First leg of my interrail is not technically interrail, but a bus from Oulu to Haparanda, Sweden, paid without any concession.
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And what a station Haparanda is! Magnificent! The only thing missing is a cafeteria, but luckily I have some provisions. It does feel a tad unrespectful to nibble knäckebröd in this fancy environment, though.
@mkivinen Missing: A cafeteria – and people
But it's indeed a magnificent station! Let's hope the Finnish trains bring some more travellers once VR gets their act together.
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And now in Sweden!
The bus route from Oulu ended to the Haparanda-Tornio Travel centre, but I asked the driver just for laughs if he was continuing to the railway station. He said he indeed has a habit to take a stretch there, in case someone is going.
I don't know if it's every driver's habit or official or if I just got lucky, but it was very nice, since the station was further than I thought.
I think it's something about being paid fair wages and not overwhelmed by the schedule. I had bus drivers go both "oh, that's a long walk, I can take a quick detour here for you" and "well, I'm not officially deployed yet, but there's twenty people waiting at the stop wanting to go where I am going anyway, so hop in"... but yeah, this is what stays in memory forever.
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@mkivinen In 2021 I unintentionally managed to take this photo of Vindeln church from the night train.
("Live" photo mode on an iPhone, rendered as "long exposure".)
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@mkivinen Well, the Kafé arrow points at the direction of Utgång, so maybe the intention is “if coffee is what you want, please take the nearest exit and go fish”.
@tomminieminen @mkivinen There is no Kafé. The station is some sort of a lost place. It's impeccably refurbished but has next to no travellers because there are no trains past the border (yet). And the station building is *huge*, one of the biggest in Sweden. They put up all this decorations from old times (including the Kafé sign, I think) to make it feel a little less deserted.
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@tomminieminen @mkivinen There is no Kafé. The station is some sort of a lost place. It's impeccably refurbished but has next to no travellers because there are no trains past the border (yet). And the station building is *huge*, one of the biggest in Sweden. They put up all this decorations from old times (including the Kafé sign, I think) to make it feel a little less deserted.
@tomminieminen @mkivinen In case you're interested, I've just written about it (in German)
Haparandabahn: Highspeed am Bottnischen Meer
Zwischen Schweden und Finnland verläuft die modernste Bahnstrecke Nordeuropas. Für wen eigentlich?
Zugpost (zugpost.org)
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Seuraavaksi Jörniin!
I English: We are somewhat late to Jörn, so let's see about my breakfast in Stockholm.
Train was early (!) in Stockholm, and I ended up shaking the system by grabbing another breakfast from the cafeteria at the station. I was happy with just a cup of coffee, so not too much anarchy here. It was also an act of research to find out that Ritazza offers breakfast on weekends, contrary to the information on SJ website.
So, I was already hungry when the third breakfast arrived during the uneventful ride to Malmö.
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Train was early (!) in Stockholm, and I ended up shaking the system by grabbing another breakfast from the cafeteria at the station. I was happy with just a cup of coffee, so not too much anarchy here. It was also an act of research to find out that Ritazza offers breakfast on weekends, contrary to the information on SJ website.
So, I was already hungry when the third breakfast arrived during the uneventful ride to Malmö.
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@mkivinen First class AND quiet? In this economy?
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After three breakfasts I really shouldn't complain, but still I do: Saturday is the worst day of train travel in Sweden and Denmark freestuff-wise: almost all the first class lounges are closed. Luckily, Aarhus lounge is open on Sundays as well, so I get to experience that tomorrow.
Edit: no, I won't, I'll be commuting in a local bus and not using an interrail day. Bummer.
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@mkivinen First class AND quiet? In this economy?
@tml In AND deed!
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After three breakfasts I really shouldn't complain, but still I do: Saturday is the worst day of train travel in Sweden and Denmark freestuff-wise: almost all the first class lounges are closed. Luckily, Aarhus lounge is open on Sundays as well, so I get to experience that tomorrow.
Edit: no, I won't, I'll be commuting in a local bus and not using an interrail day. Bummer.
A glorious, quiet, first class leg from Copenhagen was followed by a full, hot, oxygen-less replacement bus from Fredericia. A road blockade gave us a chance to enjoy the atmosphere a little longer.
Now I'm finally in Aarhus, in a very nice hotel. I can comfortably observe the trash shelter from my window, but a shitty view is a rule for single rooms in the Hotel Illuminati Handbook, as we all know.
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@mkivinen I like the idea of a "still zone".
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