breakfast. Quite an incredible place it had been in the family as a large farmhouse for 4 generations way back to the 1800s, even now it was an intergenerational .home. Lovely to be there. It was a warm night so we had a fan going nonstop.

At least now we could relax just 6 days of cycling to get to the ferry at the Hook of Holland.