Freedom... almost

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GOTEBORG/COPENHAGEN Day 85

I made it on to the train and escaped the Stockholm syndrome that awaited me in Sweden. The night train went well enough and I was able to see some reindeer grazing in the forest from my train window. My original intention was that my trip up to Arctic Circle would only take 2 days but rather it took 4. After that I planned to go to Norway as Milan told me it was incredibly beautiful. Unfortunately, now I am incredibly behind schedule and very unhappy. If I go on to Oslo and the rest of Norway I would only have 2 days and then would have to leave so that I can make over to England/Scotland/South Ireland. If Norway is as beautiful as Milan says I don’t think 2 rushed days could give it proper justice along with my now blemished image of Scandinavia via Sweden. So I have made the decision to leave Scandinavia and one day return to see Norway when my anger and frustration to Sweden has dissipated. After feeling trapped in this part of the world I need a change of scenery ASAP so I will attempt to catch the night train back to Amsterdam where this journey began and then a ferry to England from there.

It was a really hard decision to make but I think it is for the best. I wouldn’t want to go to Norway and not be able to enjoy myself. And I would hate even more to get there and have more time lost when I could have been somewhere else. As soon as I arrived in Haparanda and realized that I had to wait another day to get to Rovaniemi because of it being Sunday my first thought was ‘ok leave you can’t be losing time’ and then I kept telling myself ‘but you have come this far isn’t that more of a waste?’. So my second thought won out and I struggled through the waiting and waiting and waiting for the next 3 days and the whole time I kept thinking ‘ok cut your losses and leave’. So I am now listening to my gut and leaving before my feelings towards Sweden spread to other countries in the region as well.

I have made it on to my train to Copenhagen and hopefully once I arrive there I will be able to get on the night train. If not I will spend the night in Copenhagen, which I am ok with because I really liked Copenhagen and it had a really good feel to it so hopefully I can soak up some of that good energy for my last few weeks of traveling.

I have now made it all the way to Copenhagen and guess what?? Well apparently there has been some crazy smog of some kind that has made it impossible for all plans all over northern Europe to fly so now everyone wants to take the train so I can’t get a reservation on my night train to Amsterdam. But the day trains don’t require any reservations so I can take that first thing in the morning it just means that I have to stand or sit on my bags the whole way because it is completely booked up. Ohh well at least I am out of Sweden.

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