Two Global Footsteppers, Christine Hawdon and Jenny Lockwood, returned from our Göttingen venture just over a week ago.
Christine and I decided that we should travel to Germany by the most carbon-efficient means, and so we booked rail tickets from London to Göttingen.
Travelling by train across Europe is a different experience from air travel. It allows you to take the journey at a slower pace, but shares some of the frustrations of any mode of travel and brings a few of its own. For instance, you can reach Göttingen in a day from London, but only by getting an early morning train. We booked on the 08:57 Eurostar from London St Pancras International station, which meant either leaving Cheltenham in the middle of the night, or staying overnight in London. So my journey began on the Friday morning, with the 07:30 coach from Cheltenham, allowing me to arrive in London in time to pick up the keys to the home of some kind friends who lent us the use of their house overnight. I took the opportunity to meet Morgan for lunch, and in the evening Christine joined me in London and we headed off for St Pancras station early the next morning.
German trains are renowned for their punctuality, as well as speed and comfort. We experienced speed and comfort, but a series of delays on two ICE trains meant we reached Göttingen at 20:40, one hour later than scheduled. We were met by Jana Eyssel and her mum Ulli. Jana first met Global Footsteps in 2005, when she attended the youth conference in Cheltenham. Since then she has volunteered in the shop/café in Cheltenham, and helped to plan and run the Footstep 12 conference in Slovakia in 2010. It was lovely to see Jana again, and to meet Ulli who was to be my host for the next 4 days.
Christine went to meet her host, Frau Pfaffenbach, and we arranged to meet next morning with the first of our potential partner organisations, the Weltladencafe.
Christine and I decided that we should travel to Germany by the most carbon-efficient means, and so we booked rail tickets from London to Göttingen.
Travelling by train across Europe is a different experience from air travel. It allows you to take the journey at a slower pace, but shares some of the frustrations of any mode of travel and brings a few of its own. For instance, you can reach Göttingen in a day from London, but only by getting an early morning train. We booked on the 08:57 Eurostar from London St Pancras International station, which meant either leaving Cheltenham in the middle of the night, or staying overnight in London. So my journey began on the Friday morning, with the 07:30 coach from Cheltenham, allowing me to arrive in London in time to pick up the keys to the home of some kind friends who lent us the use of their house overnight. I took the opportunity to meet Morgan for lunch, and in the evening Christine joined me in London and we headed off for St Pancras station early the next morning.
German trains are renowned for their punctuality, as well as speed and comfort. We experienced speed and comfort, but a series of delays on two ICE trains meant we reached Göttingen at 20:40, one hour later than scheduled. We were met by Jana Eyssel and her mum Ulli. Jana first met Global Footsteps in 2005, when she attended the youth conference in Cheltenham. Since then she has volunteered in the shop/café in Cheltenham, and helped to plan and run the Footstep 12 conference in Slovakia in 2010. It was lovely to see Jana again, and to meet Ulli who was to be my host for the next 4 days.
Christine went to meet her host, Frau Pfaffenbach, and we arranged to meet next morning with the first of our potential partner organisations, the Weltladencafe.
Posted by Jenny.
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