Germany transit, March 2023
Buses and trains between Finland and Scotland.
Contains 163 photos, the last of which were added 2 years, 18 days, 22 hours, 49 minutes, and 50 seconds ago.
After an uneventful ferry crossing, I arrived at the port of Rostock. Here, the bus ticket machines only accepted cash. Having just spent two weeks in Denmark/Sweden/Finland, I had forgotten what cash looks like. So I couldn't buy a bus ticket. Nothing bad happened. I made it to Rostock Hbf via a bus and an S-Bahn train (which I did buy a ticket for). I bopped around for a couple of hours, having breakfast at a bakery in a nearby shopping center. The toilets in Rostock Hbf cost money, but the ones in the supermarket at the shopping center do not.
Then I caught a (late) Flixbus to Luebeck. It dropped off right outside a stand with vegan currywurst, so that was the first order of business. It was a vaguely grey and drizzly but not too cold day. I walked along the river to check into my hostel - run by an anarchist queer feminist collective - which was a fantastic place.
I had another day of wandering on the agenda. I had delicioius Arabic coffee and hummus at My Hummus, then zigzagged my way through the old town, through small alleyways and around a great many churches. I went into the Hanse Museum, which was interesting, though I missed an opportunity to learn specifically about the role of Boston (UK) in Hanseatic merchant trading via the customisable interactive exhibit, as I accidentally told it to stick to Edinburgh instead.
I walked and sat in some parks. I bought marzipan, as apparently that's a thing in Luebeck. And ate dinner at Erdapfel, which has fancy vegan baked potatoes.
Breakfast and excellent conversation with my new hostel-dorm-friend J, before heading to the train station. Next stop: Osnabrueck (via Hamburg).
The sun was out, although it occasionally rained from nowhere. Another afternoon of wandering, although my energy was waning. The city was fine, with many interesting buildings, but not as nice as Luebeck somehow. Nowhere seemed to have wifi, except at the train station, which was excellent. I ate sweet potato waffles with not-feta at Snackwunder, and a tasty schwarma wrap at Gustav Grun.
The final leg. From Osnabrueck to Koeln Messe (a bit delayed). I walked across the bridge to Koeln Hbf, enjoying the sun and interesting architecture. I've spent a lot of time in Koeln airport bus station, but none in the city center itself.
I caught the next train to Brussels (delayed), and had time to march to the nearest place for an interesting vegan burger. Then back for the Eurostar. In London in time to catch an earlier train to Edinburgh than planned (and no issue with my seat reservation, or lack thereof, supposedly required with an interrail pass).
Then I had the genius realisation that I could grab the next train to Kirkcaldy on my interrail pass too, instead of waiting for the bus. I was also feeling a bit unwell and the bus all the way home from Edinburgh would definitely have finished me. I almost threw up on the 10 minute journey from Kirkcaldy train station to Dysart.
Anyway, I made it. It was good to be back in the hammock. But the whole trip immediately felt like a dream.
