Ben and I boarded the train south from Haparanda very early on a cold cloudy morning. Within a few minutes the train was travelling through a thick snowstorm. We changed trains after about an hour in Boden, heading south towards Umea. Not very much to report. Lots of trees and lakes. Umea was a good spot to grab a lunch as we waited for the next connection.
Our next train was held up for at least an hour as a broken down locomotive ahead of us was moved off the single track. Finally we arrived in Sundsval for our overnight. The architecture was quite beautiful, with clean lines and consistent four to five storey streetscapes. Very Parisienne. Notable was the glass covered galleria over the city museum and library.
We searched for a restaurant for quite a while for our last dinner together and settled on a sketchy looking Italian joint that ended up being really good. Ben had mussels and I thoroughly enjoyed a fine eggplant parmesan.
Back to the hotel to get rested for an early morning departure to Stockholm.
The train to Stockholm was very fast, averaging about 200 km/h. The rails were a bit bumpy, and tunnels through the hilly terrain created air pressure changes that were hard on the eardrums. Very lovely coastal vistas, much like Georgian Bay.
We parted company at Stockholm Central, Ben continuing to Copenhagen. The end of our third wonderful ‘Train / Model Railroad’ adventure. Who would have thought that I’d be sharing European rail adventures with someone I sat beside in our first EngSci Physics lecture, fifty-three years later.
I walked to Stockholm’s Old City (Gamla Stan) and left my bags at the hotel. Then caught the airport express train to the airport, Arlanda, to meet Will and Rob. Very exciting!!!
