Had a little wander through Stockholm which is based on a series of islands.
St Clara church Looking across Ladugårddlandsviken
Looking from SkeppsholmbronKarl 12 and St Jacob’s Church
Decided to drop off my luggage at the hotel.
St Georgios ChurchMy hotel
And continue exploring on buses.
A bendy busPanghus
It got very cold once the sun went down, sub 10 degrees centigrade. I looked for an underground station and really struggled to find the entrance despite using the SL app. I didn’t quite know what I was looking for, eventually found a very inconspicuous entrance.
The underground is modern and efficient.Adolf Fredrik ChurchTegnérgatanCinnamon bun with coffeeLots of sculptures There is some industry about.View from Sussen
I purchased a 24 hour ticket for the public transport which I made good use of. The SL app was useful for navigation and buying tickets.
We crossed the divide between the Binnen Alster and the Außen Alster.
The train set off late evening? Travelling through Denmark in the early hours.
Just after crossing the border into Denmark- snow.
The train was a bit dated with a seventies vibe,
One of the toilets,Sweden is snowy
The train was sending clouds of snow into the air.Snowy village of FrinnarydHorses feeding on hay with a large barn behind.There was a bit snow ingress through the window.And between carriages.
Beginning to snow- LinköpingA bit rockier-Gläntan
Now getting close to Stockholm,
HallsfjardenÅrstavikenFrozen enough to skateRiddarfjarden
Skating and walking on the RiddarfjardenVery close to the Central Station Arrived at Stockholm Central 77 minutes late.
It’s an early start to catch the 0816 Eurostar to Brussels. The ticket tells me to turn up at 0701.
It’s still dark at St Pancras
Not off to a good start, there is a 24 minute delay. But this should not be a problem as there is plenty of time for the connection at Brussels,
Boarding at St Pancras
We travel through Kent.
Near AshfordNear Stanford- curious shaped hill.
Difficult to get decent photos from the train in Kent.
In France, near Lille
Struggled getting decent photos in France too.
Near Halle-Belgium Coming into Brussels Arrived at Brussels Midi only 12 minutes late.
I checked the notice board for the train to Cologne. Spotted that there was an issue, it looked like the train was delayed and was leaving from a different station, Brussels-Nord. I confirmed this, and was told what train to catch.
Bonus train at Brussels-MidiTravelling two stops in Brussels Waiting for the train to CologneLeaving Brussels-North- late uInteresting bridge at Liège.Liège station is an interesting building Leaving LiègeAachenArrived in Köln a bit lateThe cathedral
The next leg is to Hamburg. This train is also delayed, by maintenance work on the track.
Crossing the RhineThe train is traveling a long distance.Düsseldorf-its raining Essen Dortmund Dortmund-Ems canal near MünsterComing into Hamburg about ten minutes late.Hamburg StationHotel View from room
A February far flung journey, starting in the north,
To the platform Train arriving and it’s getting dark.Windows are a big dirty Thurso river near Halkirk
The downside to travelling this time of year is that it is dark for most of the journey, so not many views.
Disembarked at a dark Inverness The waiting Caledonian Sleeper service
I had a really good nights sleep, waking up for breakfast in the buffet car.
Birmingham Airport
Caledonian sleeper have added a new stop at Birmingham International. This looks potentially very useful. I saw the airport just after sitting down for breakfast.
Breakfast Euston
No bike with me this time. I had an appointment in London within walking distance. The time to get there was pretty similar either by foot or public transport, so off I walked.
Then it was off to Marylebone Station, for my first ever visit. Also by foot.
All Souls Church The BBC
Also first time I had seen the BBC buildings.
Marylebone Station
Things went a bit awry at this point. A goods train had broken down so the route was blocked.
The notice board with the delays.
Take a picture or filming shows how much the boards must flicker.
The intention is to get to Oxford to change trains. Eventually a train is provided with loads of carriages to enable taking all the passengers from the cancelled trains. The route to avoid the blockage involved travelling to Princess Risborough, the train then reversed heading to Bicester Village, where again it reversed, eventually arriving in Oxford.
Oxford Station
At Oxford some of the tracks are sectioned off. There are no trains to Didcot, only rail replacement buses. This is why I went via Marylebone rather than Paddington.
The train arrives
Smooth onward journey to Moreton-in-Marsh.
There is a lot of surface water.
After my appointment in Moreton-in-Marsh it’s back to Oxford in the dark.
Moreton-in-Marsh stationLots of work going near Oxford station
The Thames at Osney Bridge is fast flowing.Finally arrived at the Premier Inn
Good morning Manchester Manchester Piccadilly is busy Waiting for the train Birchwood StationBack to Birchwood, the leaves have been cleared.
The train is delayed by trespassers.
Off at Warrington Central.
The delay meant I could not get a decent lunch.
A short ride between Warrington train stations Warrington Bank Quay
The train to Edinburgh was delayed due to trespassers. However there was plenty of leeway to catch the connecting train, especially if I changed at Haymarket.
River RibbleLancaster River Laune
As we headed north the delayed train lost time rather than catching up.
We arrived at Haymarket. As I got off the train. I heard the Inverness train leaving. That added another hour to the journey. Why can’t the trains cooperate to avoid these problems. It was minutes. And why was the Edinburgh train continually slowed down.
Food at Fava Greek Kitchen
Time to kill so time to grab food.
Back to Haymarket
Now this is when things got crazy.
I was looking at the display times for the trains on platform four. A man stumbled down the stairs grabbed hold of one my belt loops, span round out of control, falling off the platform, onto the train track. At that point my thoughts were , was a train coming, how do we get this man off the tracks, going down onto the tracks was not an option, too risky. We coaxed the man to his feet, and four complete strangers hauled the man onto the platform.. We restrained the man to stop a further incident.
I thought that the next train was mine, got on discovered it wasn’t. After getting on the correct train I realised just how traumatic I had found the incident.
Arrived in a foggy Inverness Foggy view from the hotel
It’s green next to the railway linesInteresting location for a coffee.Debenhams demolition in the distance The worst cycle infrastructure on Epsom Road in Guildford.
The cycle lanes marked out in Guildford are beyond useless. No segregation, suggesting a totally inappropriate position for the cyclists to take on the road. I would cycle at least at the line. I actually cycled in the mostly in the middle of the lane to take the decision away from the drivers, so they did not attempt to overtake at the frequent traffic islands. Of course I was hooted at, but ironically I was going faster than the motorised vehicles. Guildford suffers from pollution,
Clandon
There are plenty of stations in the commuter belt.
Delays
Someone had pulled a communication alarm on a train causing all the trains to be delayed.
Heading into Guildford.
Two days later headed back to Oxfordshire. Dodged the rail replacement buses by travelling from Farnborough.
Farnborough Change at Basingstoke Church spire Mortimer Approaching Reading from the south Boats at GoringBoats on the Thames at GoringThames near Cholsey.Bromptons Didcot – another change CholseyThe Thames at Wallingford – The Boat House.
I set off early from the hotel to allow for the ongoing work on the S Bahn. Which meant I arrived well ahead of time at the Hauptbahnhof. So purchased some bread based snacks for breakfast and the journey plus some fruit.
München Hbf
The train was an Austrian train, OBB, starting in Germany and ending in Hungary.
South east of München- wall to mitigate noise.River Inn near RosenheimNow in AustriaSalzburgNear Salzburg Heading away from Salzburg Industry on the TraunWeißkirchen in the distance Near the Danube- is that a power station?Coming into ViennaFormer arsenal and comms towerTurbinesInto Hungary Komáron in the distance TatabányaBudapest KelenföldHotel-Radison
