Post created with https://apps.rhiaro.co.uk/no-ceremonies-are-necessary
I have returned from my three week round trip by land and sea to Finland, with stops in Denmark, Sweden and Germany en route. Here is a picture of every train I went on. Several of them were not ones I planned to go on.
I also went on the Copenhagen metro, several local buses in Jyvaskyla, a ferry from Stockholm to Turku, and from Trelleborg to Rostock, a local bus from Kemi to Haparanda, a local bus from Rostock Port to Luetten Klein, a Flixbus from Rostock to Luebeck, my local bus from home to Edinburgh and from Kirkcaldy to home, and some skiis and a child's sled.
Post created with https://apps.rhiaro.co.uk/no-ceremonies-are-necessary
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.
Bus from KDY to Dysart
2.60gbp (€2.95 / $3.21 / £2.6)
Post created with https://apps.rhiaro.co.uk/latinum
Leaving Edinburgh, Scotland at 10:50pm (+01:00) on Friday the 31st of March 2023 and arriving in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland at 11:25pm (+01:00) on Friday the 31st of March 2023
Actually this is the final train.
Leaving London, UK at 5:30pm (+01:00) on Friday the 31st of March 2023 and arriving in Edinburgh, Scotland at 10:08pm (+01:00) on Friday the 31st of March 2023
Final train!
Leaving Cologne, Germany at 11:42am (+02:00) on Friday the 31st of March 2023 and arriving in Brussels, Belgium at 1:35pm (+02:00) on Friday the 31st of March 2023
Nearly there..
Leaving Osnabrueck, Germany at 8:36am (+02:00) on Friday the 31st of March 2023 and arriving in Cologne, Germany at 10:42am (+02:00) on Friday the 31st of March 2023
Getting closer..
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.
One night's shelter in Osnabrueck (Penthouse)
23eur (€23 / $25.06)
Post created with https://apps.rhiaro.co.uk/latinum
Leaving Hamburg, Germany at 11:45am (+02:00) on Thursday the 30th of March 2023 and arriving in Osnabrueck, Germany at 1:35pm (+02:00) on Thursday the 30th of March 2023
Adventure..
Leaving Luebeck, Germany at 10:38am (+02:00) on Thursday the 30th of March 2023 and arriving in Hamburg, Germany at 11:25am (+02:00) on Thursday the 30th of March 2023
Adventure continues..
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.
One night's shelter in Luebeck (SchickSAAL)
32eur (€32 / $34.70)
Post created with https://apps.rhiaro.co.uk/latinum
Bus and S-Bahn from Rostock Port to Hbf
2.60eur (€2.6 / $2.82)
Post created with https://apps.rhiaro.co.uk/latinum
I awoke several times in the night to find the train stationary in Linkoping. At 0630, the scheduled arrival time in Malmo, we were 'officially' awoken by an announcement, pointing out to us all that we were still in Linkoping because the train had broken down. I switched to the next fast train to Malmo, which was still 3 hours, though we were given the option to stay on board and await repairs and then stay on the slow (5 hour) route.
I had planned a day in Malmo before my next connection, and used my interrail pass for the journey, so promises of refunds and reimbursements for missed connections were not at all useful to me. In the end, Swedish Trains did say they'd pay up to &eur;20 towards my food in Malmo, which was nice.
The rest of the day, shortened as it was, was lovely. All trace of snow had gone, the sun was out and the sky was blue. I wandered. Took photos. Sat on benches. Wandered some more.
I had breakfast in Farm2Table, which was very lovely and I could have stayed there all day. I went to the Form Design Museum, which was free, and they kindly stored my backpack for me until mid-afternoon. Inside was an exhibit about the carbon cost of different materials, showing how much of each you can get for 1kg of C02. I was, naturally, most interested in the mycelium boards.
I walked around the gardens and grounds surrounding Malmo Castle, then visited the museum inside. It was wide ranging, from local to natural history, to modern art, and lots of climate change related stuff.
I had lunch in Vegegarden, a delicious Chinese buffet. Then walked to the Moderna Museum, which strictly no-photos, and contained a gallery of modern art about.. you guessed it.. climate change. Some fantastic stuff; a lot of video and audio, as well as dance! (Nothing live while I was there.)
I walked more around a park with a big lake, and then back into town for dinner at Rau. A fancy, expensive, and extremely delicious dinner. Definitely recommend.
Finally I headed back to the train station for a train to Trelleborg. The route from Trelleborg station to the ferry checkin is sort of signposted, but also not obvious at all when you get there. I confirmed I was in the right place with the hotel next door. They also let me use their loo. The waiting room for Stena Line doesn't have wifi or much useful. There were only a couple of other foot passengers. None of the automatic checkin machines were working, and signs said staff would arrive to check us in 40 minutes before departure, despite other signs saying checkin closes 60 minutes before departure.
Staff did eventually turn up, ticked us off, and put us on a bus to the ferry.
This was a &eur;20 ferry ticket, only deck passage. But I was one of two foot passengers in the seating area, and had my pick. There was one power socket, so I posted up on the closest seat to that so I could charge my laptop while I slept. Onwards to Rostock.
(After dinner I noticed I was missing K's borrowed scarf. I emailed all the museums and restaurants and they all replied - it turned up in Vegegarden. A friendly local is going to post it back for me. Hurrah!)
