Tågresa (Train travel)
Ibland när jag står och väntar på pendeltåget i Stockholm så står det ett fjärrtåg på perrongen bredvid. Mot Kiruna, Narvik, Malmö, Berlin, Hamburg....
Lusten att kliva på finns där, alltid. Jag reser genom ett landskap av lövskogar, nyslagna stubbåkrar i senapsgult, gröna höstsådder och granplanteringar. Just nu är vi mitt emellan sommar och höst, svala nätter men ännu är det varmt när solen skiner. Blommorna går i frö, bara några enstaka ettårigar blommar vidare. Nypon, rönnbär och havtorn har röda bär i stor mängd. Snart är höstens flammande färger här, det saknas bara några frostnätter.
Min resa tar slut i Uppsala, idag var det hit jag skulle. Domkyrkans spiror sticker hål på dimmolnens gråmulna himmel, snart tittar nog solen fram. Slottet ligger bastant och tryggt på bergets topp. Uppsala, min studiestad, min glädjetid.
(A note for English speaking readers, I describe a train ride through the Swedish landscape from Eskilstuna to Uppsala. A lot of memories from train rides in my youth too.)
Translation by LS:
I take the train from Eskilstuna station, a modern version of the old rail buses take me over the bridges at Kvicksund, to Kolbäck and then over the plains to Västerås. The track finds its way into uninhabited forests towards Sala. A quick train change in Sala, I miss the sea elevation on the new train station sign. The station house is the same as before. I wonder how many stations there were during the trains great times? The Intercity train towards Uppsala looks like usual, but it nearly empty. Wouldn't they sell a lot more tickets if they were cheaper? It would be about the same cost. We are 10 people in a car with at least 80 seats. The conductor has changed the traditional hat to a black SJ-baseball hat. Modern, but I are taken aback. Still he whistles on the platform when the train is about to leave, in a classic whistle. My youth's travels, all these whistles, all the train trips I have taken. On the way to things, away from things, on the way home, on the way to the sweetheart, on the way to unknown destinations.
Sometimes when I stand and wait for the commuter train in Stockholm there is a long-distance train on the neighboring platform. Destination Kiruna, Narvik, Malmö, Berlin, Hamburg...
The desire to get on is there all the time, always. I travel through a landscape of deciduous forests, newly cut mustard-yellow fields, green freshly fall sown areas, and spruce plantations. Right now we are between summer and fall, cool nights but still warm when the sun is up. The flowers are setting seeds; only a few annuals continue flowering. Rose hips, mountain ash, and sea buckthorn have red berries in large masses. Soon the flaming colors of the fall is here; we are just waiting for a few frost nights.
My trip ends in Uppsala, it was here I was going. The cathedrals spires cut their holes into the foggy grey-clouded sky; soon the sun will probably show its face. The castle is mounted on the hill as a heavy and secure thing. Uppsala, my college years, my happy times.
