Speedy Getaway
Currently on the train through Denmark. Hi, Danes! I got on this train with about 2 minutes to spare. In one of those lovely habits they seem to have in this part of the world, they often tell you a train will be in one spot, then move it to another, making the announcement in the native language only. Had I not asked the service worker if I was at the right train, I would have missed it. Ungood!
So the train from Sweden was amusing, too. They call it the X2000 (LOL at the forward-looking 80’s name!) and it’s something of a fast train. Not like a “bullet” train – it still rode on regular rails – it was more of an “arrow” train. It only went about twice the speed of road traffic, not 3 or 4 times. Also awesome was that my car on the train (the first class car, one of the saving graces of my rail pass is that it’s always first class, which is about 25% nicer than regular seating) had a malfunctioning suspension. Had it been working, I never would have noticed that the other cars on the train actually leaned into the turns quite a bit (not the rails, just the cars), making for a smoother ride. Our car had us rocking and rolling, with people’s luggage and drinks falling over, plus tons more bumps and jolts than the other cars had. I just love the irony: we were in the “luxury” car. Oh, and the fast train . . . arrived late. Go ‘bagas!
I had a great view of southern Sweden, or, more accurately, the trees next to the railroad track of southern Sweden. I thought there would be some similarity to Norway, but there really wasn’t any. Just flat, green, trees . . . it reminded me of south central Texas, near Austin, but a little less hilly.
Speaking of Texas, I saw an actual Dodge Ram 4x4 throttling around Stockholm. With gas costing about $9 a gallon, I bet he was the only kid on his block with a pickup truck.
What A Train Taught Me About Cars
This trip marks the first time I have done any real amount of travel by train. I think I don’t speak too soon when I say that I greatly prefer driving a car, even though it is generally more physically draining. There are two reasons for this:
First, from inside a car, you see the world open up before you in all its slightly paved majesty. From inside a train, you only see the world whizzing past. I feel caged.
Second, when you drive your own car, you are the captain of your journey. Stop when you like, change your plans on a whim, choose an interesting-looking side road. The train allures you with its big, colorful map looking like it goes everywhere, but in reality you are very limited. Add the frustration of having to rise really early to catch a train that may or may not be on time to your next destination where you have only 7 minutes to disembark and find your new train, and . . . well, I guess I really don’t love trains right now. Add to that the fragrant (“Scent of a Man”) fellow sitting behind me on this train and the several repeat coughers and sneezers on the previous train, and now not only do I feel caged, I also need my sawdust and shredded newspaper replaced.
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| The nicest train cabin I found. Fragrant passanger pictured. Notice my strategic move to another seat. |
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| Funniest emergency exit ever. That's not a lever you pull to pop out the window, it's a hammer you use to smash out the window! Don't believe me? Read the instructions. |
I Can Afford Food!
Wow, what a delight to see the menu on the train! I’m on a train run by Deutsche Bahn, and I can’t believe that, even on the ostensibly overpriced train café, prices look normal to me, like something I would spend back home instead of double (or in the case of Norwegian trains, triple)! I wanted to order one of everything on the menu, even though that would have left me with about a dozen hot dogs and other wiener dishes, some other silly stuff, and a little chili. I ordered none because I brought my expensive Swedish lunch already, but I did begin rubbing my hands in anticipation.
Also, curiously, in Scandinavia I couldn’t find cream for my coffee (they looked at me funny when once I requested it, and pulled out the can of whipped cream), only milk for my tea; now, on the German train, I can’t get milk for my tea, only cream for my coffee.
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| I'm tickled by the packaging of milk and sugar on the Swedish train |
Learning about everyday life in other cultures: my second favorite thing about traveling! First place, I know you might be tempted to ask, goes to seeing all the fresh scenery.
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles . . . With Most On A Boat,
Having formerly lived on an island with no available land passage, I am no stranger to ferry travel, having taken scores of 2-hour trips (and I mean real ferries, not the little 3-car, 5-minute deal on the island I currently live on). And you know that I’ve also racked up some rail time. Today, I combined the two! How novel that the train ride from Denmark to Germany (the third of four countries I will visit today) actually involves riding the train onto the ferry! Isn’t that adorable? Something about it just tickles me. It’s like watching a cat catch a ride on a bear. Unless you have a better simile.
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| The other ferry is sizeable. Notice us towering above it |
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| The ferry inside was fairly large and luxurious |
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| This is funny. The first public transportation I've seen selling Jager shots. Those Germans. |
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| It was so weird being on the North Sea (ish) seeing a ship with this flag, and not manning battle stations. |
Especially gratifying was remembering my father-in-law, Han, telling me that he and Marion (Alissa’s mom) took the same train/ferry combo back in the 60’s when they vacationed in Norway (Marion’s ancestors’ land) and Holland (Han’s homeland). I’ll also be riding the train through Han’s hometown, Hengelo. How cool is that? I may be alone on this trip, but I feel like I’m sharing it with family.
Deutschland
I don’t expect to see much of Germany on this trip, only in passing on the train. So far it looks like a flatter version of Denmark, which looks like a flatter version of Sweden, which looks like a much flatter version of Norway. The funny thing is, I think my next country, Holland / The Netherlands (would somebody please pick one? And why, with two perfectly good names from which to choose a nationality, are they called “Dutch”? And why does Germany, when spoken in German, sound like “Dutchland”?) is legitimately the flattest of them all. But will it look like a flatter version of Germany? That is the question.
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| German landfall |
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| Flatness. |
Changing the subject now, I must admit that after getting quite accustomed to hearing the beautiful sounds of Norwegian for so long, and then the very similar Swedish tongue, I am disappointed that now everyone around me is speaking German. It’s really not in the same league of beauty and mellifluity (I’m pretty sure that’s a word, even though Microsoft Word disagrees with me. “Superfluous” the adjective becomes “superfluity” the noun, so “mellifluous” really should become “mellifluity,” no?).
Oh, And While We’re On the Subject of Languages
Have you heard it said that Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes can all understand each others’ languages pretty well, because they are similar? I have heard that a few times and could never picture what it must be like, as I have no point of reference, speaking only English and a smattering of French. After enjoying learning a bunch of Norwegian, however, I found that Swedish and Danish really are fairly compatible! Pretty much everything is spelled differently, but often by only a little (e.g. “takk” – thanks – in Norwegian becomes “tack” in Swedish, and the Norwegian article “en” becomes “ett”, among other things). I found myself able to read Swedish signs about 80% as well as I could read Norwegian signs, and the same with menus, newspaper headlines, and the like. I have definitely never experienced anything quite like it, and it is really a neat thing!
Tiny, tiny piece of trivia for you: The Swedish Ö is the same sound as the Norwegian Ø, and replaces it in words that are similarly constructed. For the adventurous, it’s not an English vowel sound, but you can closely reproduce it by pursing your lips in an O shape, as if you were going to say the “oooh” sound from “two”, but then trying to produce an “ee” sound like from “three”. Isn’t that a cøøl vowel?
