Night train 91

Ending the conference in high spirits at Pipes of Scotland, I left Umeå on the night train shortly after 9 p.m., settling in for the 725-kilometre journey south to Stockholm. As a night train aficionado, I find that there is something about travelling this way that goes beyond mere transportation. Being lulled to sleep by the train’s movement as we head out across the Ume River delta somehow connects so many years and places.

Then, nine hours later, I wake up in Stockholm, a city that even my newfound friend Mac, who has lived here his whole life, admits he sometimes finds overwhelming. Still, it keeps growing on me with every visit. Today, though, there will only be time for a short coffee before I take the train to Gothenburg and the kids.