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Snail train towards Gaevle, Sweden: time to summarize my awesome trip so far.
I am on a snail train, a 3 hr trip. Perfect to do an update, which I have kept postponing. On this trip I have had plenty of excuses for procrastination. Today It`s my last interrail day before I head towards Russia and Eastern Europe. So I decided to do a day trip up North, thus I get to see more of Sweden than just Stockholm. I love Swedish trains, even on local trains I feel like royalty. Spacious, well designed, friendly staff with perfect English skills. I am impressed. Just those clocks… I noticed two that were set wrong in one day, that means they don’t care much about clocks here. I have never experienced that where I come from (Alps). After today I will take ferries and busses for a while and then for the England/Ireland/Scotland probably buy another interrail pass. Stops on this journey so far have been: Munich, Stuttgart, Paris, Perpignan, Madrid, Alcala de Henares, Barcelona, Brussels, Bruges, Antwerpen, Hamburg, Kopenhagen, Hallsberg, Uppsala. Fitting to the theme of my trip, I plan is to visit suicide prevention centers along the way to see how things are done in different countries. Due to my spontaneously organized trip, the only place I have been able to arrange a meeting so far has been with Cecile in Brussels. She was very welcoming and so I showed up in their unspectacular yet cosy building in Brussels. Meeting rooms, library, office, cozy corners, the also house the suicide survivor support group. A suicide survivor is, by the way, a person who has lost someone to suicide. A small sign on the bell says: “suicide prevention center” I hope to come back here soon. I like it. She tells me that 5 people die by suicide in Belgium every day. There is still lots of work that needs to be done. She also points out that suicide is also a big issue with refugees. It is always a complex topic. As in many other places, also in Belgium suicide is a very taboo topic and people are grateful for the anonymity of the web, where they like to exchange on anonymous platforms. She asks me to write a report on my findings during my travels. I will gladly do so.
A day later: I have discovered the most awesome beach here in Stockholm! Just love it! The weather is amazing, though the plants are clearly stressed, everything is brown. I feel like I am in Spain.... Yesterday afternoon/evening I had a great time in Uppslala, taking great shots of insects all over the place, especially in Carl Linnaeus garden. Carl Linneaus "was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms. He is known as the "father of modern taxonomy" (Wikipedia). My favorite shot from yesterday is the worm picture you can see on the BUG site (advertising for my foto exhibit in St. Petersburg).