Night Train Thoughts

It's a familiar journey I am on. Same night train as last November, when I was heading to Denmark. Only this time I will get off a wee bit earlier. In Flensburg.

The train is packed, with people standing in the aisle. In stark contrast with last time, when I had most of the train to myself. Sleeping is, as usual, not possible. No matter how packed or empty the train is. Progress is painfully slow with the train stopping every couple of minutes. Maintenance works. We are an hour behind schedule but looking at the timetable (I have not much else to do), I'm optimistic the train will make up lost time.

Anyway, eventually I will arrive in Flensburg, where I plan to start hiking immediately, hopefully doing 30 to 40 kilometers. I'm curious how different everything will be compared to last November, when I arrived in a cold Flensburg, neatly decorated for Christmas.

Weather wise it seems like I will have a windy start into my hike with somewhat unsettled weather and temperatures just above 10 degrees. Still, I expect it to be more pleasant to walk than last November. 

With the more favorable weather, I expect to meet more people along the way as I would imagine now it's a convenient time for hikers to start their hike across Germany.

Writing these lines, the train is stagnating somewhere between Frankfurt and Hannover. It's 03:52 in the morning and pitch black outside. Somewhere out there in the dark, probably not too far away, E1 is waiting for me and I can't wait for the train to arrive and finally hit the trail.