Plane vs. Train

WiseWomanGrandkid spent her first week's holiday away from her mom with us in Sweden. She had a ball and didn't want to go home, but I had already booked a flight 2 weeks earlier. I decided to fly to Berlin with her, but take the train back so that I can compare plane vs. train travel for such a long distance.

On Wednesday we started out from Skåne in the afternoon at 1:15 pm after a bit of lunch.  We drove by car to Copenhagen Airport over the magnificant bridge between Sweden and Denmark. There is a special lane at the airport called "Kiss & Fly", no way to park because there are cars coming behind you. You pull up to the front, the fliers get out and give kisses, get their bags and the car is on its way. Really, a sensible way to set about it.

We made our way through security, there was a special counter with a human being for dealing with children, everyone else had to go through the machines that checked the boarding cards. The woman at the security screening couldn't believe that I only had a laptop, didn't I have an iPad for the child? No, I do not. We looked through the duty-free and got some chewing gum for WiseWomanGrandkid, and were at the gate by 3:30 pm. We bought some pastries to eat, and since I noticed that they were being really picky about only having one item each, I stuffed WiseWomanGrandkid's mouse ears backpack into mine, which I had purposly left rather empty. Other than that, we just had her suitcase.

Boarding was not until 4:10 pm and passed without incident for us (others had to pay because they had two things with them). I had splurged paying for chosen seats on EasyJet, so that we could have a window seat. We got seated easily, left the gate at 4:25 pm, and landed on time in Berlin at 5:25 pm. We were picked up by WiseWomanGrandkidMama at 6:00 pm, and I was home by 6:45 pm.

That makes it five and a half hours door to door. The plane was packed, but we had no checked baggage. I paid 40 € per person, and had planned lots of extra time to deal with a child perhaps not wanting to walk fast. It was without stress, the only negative point was not being able to take my own liquids with me and having to leave my pocket knife at home.

On Friday I went back the other way by train. I purposely left the booking to the last minute, and the train I wanted to take in the afternoon was already sold out. As I later saw on Twitter, it was a good thing, since it was full and completely without air conditioning the entire way. As there is construction between Nykøbing and Næstved, the normal route would have extra exchanges, getting off the train, onto a bus, off the bus, and back on a train. So I was taking the other route north, via Fredericia. I settled for a train two hours earlier with changes in Neumünster, Flensburg, Fredericia, and Copenhagen.

I had a good breakfast at home (luckily, as I planned on having lunch on the train) and left for the local train at 9:30 am. The train to Kiel via Neumünster left Südkreuz at 10:24, and was already jam-packed. I chased a woman from my seat (I had also purchased a reserved seat on all the trains possible) and settled in. At least we had Internet, so I got some work done, although the train was overfilled from Hamburg. I do not understand people who travel without making seat reservations this time of year.

In Neumünster at 1:30 pm there was a train change to a local train from the same platform - but the train was jam-packed. People had lots of luggage with them, and children who were screaming. It seemed like an Indian train, every square centimeter occupied, at least there were no goats and chickens along. I manage to snatch a seat, but with my backpack on my lap there was no chance to do anything while the train lumbered along, stopping at every station on the way.

At 2:45 pm we changed trains in Flensburg to a train on the same platform, with people pushing and shoving, trying to get a seat. Again, I chase people from my reserved seat, they end up standing in the aisles with dozens of others. When we cross the border into Denmark, we are told that all the aisle-standers must get off the train for passport control. They are unsure if they will be let back on, so they pull off their luggage as well. They are checked outside, then a policeman comes through the cars. A woman across from me had remarked that she doesn't look like her passport, she had long red hair when the picture was taken, now she has short grey hair. She passed muster, one wonders if this is just done for show.

We were now running 10 minutes late, the conductor announced through the PA system that the standers could get off in Tinglev and get a train 45 minutes later that would go through to Copenhagen. Some did, some didn't, the women sitting at my table were worried if we would make our next connection, as there was only 12 minutes scheduled and 8 tracks to move. I later saw on Twitter that those who changed trains found out that all the empty seats on that train ended up being reserved seats. Apparently, many people had the DSB app and were able to reserve a seat. I used the available internet to check that the next train in Fredericia still had empty seats and I could buy a reserved seat if necessary for it.

There was no chance to move to any sort of dining car, if there was one available, as all the aisles were blocked. Luckily, I had some bananas and cookies with me, and actually get some work done, as the Internet worked. 

The train in Fredericia actually waited for us at 4:26 pm, but the conductor said to everyone: run, run, get on the train as fast as possible. So no one checked which wagon they were entering. It was a fight, as not everyone had reserved a seat and those that had were in the wrong wagon. Luckily, I had a reservation and I checked the wagon before entering, so I made it to my seat, again chasing off squatters. The air conditioning, however, is not working, luckily I have my Spanish fan with me, as it is 29° C and getting hotter.

After the train gets going I manage to climb over people sitting in the aisles and go to the bathroom. Some crew is sitting in the wagon next to the bathroom with some unaccompanied children. The door is locked, and no one is being let through to their proper places in the car behind it, so they are stuck camping out in front of the bathroom. It is absolute madness that we paid good money for this - I spent 120 € for the one-way trip flexible ticket. It would have been only about 80 € if I had booked weeks in advance, but then I would have had to take exactly this train. The whole point of train travel should be flexibility, and the ability to get off and wait for a next train, if one wants to.  Why are there no extra cars on for a Friday afternoon when they know that people have to take this way around to get to Copenhagen?

Did I mention that there was no Internet? 

At 6:00 pm it is 30° C in the compartment, no fresh air, haven't seen a conductor until just now, climbing through with a coffee pot, probably to refresh it. She has been sitting in the children's compartment, which is locked. She obtained two bottles of cold water and climbed back past us, without saying a word to anyone.

We made it to Copenhagen on time, and I now had 45 minutes before the train to Sweden. There were far too many people for the escalator, it took some time to get up to the station. There I got a salad and some cheese and something to drink at Brugsen, and sat at a hot hot hot table in the back of the store eating. Finally, real food!

The train to Sweden arrived on time, although it was not marked at the track board at station level, only on the big billboard and down on the track. Whatever, the air conditioning works, there are plenty of empty seats, and the bathroom is easy to reach. We are on time, and I am home at 8:30 pm. 

I needed 11 hours for this trip, and am rather suffering from people overload and am a bit dizzy with motion sickness, I feel like I am still on the train. I was only able to eat my snacks until I reached Copenhagen, no real lunch, but I was able to take my knife and lots to drink with me, as well as my backpack and a suitcase.

The plane was one third the price and took half the time.

One third of the price in half the time. The plane wins.

I wrote a complaint on Twitter to the DSB, the Danish train system, and was sent back a link where I can lodge a complaint. I did, asking the following questions:

1. The Danish train system knows that people are avoiding the busses from Nykøbing to Næstved on the Hamburg--Copenhagen line. Why don't they put extra cars on the trains that run via Fredericia? People paid good money to travel and ended up standing or sitting in an aisle.
2. Why do they put broken cars in service? They should have enough in reserve for such situations.
3. Why doesn't a conductor care about the people on the train? We could have waited another minute or so in Fredericia and had people sort themselves out on the platform. It would still have been jam-packed, but not so chaotic. It would have been nice to have been welcomed over the PA system, or given some information about the trip, but there was nothing, in any language.
4. Internet would have at least given people something to do, why don't they get this working? They probably only have to give the router a reboot.  
5. What on earth would the train system do if even more people decided to take a train because they want to be environmentally sensible? The train system is broken now, they have been "saving money" for ages. How can it cope with more passengers?

Travel to the US

Geez. What a lot of work! I booked my flight last night to the US, and spent hours doing so. I first looked around for cheap flights -- despite the rules on them presenting the final costs I was constantly getting great deals that then quickly rose in price. I also wanted to have a fork, as I am giving a talk in a city near a hub the day before I leave, so I thought I could save some travel time.

Air Berlin won't let you book a fork on their home page, and booking each part individually makes it much more expensive. opodo had a good deal on a fork, so I emailed the data to the States to see if I could be met at the airport. A few hours later that was okay, except that now the price had increased by 100 €.

I flushed the cookies. Tried another browser. I probably should have used the VPN to get a new IP address, but I was tired and wanted to get done. So I just booked the flight to and from the hub with Air Berlin (for the same price) and will have to take a train back home. Will only be a little longer, as I would have had to cool my heels for 3 hours in the hub, anyway. And the train is cheaper than 100 €.

At the end of all this (and having to pay a stiff fee for paying by credit card) I was then reminded to deal with the Visa Waiver program. And it turns out, my last application has now expired. Great.

They want all sorts of information I don't normally give out online. And then I have to pay $14 entrance fee, just like I was going to the zoo. Or to enter the DDR ("Zwangsumtausch"). Oh, they inform me that many other countries charge entrance fees as well. I don't care. It doesn't make me want to visit a country that makes it clear that it doesn't really want me and will only let me in if I pay with data and cash.

A Day in Leipzig

We got a monthly train pass in order to see the Women's World Cup games (that blog post is still missing....). It still has a few days left on it, so we decided to take a day trip today. Leipzig is only an hour away by high-speed train, and I've never been there. WiseMan was there once before the wall came down and once just after it came down, but that was 20 years ago, so it really was time.

We got up, had breakfast, and drove to the train station - lots of free parking on the street on a Saturday. We hopped a train - they run every hour - and even scored table seats. We just barely had the newspapers read when we pulled into the Leipzig train station.

Grand Central Station is puny compared to this station! Not only are there a gazillion tracks and gorgeous open spaces, it is also a megamall. We wanted to check out the times for the trains back, it seemed to take forever to find the travel center.

We then headed over the tram tracks to the downtown area for a planless day. Leipzig was and is a trading center. The downtown area is mostly a pedestrian area and is quite similar to Prague in that it has lots of roofed over shopping passages.

Ceiling of the St. Nicholaus Church, Leipzig

We first stopped off at the St. Nicholas Church. This is where the "Swords to Plowshares" (Schwerter zu Pflugscharen) movement started, and where the Monday demonstrations grew out of the Monday evening prayer group. Johann Sebastian Bach also played here (the registration of the organ is on the German page). We browsed the bookshop and listened to a choir singing before going on.

Swords to Plowshares, the original poster

WiseMan was hungry and decided we would have ice cream for lunch - but there didn't seem to be any ice cream shops around. We finally found one - and discovered after ordering that the scoops in Leipzig only cost half of what the cost in Berlin, but are twice as large! That was a meal and a half!

The streets seemed to be full of tourists, beggars, and musicians. It was nice, strolling in the sun and hearing all the nice music, although the begging was a bit much.

We did some window shopping (and got some presents for the Princesses, whom we will be meeting next week!) and then headed on to the St. Thomas Church. THE St. Thomas Church, the one of Bach and Boy's Choir fame. There's a a large statue of him outside the church with a little organ behind him.

The gift shop was open, and you could have pretty much anything you wanted with Bach on it: chocolate, key rings, flashlights, T-Shirts, schnapps. I got an outrageously priced CD with the Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes (Leipziger Choräle) on it, performed by the current Master organist of the church.

And they were selling tickets to an organ concert to begin in an hour and a half. We got two tickets - when do you have a chance like this?

We had a coffee at the little Cafe Gloria next to the church and did some more shopping around. Then we saw the Maggi shop. One needs to know that WiseMan preferred Maggi cubes (boullion) to chocolate as a child. If we had been there by car, we probably would have taken one of everything they had. As it was, we just got some modern soups and then he had some soup while hurried to the church to get good seats.

New Bach Organ

Old Bach Organ

The concert was the first one of a summer series of women organists. Johanna Lennartz (Dresden) played a number of pieces (including one by Bach) and the Australian Chamber Choir Melbourne sang some beautiful old chorales and a horrible Australian one by Philip John Nunn that sounded like a bunch of bush animals fighting over a meal.

The music director joked during the introduction that this summer they would be investigating if you can hear the difference between a woman and a man at the organ console: You can't see who is playing, just feel the music creeping up on you and at times filling the church to the rafters. J. S. Bach looks down from his stained glass window and seems to be happy that people are still playing his music - no matter if a woman or a man. The director did note, however, that her husband was also an organist that that he would be "pulling her registers" for her. Seemed a bit off-color, the joke.

The seats in the church are not the most comfortable, but they rewarded us afterwards by serving everyone who presented a ticket with a glass of champagne outside in the courtyard. Not a plastic cup - a real champagne glass, with Rotkäppchen, the DDR champagne in it.

We meandered on through town and discovered that we were really tired. We had a table booked at the Champion's Sports Bar in the Marriott in order to watch the Sweden-France soccer game for third place in the Woman's Soccer World Cup. So we headed to the Marriott - and the place wasn't opened yet. We chilled on some leather chairs and read a newspaper until they finally opened, just before kickoff. We had the best seat in the house, best view of the largest screen. There was one other couple, another one came at halftime, and a few people drifted in and out for a beer.

It was more like private viewing with room service than public viewing, but at least the couple that came at halftime was half Swedish and had a Swedish flag along. It was a nail-biting game, and Sweden managed to squeak through on a bad call that gave Sweden a corner - and a goal.

But since there was no overtime, we got a train back to Berlin quite early and had time for a Krimi.

I wish the Bahn had monthly tickets like this all the time - we had one once as students and really enjoyed traveling throughout the republic.

Cheap flights

I popped up to Norway Sunday evening and back Monday night on a cheap flight. I was giving a talk at a college near the airport that Ryanair calls Oslo (about 150 km south east of city hall).

I've been on Easyjet and Air Berlin before, the former was strenuous, but the latter was a luxury trip compared to Ryanair. Okay, the price was right, but honestly, I was getting the flight reimbursed, so I wouldn't have minded paying for some comfort. Just some odds and ends on the trip:

• You have to go through a pre-security in Schönefeld in order to even get to the bag drop.
• Bags cost 15 € each per direction and only 15 kilos are allowed, not the standard 20, so they can collect excess weight limit fees. 
• Many people avoid this by taking everything in their on-board luggage, which they smash into the overhead bins with no regard to your backpack which was already there.
• It is worth every penny of the 4 € "Priority" charge. You get to sit in a chair in the waiting area and can get a window seat.
• There are no seat pockets in front of you. This probably saves them having to clean them, but it means you have to have a bag in your backpack with the stuff you want to use during the flight.
• The flight attendants do not speak either English, German, or Norwegian as their mother tongue. Communication is difficult.
• The pilot doesn't even take time to tell you what the beautiful stuff is that you can see out the window when flying over.
• They are Prussian in insisting that you be at the gate 30 minutes ahead of flight time. They board and get off early. The scheduled flight time is about 45 minutes longer than needed, so that they are always on time. I had to wait for my ride to come, as the plane was not yet expected. 
• Being on a plane with a (drunken) men's choir is unpleasant on any airline, although perhaps other carriers would have told them to shut up. At least they sang in 4 part harmony. 
• A gaggle of teenage girls sitting around you is worse.
• With no amusements, no TV, and the attending parent ignoring their offspring as usual small children can continue to kick against the lady sitting next to them without reprimand from the parent. If I make a remark, however, I get the nasty look. 
• They charge for everything, I was amazed there was not a window fee.
• The noises the motor made just after take-off were not comforting.
• But okay, they got me from A to B and back, my suitcase did not get lost, and the price was very cheap.

Sitting in Front of Leo

I had a four hour train trip this weekend and had the misfortune to be sitting in front of Leo. Okay, I had a seat, which was a definite advantage over the first bit of the trip down, in which because of a "technical problem" there
was an equipment change meaning that there were 8 less cars than normal on the train. We stood packed in the aisles, unable to move up or down. They made us get off at the next station and wait for another train. Sigh.

Anyway, after I sat down a mother and her perhaps six-year-old son, Leo, sat down behind me. Leo began unpacking his toys and throwing them on the floor, although his mother admonished him to be patient and wait until she had all the bags stowed. Every sentence she spoke to him began with "Leo, ...". And as we soon learned, Leo did not listen to his mother, even if she constantly used his name. Or maybe because? Anyway Leo was extremely loud.

I don't know which was worse - the kicking against my seat, the repeated experiments with the foot rests, the whining for food, the extremely loud questions, or the mother trying to exercise some sort of restraint on Leo and at the same time trying to educate him. And constantly calling him by his name.

She read books to him that were far over his level of understanding. She had him do math exercises, but didn't know if the results were correct or not. She admonished him at one point: "Leo, that's not scientific!" My guess is that her husband - who was working on a Sunday and might-pick-us-up-Leo - is probably a scientist of some sort. She gave him lots of explanations for numerous words and things that were, in fact, quite off the mark. He will probably grow up to be one of those smartalecks in my classes who think they know everything, and don't actually know much at all.

Leo managed to wiggle out once and went to find the fire extinguishers. He loudly informed the folks in the entire car that we did, indeed have a fire extinguisher on board and that there was a sign on it. He was very excited
about this, and was trying to explain his discoveries to his mother - loudly. She shushed him: Don't talk so loudly, you will disturb the man in front of you.

Hmm. I am actually wearing a skirt today, on account of having led a church service this morning. I even curled my hair. Sure, I am using a computer. I suppose that this is a male marker. I grumbled under my breath: the *lady* in the seat in front of you is trying to work. The woman sitting next to me nodded, silently.

Leo was interested. He peeked round the side, then scrambled up for a better look. "That's a woman!", he announced to the car. Well, what a relief. Leo can at least determine that, although I would love to find the volume knob on his voice box.

Oh, and did I mention that Leah and Joanna played horsie in the aisles, and that the baby a few seats back had a screaming fit? A sweet toddler at least cooed at me on occasion over the front seat. As Leo's mother noted to Leo at one point, many parents are here with children, because they can't be kept quiet in the quiet zone. And the parents spend lots of time on the phone, too,
I have a sudden longing for the noisy quiet zone. Even if they speak loudly into their mobile phones there, at least they don't constantly kick the back of my seat.

Medieval Visby

We came over to Gotland this morning, another Baltic island, and drove down to our digs at Tofta Strand.

Seems the family creeps into their own summer place and the shed during the summer and rents out their place to tourists. She is a motorcycle queen, and loves mirrors and cloth flowers. Ugh. The place is roomy enough, but the kitchen utensils suck. Either plastic crap or scratched Teflon pans or welled up ones. Whatever. We will survive. There's a trampoline outside, Teeny2 is happy about that. Every 10th house seems to have one, someone made a million selling these to the Swedes a few years back.

After unpacking and looking for food - the only thing to be found was the grocery store at the local mobile home place, and the food they had was not exactly what we wanted - we went to a concert in Roma. An organist, Ragnhild Pettersson, was playing a number of different works. It was very nice, and it was nice to see the church, although the old altar picture above the very 70s altar cloth was a bit jarring.

Since the night was still young we headed off for Visby. Arriving there we realized that the maidens on the boat over who were dressed in Medieval costumes had multiplied. We seemed to be in the minority.

Visby is as amazing place - they still have most of the city walls intact and pretty much keep cars out. The place has lots of interesting ruins - the former Hansesatic League city was too poor to tear them down so they just let them rot. In the 18th century someone had the bright idea that this might be interesting for tourists, and one of the major sources of income for the island was born.

The town was popping - it was 10pm and the streets were filled with people, mostly dressed medievally, but of course still wearing their backpacks and jogging shoes and using their mobile phones. This was not just young kids - it was older couples, people walking dogs, families pushing prams, kids dressed up (the little girls loved being princesses, it seems). Some of the restaurants would only accept people in Medieval dress. There will be a week-long festival, it seems. Teeny2 was thrilled with everyone she saw and would looooove to have one of the green dresses with flared sleeves.

Looks like I will have to sacrifice a day at the beach for another tour of town - the place is far too interesting, and there is so much good tourist stuff to buy :)

Öland

We just spent 2 days on the Swedish island of Öland with friends (a couple and their two teenage girls), bevor heading on to Gotland. We had a charming bed and breakfast on a farm near the middle of this looooong and thin island.

The place is just popping with little square, wooden windmills. Seems every little farmer had his own little mill. We made it to a beach (went in for a few minutes to cool my feet, but it is still a bit cold for swimming), did some sightseeing, bought some fish at a little harbor. This guy had two boxes of smoked fish in his garage right on the water, one box was of smoked flounder. Never tried that before, so we bought one. Greasy skin, tons of bone, but very, very tasty.

We took a trip through the Stora Alvaret, an immense uninhabited expanse on the south half of the island. It is an UNESCO World Heritage site, and what a sight it is to see: nothingness. A bit of shrubbery, some stone walls, some teeny-tiny flowers, and this goes on forever or so. Except for the line of cars pilgrimaging through.

We stopped at the Möckelmosse and walked down to the lake. This is created every winter when it rains, and it dries up over the summer. There were all sorts of birds there, even a heron standing near the water waiting for a fish - but how would a fish get there? Anyway, there were a bunch of Danish biology students there taking a gazillion pictures. Teeny2 was enthralled, as she wants to study biology.

The second day we chugged down the island to Eketorp, a reconstructed middle-ages castle that was also used as a garrison for some time. They do the full regimen of middle-age stuff: making stuff out of tin, baking flatbread, petting sheep and pigs. Teeny1 enjoyed the bow and arrows, Teeny2 stayed home because she didn't want to go to a booooooooring museum.

In the museum they had a game of Hnefatafl, also known as Icelandic chess. Wow! We enjoyed the game and played a few rounds at the B&B over the Internet - outside, using my swanky new modem. I suppose we will now have to make a game, it really is overkill using the Internet for this, as Teeny2 pointed out before heading off to play with the cat.

We drove all around the south of the island, playing tag with the other Germans going the same way. We kept meeting them at every interesting stop along the way - and then we all seemed to convene at the ATM in one of the little towns, the only one on the south of the island. As the Swedes say: Öland is just plain expensive, Gotland is nice. But I did rather like Öland. Anyway. Gotland in the next episode.