2022-08-31 53 10
| Wed 31 Aug 2022 in 53,10: 53.8548162, 10.8177750 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
Location
on a field in Lüdersdorf, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Participants
Plans
It was the last day of the 9 euro ticket, and I of course wanted to use it to its fullest, so I had planned for a while to visit Schwerin, the last of Germany's 16 state capitals I had never been to. When the hash came out, I was excited because it was reachable, but it did not fit perfectly into my plans. It would be my first geohash in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, though, and probably the last chance for a while for me to hash in 53,10-MV and get the Reverse Regional achievement someday (this has evidently not been a priority for me since I have yet to even hash in Lower Saxony, but I might want to do it in the future, and I did come extremely close to attempting it twice). So I worked my train schedule around passing by Lüdersdorf (which only took around 15 minutes longer).
The hash lay around 3 km from the station, and trains run every hour, but I didn't want to spend two hours there because I also wanted to visit the city of Wismar, north of Schwerin. However, taking my bike with me was very inconvenient because I'd have to buy an extra ticket and I expected the trains to be very full on the last day of the ticket (I had experiences it often in the days before that no bike fit into the train, and even if you manage to get in it is very uncomfortable to have a bike if it gets crowded. On the other hand, the distance was too far to walk there and be back in time for the next train. So I planned to take my scooter along, which had rarely been used in the 4.5 years I've had it, but was perfect for this occasion since I could just carry it like a bag.
On the morning of the 31st, I managed to wake up (or get up) too late to get my early bus, so I had to wait for two hours. At first, this turned out to not be so bad because I needed some time to get the scooter working – clean it, oil the wheels, tighten the screws, and straighten the front wheel so it didn't scrape along the frame. I got onto the bus to Bad Oldesloe, rode until the end and got onto the train, and changed onto the regional train to Bad Kleinen in Lübeck. On the train, I took time to check whether it was more suitable to go to Wismar first or to Schwerin, but anyway, I had to get off at Bad Kleinen to get to either. In this mindset, thinking about the schedules and incorporating the hour I'd need for the hash, I looked up when the train pulled out of a station – and my heart dropped when I saw it was Lüdersdorf, the station I had to get off for the hash. I'd completely missed it! I looked up whether I could go back from the next station, and I could, but I very likely wouldn't make it in time for the next train. I pondered whether I could just spend two hours in Lüdersdorf, but it was already way later than I'd intended due to my not getting the early bus, and I needed the time if I still wanted to visit Wismar. I hadn't made up my mind yet when the next station came, but reaffirmed myself that if I had the choice between Wismar and the hash, I'd choose Wismar, and stayed. I could still go the hash in the evening if I had the opportunity; it would be light enough to at least see the path until late.
Thus I went to Wismar, and stayed longer than anticipated due to attending an interesting guided tour through a freestanding 13th/14th century church tower (this eliminated any chance of visiting the hash). Then, I continued to Schwerin and saw the beautiful Schwerin Castle on an island and the historic inner city. I didn't make it to the evening train, so I had to stay there until late, when the last train had another 20 minutes delay and I journeyed for three hours in the night until finally arriving home at 1:45 am.
The scooter did save me some time in Schwerin, and it was interesting (though exhausting) to use it for a longer time because I'd never really done that. However, though the trains had been well filled, I definitely would've fit with my bike, and also would've made it the coordinates despite missing my stop, so the decision to not take my bicycle did ultimately cost me the geohash. Oh well.
Achievements
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π π π earned the It's a kitty consolation prize
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