Viking Biking 2
We arrived in Hamburg at 9 am and unloaded the R1200 GS. From Hamburg it was beautiful, sunny skies 100 km ride to Kiel where we borded the colorline ferry. It os a nice ship indeed, yet
the trip is considerably more expensive than chopsing an alternative route and cruisline, e.g. Stena Line to Göteborg. Nevertheless, we chose the more expensive fair since it takes us directl to
Oslo where after a 16 hour cruise we will arrive, we can start our VikingBiking enduro trip right away.
The time to be spend on the ship gives plenty of opportunity to relax and think things through. Like the trip with the Deutsche Bahn Autozug last night. It was the second time I chose this very
special transportation tool even though last year, after my premier, I swore to God that I would never enter this train again (see my Northcape report from 2014 in this blog). So why didi I do it
again? First, it still is a lot easier to hop this train along with your bike and bride 1000 km from southern to northern Germany without having to drive through heavy German Autobahn traffic.
That IS a big and good reason. Second, the Autotrain will definitely go out of business in 2017. Deutsche Bahn says they are not making any money with it, so that will be the end of the story.
Obviously, I just had to ride that train again, for the good ol' times, I guess. Third, I just like to suffer.
At any rate, come to think of it - this train ride was not that bad after all. Even though they stuffed me along with 4 strangers into this tiny sleeping tin can which the Deutsche Bahn
eloquently calls "Liegeabteil" - I pretty much enjoyed myself and even did find some sleep (thank you, sleeping pill).
What was so great about this train ride was the group of people I joined in the hering tin can: Petra, an elementary school teacher from Hamburg, who regularly uses the Autotrain to visit her Dad
who lives close to Lörrach. Petra had no idea that the Autozug will be history soon and was really upset about it. She even wanted to sign a petition against this plan (teacher...;-) We talked
and laughed a lot. And talked about some serious issues too. Petra was very critical with the - on the political level - highly acclaimed school concept they inclusion. Basically, this concept
wants to to have bith disabled and healthy children be taught together in one class. Petra said this concept simoly does not work because there is not enough money nor qualified teachers around
to make this great concept a success.
Then there were Michael and his wife Marie in the tin can, both returning from their hiking vacation in France which they had greatly enjoyed. Marie was the quiet part, Michael the hilarious one.
Very funny. His job in Hamburg was that of what he called a "school builder", and I have the funny feeling that he does not have that much to build. Michael is "Friese" and - just like Marie -
wearing these round John Lennon granny glasses which fit both of them perfectly. We had a lot of fun in that cabin, despite the tin can feeling. Or maybe because of it? I mean - how often does
one get a chance to meet some strangers in such a unique situation, sit, talk and even seleep together. And have the Deutsche Bahn Autozug breakfast with "Filterkaffee" which, actually, was not
that bad.