I went to Göttingen to visit Esther, a former trainee at SRC who now is doing her PhD there. It is a beautiful little university town, full of lively students and old, beautiful buildings. The view from the top of the Jacobikirsche church tower beautiful, and the Holocaust memorial both serious and hypnotically appealing all at once.
And this is another thing about train-traveling. Taking the time to visit old friends. Seeing their new (or old) homes. Seeing a foreign place through the eyes of a local: the best way to travel. There are so many people all over Europe that were once important in my life, but now live far away and keeping a relationship alive through satellites and screens just isn’t the same.
On this trip, I managed to stay with six friends. Out of sixteen days on the rails, I only spent four nights in hostels. If I had flown to Nice, I would never have had the pleasure to swim in turquoise Lake Zürich, have moule frites in a rainy Antwerp and delight over the incredible botanic gardens of Göttingen. The journey can become an end in and of itself.
Katja Malmborg 