I feel holier than him

Meteorologist Pär Holmgren has done his best to raise consciousness about global warming in Sweden, but in a recent interview in Dagens Nyheter he reveals that his environmental conscience does not stretch as far as taking the twenty hours one-way to take the train to Brussels. He flies.

I, on the other hand, sit on the X2000 southwards. I have web connectivity and prepare material for a guest lecture next week. It is indeed considerably more expensive to go by train, but an Interrail card takes a bit of the edge off the pain. The tab will be picked up by the European taxpayers anyway, so it's not that much of a personal sacrifice for me—except for the teenage girl in the seat behind me who has been continuously speaking on her mobile since Stockholm. Apparently the reception is bad, because every second word she says is “What?”. sigh

Tomorrow I'll have most of a day free in Brussels and the weather seems fair. Updates as events warrant.