A to B turns into a little adventure

Over the past week or so, I've been starting to ponder what I should do with the week ahead. The end of July will entail meeting up with lots of wonderful folks in various places. During the 4th to the 9th, however, I'll be solo. Where in Europe is a good place to do that?

The contenders got whittled down to a few, namely:

(a) Sweden, including a mad dash north to try to catch the northern lights

(b) Poland, largely Krakow, to explore an Eastern European city before it becomes too touristy

(c) Somewhere else entirely, that the fates decide to present at the last moment

I had started to lean Poland, which was only increased when I checked into my Berlin hostel and was assigned to the "Poland" nine-bed room. Hmmm, not too subtle. I wasn't 100% yet, so I found myself at the Berlin Hauptbahnhof trying to decide which train to get on that night.

There was a train to Malmo, just over the Danish border into Sweden. There was a series of trains to Krakow. And there was a train to Budapest. Decision-time!

And the result: Krakow. It was a confluence of factors, I think. It would likely be the cheapest, helpful as I begin to assume my student identity. It would be a recommended compact city center from which I could base myself for the week. And, it was the easiest and cheapest to get tickets to.

So that's how I found myself on an S-Bahn train to Berlin-Lichtenberg station. Then on a regional rail train to Kostrzyn, just over the border in Poland, waiting a couple of hours for my sleeper train to arrive.

It was interesting how quickly the infrastructure changed at the border, which was over a river. Literally, half of the bridge was modern German style and the other half was a little bit dilapidated industrial style. The Kostrzyn station was similarly a little worse for the wear. No worries, as I soon met a couple of Norwegians aiming for the same journey I was undertaking.

Elizabeth and Andres were friendly and offered to have a drink with me. We headed to the only watering hole near the station and began to chat. It wasn't long before Elizabeth was offering boat-shaped licorice gummies (which also apparently come in a salted version, which they alas did not have) and Andres was sharing his thoughts as a high school English teacher. A lovely pair, off for a lovely vacation throughout Eastern Europe.

Before too long, our train had shown up. They had lucked into a sleeper compartment. I sent myself back to second-class, unreserved seating. As luck would have it, I found a whole compartment of six seats empty, and claimed it for the sake of my sleep. It wasn't a bed, however, but rather some very upright cloth chairs. It was a little fitful, what with the shaking train and the fact that the conductor decided to check my ticket ever hour. But, before I knew it, we were at the last transfer station.

Here there was only a wait of 30 minutes and my train was on the board.

It arrived, I got on, and soon enough we arrived in Krakow Glowny, right outside of the gorgeous Old Town of this city.

All in all, 4 trains, 15 hours, and about $25USD (10.7 euro + 60 zlotys). A good journey!