The afternoon sun is shining into the train wagon and onto wide green
fields adorned with pittoresque farm houses, slowly rotating
windmills and cow herds. Straw is bundled together in big white packs
that look like giant marshmallows. Much as expected, getting onto the
Öresundståg back home was not so easy. First, we took a train from
Copenhagen C to Kastrup, from where we changed to a replacement bus.
The bus queue was impressively long: adults, elderly people sitting
on benches, babies crying, tourists asking Swedes for explanations in
English… until, thankfully, four buses arrived at the same time.
Since the Swedish are used to Skånetrafiken, no riots had broken out
– everyone just endured their fate. We boarded the last, typical
Skånetrafik-yellow bus and formatted one trolley, one backpack, a
handbag and the two of us onto one seat. Astonishingly, even though many
people wanted to board the bus, not everyone was this considerate.
Despite a short motivational speech in finest skånska by our bus
driver, no passengers wanted to fill up the back seats, thereby
clogging the main bus space and preventing others from boarding the
same bus. Since further buses were going to pick up travellers, the
driver closed the doors and drove off.
On the bus, we were discussing last night’s concerts. Checking in
at the hotel had been successful, and the venue was just a 20 minutes
walk away, which gave us the opportunity for some nocturnal
sightseeing. After an obligatory coffee and pistachio bulle
refreshment, we arrived at the third floor of Huset KBH. It features
a bar on the ground floor, various artistic projects on different
floors, and people would sometimes go from one floor to another to
check out different events in the same house.
It was great to say hello to everyone. The soundcheck had already
been completed, and Ras and Rune were explaining the basics about how
to work the entrance booth to Einar and me. We took turns, which
means that I could enjoy the first two bands of the night before it
was my turn to sit at the entrance. Meanwhile, Einar was recording
live video and audio footage of the bands. What I enjoyed most about
the first band Ætervader was the combination of electronic music with a live
violin, sometimes playing an entirely different melody. Next came Navy Bruise –
who would not survive for long on Star Trek, since they were wearing
red shirts – who had a great singer and knew how to engage - apologies for the pun - the
audience. Party vibes were strong in the crowd.
The most difficult part of working at the entrance was not knowing
and recognising the faces of visitors who had already paid, since I
took over at a later time. Thankfully, Rune helped me out and many
people showed me the stamp on their hands. A smaller challenge was to
familiarise myself with Danish currency in less than optimal light.
The other available option was MobilePay, the Danish variety of
Swish. With one eye on the people coming to the venue and the other
eye on the stage, I watched as Ras, Mie and Laerke started to play.
They performed both Ras classics like e.g. Snödrottningen and Load Error
and well-chosen covers such as Klaus Nomi’s Total Eclipse and Ohm
Sweet Ohm by Kraftwerk. Between bands, various DJs were playing short
sets. Although the flow of people had pretty much ebbed by the time
Fake the Envy were going to play, about twenty people in total were
still coming to the venue. Some of them were hoping to get their
first Tuborg Christmas beer. The night the first Christmas beer is
released in Denmark is commonly known as ”Jayday” and usually leads to more
drunk Danes than on average club nights. However, there was no
Christmas beer at our venue. Since both Einar and I were rather tired
from work in the morning and travelling, we left after Fake the Envy
had finished playing and thanked Ras and colleagues for hosting us –
it is always fun to work with them.
Breakfast and housing were exactly as you would imagine for a budget
of around 800 SEK for two people per night – sufficient, but not
overly exciting. However, the view of the roofs of Copenhagen from
the third floor was amazing. Warm sunshine and a perfectly blue sky
invited us to take a walk in the city. We stopped for delicious
coffee on the way from the city centre to Kongens Have, a park we
chose as a photo location for the traditional wooden elk travel
photo. We saw carps jumping out of the water, ducks, seagulls and
many dogs. With our Vitamin D reservoirs refilled, we passed Tivoli
as we headed for the main train station.
Crossing the Öresundsbridge from Denmark back to Sweden often comes
with passport controls, as it does this time. The customs officers
first ask all travellers to show their passports, but cannot walk
through the bus, since it is too crammed with people. Then, some passengers are asked to
exit the bus in order for the customs dog, a cute brown medium-sized
dog, to walk through the bus. Another customs officer checks some
passports of passengers in the hind section of the bus, thereby
prolonging our stay, while the customs officer with the dog tells a
traveller, ”Don’t touch the dog, it’s a working dog. You are
not allowed to touch the dog. I don’t have to tell you that, do I?”
with a notably arrogant attitude. How ironic that an institution
named ”customs” does not have any.
The replacement bus stops at Hyllie where we are greeted by a
futuristic, UFO-like monument not unlike the water towers of
Gothenburg. It is, obviously, another vattentorn (As is obvious from my way of thinking, Einar and I have been touring the water towers of Gothenburg)... Leaving Malmö Arena behind, we board the next
Pågatåg, get out at Malmö C and quickly buy tickets for the rest
of the journey and refreshments before we board the Öresundståg
again.
Train travelling sometimes rewards you with a landscape like in an
oil painting. The combination of the setting afternoon sun shining its mellow light on
windmills and the deep blue sea is amazingly pretty. It almost makes
up for the inconveniences you encounter on weekends with railway work
– almost, not entirely. As if one replacement bus was not enough,
we have to change to a bus again at Halmstad, get out at Varberg and
then continue to Göteborg C by train again. That’s four changes as
opposed to zero – Skånetrafiken strikes again! Just like in life,
humour is the only long-term viable survival strategy.
The shuttle driver from Halmstad to Varberg must have been a good
driver, since I drifted off to sleep, which indicates someone who
does not brake abruptly and drives gently. We pick up my trolley and
board the Öresundståg that is ready at the station, but not about
to leave Varberg for another 25 long minutes. While Einar is
understandably frustrated by the chaos at Kastrup, the many changes
and the long wait right now, I am not even upset anymore since I am
so used to travelling with Skånetrafiken. However, I do think it
would be more customer minded to charge a reduced fee for the ticket
on weekends with a lot of railway work and resulting longer
travelling times, even if information about the planned work is
published online in advance. Pro tip: Temper tantrums usually do not
yield the kind of response you wish for, whereas asking nicely and
arguing logically often does the trick.
It is surprisingly quiet in the train, apart from the occasional
phone call, crying toddler and opening or closing doors. What will
happen on the remaining 75 km of the journey – will the train break
down? Will travellers throw themselves off the train in desperation?
We hope not, but at this point, it would not surprise us, either. Is
it irony or lack of people skills that the train conductor still
wishes us ”en trevlig resa” (an enjoyable journey)? He encourages
us to try applying for a price reduction but cannot give us any
guarantees, and I am so tired that I wonder if the prospect of
getting a price reduction of perhaps 100 kr is really worth the time
and effort. Upon careful consideration, I have decided not to pursue this matter any further because the effort vs potential yield ratio is not worth it.
