17:00
I just got on the train to Kalmar. We should depart in about 10 minutes. The monitors in the station tell you which cars are going to which destinations. Not all the cars on this train are going to Kalmar, only 11 and 14. I got on one of the cars that I thought was marked Vogn 11, but then after I sat down and got comfortable, I looked up at the posted message and it said Vogn 24. It’s a good thing I paid attention or I’d be at the airport in 20 minutes waiting for a later train to Kalmar. This car clearly states “Tog mod Kalmar C, Vogn 11,” so I’m good.
The train from Odense to Copenhagen was packed and it was really hot. I dozed off a few times, but then I woke up to the voices of two Americans telling two Danish girls about how awful Obama is, spouting all kinds of lies they obviously hear on Faux News. I just kept laughing at the nonsense they were telling these girls. “Obama wants to give amnesty to all the millions of illegal aliens because then they’ll vote for him.” “Only 51% of the people pay taxes, the rest leech off those who do.” “States like New York and Illinois get all this tax money from the federal government that is paid by states, like Utah, that balance their budgets, and that’s how Obama likes it because they’re big states with lots of voters.” “Denmark and all the other socialist countries are transitioning to more capitalist economies, and the US is going backwards.”
After I got off the train, I saw the two Danish girls who were listening to all this drivel, and I went up to them and told them not to believe everything they were hearing. They laughed. Frankly, it’s hard to imagine Danes buying any of that anyway. From the handful of people I’ve spoken to in the last few days, I’ve gotten the clear impression that the Danish social welfare system is very popular and not going anywhere. The countries that are in trouble and cutting government programs (like Greece, Italy, and Spain) are ones that spent on those programs without taxing the people to pay for them.
21:30
For the second transportation snafu of my trip, when the train got to Alvesta, which is about 120 km short of Kalmar, they announced that due to construction or some other problem, we all had to get off the train and take a bus. Of course, I didn’t understand the announcement, but the woman sitting opposite me explained the situation. We ended up riding on the bus for about 45 minutes, and then we all got off the bus and back on another train to go the rest of the way to Kalmar.
This will get us to Kalmar about 45 minutes behind schedule. At least I’m glad I didn’t decide to take a later train. We should be in Kalmar by 21:30.
And on Sunday, when I head to Stockholm, I have to change in Alvesta, so that probably means I will have the same complication to deal with.
Travel is supposed to be an adventure. This just makes it more of one than I was looking for.
At least it was a nice day for a ferry ride.
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