So one more #crossborderrail thing for today: the Mulhouse-Müllheim im Markgräflerland crossing. Despite being fully electrified, it is run by a single TER-A railcar. Infrequent services mean it’s packed. Improvement here should really not be hard - the train is waiting for almost 50 minutes in Müllheim before returning.

I cannot live with the letter spacing/kerning of this logo.

Next train is a very quiet trip down to Arlon. Lots of padding in the schedule to make up a ten minute delay leaving Brussels by the time we leave Ciney. As this is a new M7, it’s not allowed into Luxemburg (as it’s not accompanied by a HLE13 loc which would be needed), so a change has been added. Another example of not thinking things through. It seems they’re working on it though.

And the answer was yes. The rule seems to be that you need to have an international ticket to travel on ECD, which Interrail also is. Also confirms the old adagio: when in doubt, always proactively find the train manager.

On my way for a little french immersion. First big peg: ECD. As I have no Outbound day available today on my Interrail pass, I am travelling on a ticket to Antwerpen. As that station officially is no-bording, the question is: Will the train manager let me stay on until Brussels South or will I have to change in Antwerpen? Will find out later… (as she was at the other end of the train I couldn’t ask before bording).

Gelukkig. Er zijn weer paaseieren in de winkel!

So, #bahnbubble. RE1 shows up in Navigator and on the platform as second class only. The real train does have a first class compartment. Is this then still first class of is it to be considered as second class? Not that it makes much difference except for the colour of the seats in this Desiro HC…

@GinevraCat Hi there, thanks for your message with the request to update our About page to remove the reference to the writings of Neil Gaiman (you wrote ‘a site that celebrates him’ but that is factually incorrect). The Drum is meant to be a welcoming place that likes to discuss issues in the open. Especially the differences between author and works, and how to deal with that in the context of the authors personality and actions. Gaiman is an example, so are JKR and HP Lovecraft amongst others. In fact there are many of them and I - and the mod team with me - are very willing to discuss this in the open, but I won’t do so in private mentions. Bear also in mind that our rules are primarily for the users of the Drum instance and not other instances.

Until about 15:30 this afternoon, a cat has taken over the Dutch finances - see rijksfinancien.nl (a site where usually you can check the Dutch Government expenditures) ;-).

Prolific. #klimaatmars #klimaatmars2026

Prepared! #klimaatmars #klimaatmars2026

Present! #klimaatmars #klimaatmars2026

@ionica Wist je al dat je boek 'Rekenen voor je leven' dit jaar verplichte literatuur is op de leeslijst van de Leidse academische PABO? Anders weet je het nu ;-). (Via mijn zoon, die op die opleiding zit.)

RE: https://mendeddrum.org/@patrick/115448206985521307

So, friends of #catsofmastodon. Remember this post? Unfortunately today was the day we got a phonecall from the animal ambulance that Nala had been hit by a car. Normally cats can only get out of our back garden by climbing over a garage or through five other gardens, walls and fences included. Nala, being a street cat, was unstoppable but always returned. Not this time - she survived the collision but it had broken her back and her rear hind was cold and couldn’t move. We had to put her to sleep, barely fourteen months old. Not after she purred so crazily hard that the doctor couldn’t even hear her heart… Rest in peace crazy kitten… #gnunala

as @tml and @photovince rightly guessed, I had the opportunity to visit a #strandbeest session today. For those not familiar with them, have a look at strandbeest.com or look it up on wikipedia. Reservations need to be made way in advance, so I was happy that there was enough wind but not too much to see the beests in action. A brilliant session with a group of 30-50 people, lots of explanation and some hands-on work as well. Will do again! (Videos posted in reply to this post)

And some PVC….

Todays entertainment is sponsored by the humble tiewrap.

Possibly not in use anymore… (other than as footpath).

Life’s hard.

Thank you all for your reactions! As I was saying to @noelle sometimes mentioning a nogo-destination triggers interesting suggestions ;).

One thing I didn’t make clear in the original post: no car available, so public transport only with trains being preferred over buses, 2 hours no problem, moving accomodation no problem. That seems to make some suggested destinations hard to reach. So keep going!