A new extravaganza has begun!
A few weeks ago, I rather carelessly committed to a start date for the two-month Interrail pass I bought during the 50th anniversary sales last year. I’d not really given it much thought until I realised the pass needed to be activated by 10th April, and a brief spurt of enthusiasm combined with a fortuitous break in work committments gave me sufficient time to make a dash for the border before the SNCF strikes on March 7th.
I spent last night frantically deciding what travel essentials were to become non-essential due to weight restrictions.
Normally, I like to have some sort of organisational something-or-other that suggest to normal people that I have in some way planned my holiday and am completely in control and know what I’m doing. So far, of my two-month jaunt, only the first two weeks have been planned. And I’m not entirely sure I’ve planned them particularly well either. I mean. I have an idea what’s going on but it keeps changing. Originally, I was going to Heidelberg to buy some ink for my fountain pen, then I was going to Croatia to get a 2€ coin, then I was off chasing the Northern Lights.
Undeterred by such trifling matters as actual planning or the dregs of a lurgy I have failed to shift completely, I found myself at Angoulême station with a chocolatine and a cup of coffee waiting for the 09:35 TGV to Strasbourg in a case of history repeating itself somewhat.
My exictement levels were already palpable in the car, but turned out to be nothing compared to the sheer unbridled bliss that gushed forth from the mouth of Victor, a train manager adorable yet a little too perky for my liking given the time of day and my lack of sleep. But a few brief hours previously, I’d been last-minute repacking and lamenting the loss of a grandad shirt, a polo shirt, a proper shirt, and my Aeropress. I think I could’ve got rid of a few more clothes and kept it, but I’m doing this as an experimental one-bag one-man mission, so some sacrifices had to be made.
Other than Victor’s enthusiastic musings on the joys of the station at Meuse TGV (“the most beautiful station in France”) and his occasional references to his colleague Elodie, there was not really much to entertain me; somebody had forgotten to clean the windows so the siège avec vue I had been hoping for was conspicious by its absence. A young couple got on with a baby at Saint-Pierre-des-Corps but it was very well behaved and didn’t require me to break out the ear defenders I found in a drawer.
This allowed me to snooze, on and off, until about 1pm, at which time I served myself lunch. This was a little less full-on than previous affairs — a pragmatic compromise in favour of space and weight — but nonetheless a triumph. There were some hard-boiled eggs to start, and a quiche and a rice salad as my main. A pot of yoghurt provided pudding and some fruit and assorted nibbly nuts kept me topped up.
In a stroke of luck, my Alexanderhoeve coolbag folds flat when not in use and fits in the laptop/hydration pouch compartment of my new (exciting) backpack, so I have done away with Sistema boxes and plates. Greaseproof paper makes a perfectly good plate and Super-U disposable wooden cutlery is perfectly good enough for inserting things into a face and at the end of the feast, everything gets wrapped in the paper and goes nicely into the bin. As a result of abandoning the Aeropress I found myself without a drinking vessel, which made the wine something of a problem.
Luckily the man in seat 41 saw nothing untoward in my drinking it direct from the bottle; first class wherever I sit.
From Strasbourg the 14:51 TER to Offenburg whisked me to an uneventful but swift change to the 15:27 ICE to Karlsruhe. I had contemplated a little wander around Offenburg because some pictures on the interwebs are quite pretty, and decided that if I missed my connection I’d just get on a later train (because I can), but the connection was a simple and I thought I’d just get on with it. We got to Karlsruhe at 15:58 and I had a long walk from the station past the zoo to my “capsule hostel”, where I promptly fell asleep for a few hours. This, sadly, eliminating any possibility of doing anything vaguely touristy or being able to write anything more informative about Karlsruhe than “the flamingos in the zoo are really fucking shouty.”
I’m in a capsule hostel. Initially I found one in Ljubljana during my “planning” (more of that later) but this popped up on interwebs searched as being quite cheap so I thought I’d give it a go. If I’m honest I booked it as a functional novelty and, quite importantly, because it was cheap and offers the hostel experience without sleeping in a room full of other people. I’m not sure I’d do it again, though. That said, everything is nice and clean, the bathroom is really nice and modern, and the common area has a decent kitchen in which one could cook proper food. And a fridge for leftovers. All good.
After my impromptu snooze and a play with all the buttons in my pod (also had a TV), I wandered around looking for food, because I’d accidentally eaten all of the food I had with me on the TGV so I could pack the bag away. There’s a lot to choose from and after a couple of swift pints of Guinness in a friendly Irish pub I had a falafel yufka (bread made in front of me) fit for a khan in a little restaurant between the bar and the hostel which hit the spot nicely. I also acquired two interesting 2€ coins.
All in all a good start.
