Oulu-Helsinki-Stockholm-Lund-Copenhagen

Posted on 25th Feb 2026 by insightndes

It’s back on the train heading to Helsinki.

I had not reserved a seat. The train conductor pointed out that the train was going to get very full. She found a seat with a cancelled booking for me.

Some of the trees are heavily laden with snow.

Some pretty houses on the way.

Its then on to a tram to go to the ferry.

It’s warmed up in Helsinki do the snow is getting slightly slushy.

We get sightings of the different waterways from the tram.

Some interesting buildings on the way.

The tram arrives at the ferry terminal

Checking in and going through passport control is fast and straightforward.

Off to find my cabin which is on the fifth deck, the level we entered on.

The sun is setting as we leave Helsinki giving some magical views.

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How close !

A wander round the boat, some food, then to bed. There is live music on board and a massive dinner buffet. However I got up for the breakfast buffet. Again with a view.

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Then it’s a trip with a bus and underground to the Central Station.

Temperatures have risen since my previous visit.

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A little walk to the central station.

The snow is reducing.

I changed to a regional train at Lund. No pictures as I spotted a train leaving before my planned connection so did a rapid change. Now I was 35 minutes ahead of schedule.

The sky is grey with very low cloud.

Malmo sky

Disappointingly the crossing on the bridge from Sweden to Denmark is very foggy.

The bridge crossing.

Modern buildings not far from Copenhagen Airport

Tourism

Oulu

Posted on 22nd Feb 2026 by insightndes

Oulu is sixty miles south of the Artic circle and is this year’s European City of culture. Consequently there is a lot happening, even in February.

I walked from the station to the island Pikisaari, where I was staying. Walking mainly on compacted snow.

Crossing over frozen waterways.

Passed the oldest restaurant, which is on Pikisaari.

The oldest restaurant , Sokeri-Jussin Kievari.

Onto my accommodation, TurusenSaha.

There is a supply of socks, eating area and cooking equipment.

The socks must be for those who have under estimated how cold it can be- outside. Very thoughtful.

I had a walk back to the centre.

The market has a cafe, fish, meat shops and shops aimed at tourists.

After buying some provisions in a supermarket, I headed back to my accommodation. It’s now getting dark.

It’s all well lit up.

While walking back I spotted something strange.

What was going on?

Holes in the ice are being cut to provide the competition pool.

The next day I was out and about.

Headed towards Nallikari Beach from Pikisaari.

Cyclists are out despite the cold.

I went to see the ice sculptures that had been made the previous week. That must have been quite a spectacle when they were being made.

I walked down to the beach.

Where does the beach start and end?

I could tell when I was on the beach as the snow was soft.

I then started walking on the sea.

Standing on the sea.

There were tents scattered around and one man was fishing in a hole. No idea if he caught anything.

Heading back to Oulu via Pikisaari island. The steam generating industry buildings in the distance looked very atmospheric.

Looking towards the sea from the bridge heading onto Pikisaari.

After having a coffee in Oulu centre and buying some food I headed back. It was snowing.

Bridge connecting Oulu to Pikisaari.

If there is snow covering the ground for a large part of the year the markings on the ground will be covered. The solution is to project the markings on to the snow.

The compacted snow got a dusting of soft snow overnight making it harder going as I headed to the station.

Travel

Helsinki to Oulu

Posted on 21st Feb 202620th Feb 2026 by insightndes

It’s a bright crisp morning, I have a good day for the trip north.

Not knowing any better I sat myself in first class which has a nice place to hang coats and store luggage. Plus it’s on the upper deck.

I way politely shifted to standard class.

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Power production using wood chips?

Tourism, Travel

Helsinki

Posted on 20th Feb 2026 by insightndes

It is cold and snowy in Helsinki.

I had plenty of time before checking in time for the hotel, so decided to ride the tram to the end of the line and get the flavour of Helsinki.

Got to the end of the line having passed the central station. Hopped onto a different tram on the basis that it would go to the central station, which it did.

It’s one stop up the line on the train to where I am staying.

Snowy forest near hotel.

The hotel is in the Tripla mall which is attached to the railway station.

Had some good food in Helsinki.

View of the station from the restaurant

Sun about to rise Kaiseniemeniahti – frozen.

The snow is often not cleared but strewn with grit to help the grip. Most of the time this is fine but just occasionally I found a slippery patch.

Travel

Hamburg to Stockholm- through the night

Posted on 14th Feb 202613th Feb 2026 by insightndes

I shared a cabin with five other travellers.

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,

The train was sending clouds of snow into the air.

Horses feeding on hay with a large barn behind.

There was a bit snow ingress through the window.

Beginning to snow- Linköping

Now getting close to Stockholm,

Skating and walking on the Riddarfjarden

Arrived at Stockholm Central 77 minutes late.

Travel

London to Hamburg-four countries in a day

Posted on 11th Feb 2026 by insightndes

It’s an early start to catch the 0816 Eurostar to Brussels. The ticket tells me to turn up at 0701.

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,

We travel through Kent.

Difficult to get decent photos from the train in Kent.

Struggled getting decent photos in France too.

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.

Liège station is an interesting building

The next leg is to Hamburg. This train is also delayed, by maintenance work on the track.

Coming into Hamburg about ten minutes late.

Travel

Didcot-Kings Cross

Posted on 11th Feb 202610th Feb 2026 by insightndes

A short leg to London from Didcot, via the underground.

Travel

The Far North, London, Moreton-in-Marsh, Oxford

Posted on 7th Feb 20267th Feb 2026 by insightndes

A February far flung journey, starting in the north,

The downside to travelling this time of year is that it is dark for most of the journey, so not many views.

I had a really good nights sleep, waking up for breakfast in the buffet car.

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.

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.

Also first time I had seen the BBC buildings.

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.

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.

After my appointment in Moreton-in-Marsh it’s back to Oxford in the dark.

The Thames at Osney Bridge is fast flowing.

Travel

Northwards in the sun

Posted on 12th Nov 2025 by insightndes

Safety, Travel

Manchester, Birchwood, Inverness – drama in Edinburgh

Posted on 7th Nov 20256th Nov 2025 by insightndes

Back to Birchwood, the leaves have been cleared.

The train is delayed by trespassers.

The delay meant I could not get a decent lunch.

A short ride between Warrington train stations

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.

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.

Time to kill so time to grab food.

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.