Sunday and Monday, March 30 and March 31. Click here for photos.
On Sunday - Up 7. Carel took me to Groenlo. On train 9A to Zutphen, then to Apeldoorn, then Schiphol, then Hoofddorp. arr. 11:35. Pieter met me.
We had lunch and then to venue. De Ode Veiling. Sound check easy. Rubio, Laura, Zaou, and Els (friend of Zaou) came. Talked outside at a table in the sun. Warmest March in history in Holland!
Saw Loek and Henny Lamers and Adri and Hans and many people from many years ago. Wonderful show. Played from 3P to a little after 5P. I was tired, but it all worked. Now have to catch a 6:30 train to Norway!
A fan, Andre, drove me to Schiphol, got lost and still made an earlier train to Utrecht.
In Utrecht I had some pasta and found the train. It was marked Prague so I had to make sure. I found my couch when the train came and met Aled, the only other one in the couchette compartment with me at this point. He's from Wales and researching human rights at the university of Oslo.
We talked quite a bit about politics and the disenfranchised white working poor. Very open minded person.
I worked a little on writing, very tired. Went to sleep about 10. Several people boarded our train and joined us about 11:40 in the couchette compartment, including a mother and child. I was too tired to care, on the top bunk, so I didn't move.
The couchettes are a great option. There are six fold up bunks, three on each side and you just crawl in and go to sleep. Next morning, you make your next connection to a regular train. The reservation costs about $40 these days, plus of course the train fare, but that's covered by my Eurrailpass. This route goes through Hamburg and to Copenhagen (Kobenhaven). There I will catch a train to Goteborg (Gothenburg) in Sweden, then to Kil and then to Oslo and then to Drammen.
Monday-
Up 7. After wandering a bit I found an open compartment where I could sit and work. Everyone else in my compartment either left somewhere or was still asleep very late.
Said goodbye to Aled and we arrived at Kobenhaven.
I got on that train OK. There is internet on these trains and power plugs, though they had to be pointed out to me. They are overhead!
Got to Goteborg at 14:20. Had fish and chips at a restaurant in the station. (EUR 30!! = $40!!. they overcharged me. It was less in Swedish Krone. I found this out later). Took the fries with me. Can't take more of these prices.
On train to Kil 15:15. Saw a great castle going out. (oops, no Wi-Fi on this one) Two hours here this train an hour transfer time then three hours to Oslo and another 35’ to Drammen.. Very long day, but getting a lot of writing done. Also working on Songwriting manual. I think I about have it finished.
The train was 15 minutes late to Kil (which is pronounced like “sheel"). Kil is a lonesome place. The train I was on goes to Karlstad and the train I caught to Oslo comes from Karlstad, so this is just a stop to wait for the train coming back from Karlstad that goes on to Oslo.
Sweden in general feels very deeply lonesome. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Lonesome can be very good at times. Right now, though I can appreciate it, it's not for me. I took a few pictures of the landscape (click here). It feels very big and far away. All water, trees and sky. The people feel secondary. It's not the same as the feeling in the American West and I can't really put my finger on it. It has something to do with the feel of the Norse gods, Valhalla, and all that. Trolls, you know. It's a mixture somehow of Native American and Celtic, which is not intuitive.
It's 7:30PM and we are just crossing the border into Norway. I've been on the train now for 25 hours. About three left to go to Drammen and my old friend Terje. He and I have written some beautiful songs, some of which he has recorded equally beautifully. He records under the name of Jonas Fjeld, and is very famous in Norway and Scandinavia. He's a wonderful artist.
Arrive Oslo 21:24 train to Drammen 9:49. Terje met me, to his house, met May Britt and Lady, the cocker spaniel who barked at me for half an hour, then I became part of her pack!
We talked and listened to Only Along for the Ride. So good to be here! To sleep 12:30.
On Sunday - Up 7. Carel took me to Groenlo. On train 9A to Zutphen, then to Apeldoorn, then Schiphol, then Hoofddorp. arr. 11:35. Pieter met me.
We had lunch and then to venue. De Ode Veiling. Sound check easy. Rubio, Laura, Zaou, and Els (friend of Zaou) came. Talked outside at a table in the sun. Warmest March in history in Holland!
Saw Loek and Henny Lamers and Adri and Hans and many people from many years ago. Wonderful show. Played from 3P to a little after 5P. I was tired, but it all worked. Now have to catch a 6:30 train to Norway!
A fan, Andre, drove me to Schiphol, got lost and still made an earlier train to Utrecht.
In Utrecht I had some pasta and found the train. It was marked Prague so I had to make sure. I found my couch when the train came and met Aled, the only other one in the couchette compartment with me at this point. He's from Wales and researching human rights at the university of Oslo.
We talked quite a bit about politics and the disenfranchised white working poor. Very open minded person.
I worked a little on writing, very tired. Went to sleep about 10. Several people boarded our train and joined us about 11:40 in the couchette compartment, including a mother and child. I was too tired to care, on the top bunk, so I didn't move.
The couchettes are a great option. There are six fold up bunks, three on each side and you just crawl in and go to sleep. Next morning, you make your next connection to a regular train. The reservation costs about $40 these days, plus of course the train fare, but that's covered by my Eurrailpass. This route goes through Hamburg and to Copenhagen (Kobenhaven). There I will catch a train to Goteborg (Gothenburg) in Sweden, then to Kil and then to Oslo and then to Drammen.
Monday-
Up 7. After wandering a bit I found an open compartment where I could sit and work. Everyone else in my compartment either left somewhere or was still asleep very late.
Said goodbye to Aled and we arrived at Kobenhaven.
I got on that train OK. There is internet on these trains and power plugs, though they had to be pointed out to me. They are overhead!
Got to Goteborg at 14:20. Had fish and chips at a restaurant in the station. (EUR 30!! = $40!!. they overcharged me. It was less in Swedish Krone. I found this out later). Took the fries with me. Can't take more of these prices.
On train to Kil 15:15. Saw a great castle going out. (oops, no Wi-Fi on this one) Two hours here this train an hour transfer time then three hours to Oslo and another 35’ to Drammen.. Very long day, but getting a lot of writing done. Also working on Songwriting manual. I think I about have it finished.
The train was 15 minutes late to Kil (which is pronounced like “sheel"). Kil is a lonesome place. The train I was on goes to Karlstad and the train I caught to Oslo comes from Karlstad, so this is just a stop to wait for the train coming back from Karlstad that goes on to Oslo.
Sweden in general feels very deeply lonesome. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Lonesome can be very good at times. Right now, though I can appreciate it, it's not for me. I took a few pictures of the landscape (click here). It feels very big and far away. All water, trees and sky. The people feel secondary. It's not the same as the feeling in the American West and I can't really put my finger on it. It has something to do with the feel of the Norse gods, Valhalla, and all that. Trolls, you know. It's a mixture somehow of Native American and Celtic, which is not intuitive.
It's 7:30PM and we are just crossing the border into Norway. I've been on the train now for 25 hours. About three left to go to Drammen and my old friend Terje. He and I have written some beautiful songs, some of which he has recorded equally beautifully. He records under the name of Jonas Fjeld, and is very famous in Norway and Scandinavia. He's a wonderful artist.
Arrive Oslo 21:24 train to Drammen 9:49. Terje met me, to his house, met May Britt and Lady, the cocker spaniel who barked at me for half an hour, then I became part of her pack!
We talked and listened to Only Along for the Ride. So good to be here! To sleep 12:30.