Month: March 2022

My little red suitcase is now emptied at home. It performed well, although old and worn out, but the wheels managed all the cobblestone streets and stairs and the zipper could every morning close the fully packed suitcase. When I flew to London it was left to Helsinki as the tag had fallen away in the self service bag drop. Helpful officer in Heathrow could find it and next day it was brought to my hotel. After that it followed me through Southern England, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and finally over the Baltic to Helsinki via Turku.

In Sweden I stayed over night in historic town Lund. Old Cathedral Domkyrka was under reparation , but looked really respectable. Sunday morning was quiet when I walked through the town to the railway station. In a small park I found statue of Linnee, studying some plants.

Lund Domkyrka was closed but looked really respectable

The value of Finnish railways increased on my scale when passing Denmark and Sweden. DSB has removed the restaurant cars from the trains. Journey from Hamburg to Copenhagen was 6 hours with one hour stop at the border. In Sweden SJ had big delays both due to the reparation of railway tracks and bad condition of the engines. On my trip one train had to be changed between Copenhagen and Lund and two changes to buses between Lund and Stockholm. Waiting time for the second bus was more than one hour and my final delay in Stockholm was 3 hours, so no time for Fotografiska and no time for coffee with a friend. However, on a trip like that you have to accept changes. Luckily I could reach the ferry to Turku.

My main reason to come to Hannover was my granddaughter, who spends a school year there. It was good to see how well she had adapted to the system and was feeling well. It was wonderful to meet the friendly host family. I was invited to their lovely home and they took me into interesting parks and museums. I could also meet a friend from my own exchange year 55 years ago and her two younger generations.

Covid rules in Germany were most strict of all these countries i had visited. The covid certificate was asked in every cafe, restaurant and museum. Masks were also obligatory everywhere.

Germany seems to be a center point welcoming of Ukrainian refugees. My train passing Danish border stayed for one hour and passports were asked from everybody. I also had an Ukrainian lady sitting beside me. She was kind of surprised of the support she had encountered when fleeing from Odessa through Slovakia and Germany. It was also goo to hear she was full of hope and in contact by whats app with his husband fighting there.

During my one night stay in Amsterdam bikes are the most memorable image in my mind. You really had to be aware of them coming from different directions with high velocity. At the station there were thousands of bikes outside and a big hall for them inside. Maybe I come an other time.

London and Southampton were my targets in UK. London was busy and crowded like a nest of ants. An oasis there was the Kew Gardens where we spent one day with my brother, who joined me for my last day. Spring was still early, but you could find beautiful flowers inside the glasshouses.

The hotel that I had chosen was with mini tiny rooms, but friendly atmosphere. I wanted to stay near St Pancras international station to get easily to Eurostar in the morning. Friendly Georgiu in the reception helped me with sim cards and adviced us a nice Italian restaurant that was lively with locals. Just before leaving for Europe I happened to check my email, and learned I need a negative Covid test result to get to Netherlands. After a small shock we could find a laboratory near the station and I got negative result from an antigen test.

Irises of Kew Garden for us Ladies

In Southampton we celebrated my niece’s wedding with a good group of the family. It was an emotional day first in a beautifully set registry office and after that a party in Juniper Pub. It was exiting to learn to know the English family and their ways to celebrate.

Hugging new Ms Seaman

After the wedding day we walked around in the New Forest Natural park, seeing the old trees, free horses and dears and enjoyed the tea with scones in old English tearoom.

Wedding of my dear niece gave me an excuse to travel again. Corona is hardly over and Russia is invading Ukraina, but among all that there is still hope and joy.