Written by:
Emma Enström, Doctoral student, Centre for Environmental and Climate Science
When my application to a summer school in Blue Carbon was approved in May, I realized that I would be going to France this summer!
My last flight was to Bangkok in 2019, where I did an internship at Sida, working with climate and environment in Asia and the Oceania. The internship left me with so much climate anxiety, I decided to take the train back to Stockholm. Since that month of travelling back to Sweden, less than 24 hours on the train feel like a blast. Since Lund University have been testing a new booking agency for train travel, I felt even more eager to go by train and not have to spend too much of my time as a PhD diving into the train schedule of Europe.
The train journey took less than 22 hours, going from Malmö at 11pm, arriving in Calais 9pm the next day. I had time to see the landscape of Germany and the Cologne Cathedral, have a snack in Brussels, and read the last articles I planned to read before the summer, before arriving in the beautiful town of Wimereux on the Opal Coast. I then had a week of lectures and bonding with PhD:s from all over Europe while taking morning swims, evening walks and wine tasting during school lunch.
Going back home after two weeks vacation in Paris, Bourgogne and the Alps was not as hyped as the travel down. However, just as simple with only two changes in Karlsruhe and Hamburg. The travel down from Malmö to Hamburg was extremely well planned, going to bed at 11pm in Malmö, and waking up 9am in Hamburg. However, the travel back is mostly planned for the people arriving in Stockholm at 9am. This means that the people of Malmö only get six hours sleep, getting off at 4am at the station. This time, our train was late, with expected arrival changing at least twice. A fatal mistake was then made when our slightly late train stopped at a platform 4.15. The stop, a night with less sleep than usual and the fear of accidentally going to Lund instead of Malmö made me jump off…
At Kastrup. So close.
Luckily the Öresundstrain saved me half an hour later!
