However, as you can imagine, not all trips are undertaken without a hitch. Considering that we have traveled quite some in the last 2 years and managed to evade any misfortune, I suppose it was time for us to experience some.
We flew into Copenhagen in Denmark and caught the train to Vaxjo (pronounced like "vacuum" without the 'm'). The flight was easy enough, one and a half hours. The train we caught from the airport, so that was easy peesy too. The 2.5 hours train ride was uneventful, which is what you really want when you need to arrive somewhere in time for the opening on the same day.
As you can see the landscape rolling past was an idyllic one, with huge swathes of snow and poking out every now and then from the undisturbed pale, a yellow house, a red barn...
The passing landscape - wide, open and snowy
Why Shivaun insists on lugging not one but two hardbacks that weigh a ton is a mystery to me :) I generally choose to read magazines or paperbacks that can squeeze into my bag
Anyways, the drama began as soon as we arrived at Vaxjo; I think I must have fallen into a stupor staring out the window, 'cos we got off the train, and I was fussing over Shivaun's bag as she had brought a large suitcase, and as we trundled off across the rail crossings, I looked over at her and her large red bag trailing behind her and suddenly had an awful sinking feeling that all I had on me was my backpack - I had left my hand luggage in the overhead cabin - eeeeek! As I watched the train speed off, my heart sank into my boots.
To cut a long story short, here's what I learned about rail travel in Sweden:
1) The company that operates the trains are not the same company that handles station affairs
2) There is no lost-and-found at the train stations, all missing items get routed to a holding department in Stockholm!!!
3) The trains don't always run on time.
I waited 40 minutes on the freezing platform that evening because I was informed that at Kalmar station, someone would put my bag on the next train back, but anxiety got the better of me and I was at the station at Vaxjo 15 minutes early. Alas, the train was 20 minutes late and I had also forgotten to ask which platform the train would arrive at. I spent that 40 minutes fretting if I was waiting for the right train and climbing on board another train waiting at the station, peering into cabins, hoping to catch sight of my bag. Finally the train arrived and I ran from cabin to cabin but no bag. I was afraid of staying too long on board, what if the train took off with me in it all the way back to Copenhagen? My mobile wasn't working so there was no way to tell Shivaun, who was by now at the Emigre Museum where the conference had kicked off. I have to admit I was a little frantic now; I jumped off the train, ran up the platform, thinking I would plead my case to the driver and hold the train while I did another search. A woman in uniform saw me and after listening to me, pointed to the other end of the platform. In the faint light, I could see a man holding my bag, hurrah! I can't imagine I would have seen my bag again if this was London, much less be able to enlist the help of so many to make sure my bag got back to me. Here, I must mention Larrs, owner at Carisma Hotel. Without him I would never have gotten my bag back; he was patient and diligent in calling Kalmar Station, having someone confirm my bag was on board, making sure it got on to another train back, and confirming the time it would be on.
Does this jacket make me look fat or...? Outside Carisma Hotel
This leaving my bag on the train business plus other experiences which followed has impressed me about the Swedes and this part of Sweden I visited, Smaaland. People were really helpful and friendly and the town, being quite small, had a nice warmth and a relaxed atmosphere about it.
I'll try not to bore you with too much detail of what happened at the conference or the rest of our trip but suffice to say, I came home with lots of ideas about the use of biography in adult education and its importance as a historical tool.
On Linnaeus University campus
Fancy some caviar from a tube? An offering for breakfast which I skipped, only because I wasn't sure what to put it on
Last night: dinner at the Kosta glass factory floor, with entertainment provided by this family. Some ditties were sung to accompany schnap drinking (did I spell schnap right? I don't drink you see...)
Dinner: sausages, bacon (or something that was kinda like thick bacon or ham), pickled herring, cheese, rye crackers and potato.
I actually thought they had baked the potatoes and grilled the sausages in the furnace they used as part of the glass blowing exercise, but that's probably unlikely right? :)
Glass blowing demonstration. It takes ages to make, and ages to cool down when made.
Above: Scenes from downtown Vaxjo on Sunday morning.
On our travel home, we had another slight mishap, having read the train schedules wrong; apparently, our return ticket was for the 12:12 train and not the 11:06 - two different companies. We ambled about the streets looking for a cafe but these were scarce, hardly anything was open, so we had to make do with a coffee dispensing machine and hot dogs at a shop at the train station. Plus the train was about 10 minutes late. This started the ball rolling on misadventures and getting back to London was a mini epic with train delays and a mad dash to check in.
Suffice to say we're glad to be home safe and sound. Our luggage however still has not made it.
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