Made it to Copenhagen for the Community part of the IATI Members Assembly, along with several of my Co-op colleagues. It was gorgeous Fife weather (cold and bright), interspersed with flurries of snow. Made time for a walk with N, who I haven't seen for years. Had one of the most amazing meals ever at Bistro Lupa.
The first legs of my journey to Finland: Edinburgh to Hamburg.
My first time on the Caledonian Sleeper, which even just for a (free, with interrail pass) seat was very spacious and comfortable, and came with all sorts of fancy things like earplugs. There are also vegan sausages on the breakfast menu. It's worth noting that the Sleeper website is quite ambiguous about which day an interrail pass needs to be active to be valid (departure or arrival day) so when I called (the only way to make a seat reservation with an interrail pass) I queried this; the staff weren't sure either, but as I wanted to take more trains on my arrival day they noted on my reservation that my pass is valid for the arrival day. I got no ticket, reference number or written confirmation of any kind, but when I arrived to board my name as on a list. Old skool.
This got me to London with enough hours to spare for a leisurely breakfast at Keystone Coffee near KGX, before the Eurostar to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam I had time for falafel, and then got on another train bound, I thought, to Osnabrueck, where I would change to another train for Hamburg.
It turned out that the line between the border and Osnabrueck had been closed for some time for engineering works, and the train was terminating early. I used the dB app to route around the closed bit of track, and alighted at Deventer.
Then to Enschede, and another change to Muenster, with a bit of delay. In Muenster everything was delayed by an increasing number of hours. I consoled myself with pretzel and coffee. Time passed and disgruntled passengers accumulated on the platform. Eventually the train to Hamburg-Harburg arrived, though one to Hbf wasn't far behind.. I contemplated waiting so I wouldn't have to change again, but after about 3 hours of delay I thought I should just get on the train that was there. It stopped on the track multiple times, and was delayed outside Bremen for ages. Eventually it gave up and terminated at Bremen. Everyone got off and got onto the InterCity to Hamburg Hbf which had caught up and been stuck behind us the whole way. Finally got into Hamburg after 2am.
I had a dorm bed in the Generator hostel right by the station. I sneaked in quietly to a bed with no pillow. Another dorm occupant decided 3am was a good time for the longest loudest shower in the history of humanity, followed by an hour of just-loud-enough to keep waking me prayer in a top bunk. So, not the best night's sleep ever.
The next morning I boarded the train to Copenhagen, and met several people who had been caught up in the same delays as me, and missed their onward connections, so Deutsche Bahn had put them all in a nice hotel overnight. More fool me my good planning with lots of buffer.
