U-434

Waking up to the news that my 36 runs over the last 90 days no longer make me the local legend in Skatås, I decided to skip the rainy quays of Hamburg and instead stay indoors for six kilometres on the hotel treadmill. Having done some strength training in the gym last night, our Hampton Inn certainly felt luxurious compared to the facilities aboard the Soviet submarine U-434, which we explored yesterday. 

Built in Nizhny Novgorod on the Volga in 1976, the 90-meter vessel once served in the Northern Fleet. Though the kids and I appreciated the history lesson, its cramped quarters, and the thought of spending weeks beneath the polar ice, left us feeling distinctly claustrophobic. In sharp contrast, waiting for our ICE service to Berlin this morning at Hamburg Hbf reminded me of the freedom of interrailing: standing there above the great station hall with its 14 tracks stretching out to all corners of Europe, and letting the spur of the moment decide if one will spend the night in Paris, Vienna or Prague.