this post was submitted on 27 May 2025
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[–] brotundspiele@feddit.org 21 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (13 children)

The US isn't as huge as you seem to believe (or Europe not as small). Europe is not as square, so its land area is much smaller, but the distances are comparable.

A trip from Hamburg to Vienna is not that much shorter than a trip from NYC to Chicago, but it's easily done by train in Europe: Board the NJ491 at 8pm in Hamburg central station (in the city centre, no need to be there more than a few minutes before boarding), have a good nights sleep, get your breakfast served at your bed (in the comfort category), take a shower and arrive well rested in Vienna (city center, no need to wait for your luggage) at 10am the next day.

Admittedly, a lot of people do fly from Hamburg to Vienna as well, as it can be cheaper than the train due to tax exemptions for the airlines (not everything is perfect in Europe), or they just don't like sleeping in a train, but these trains are usually well utilised.

EDIT: The link to truesize doesn't seem to work correctly, here's what I meant to show:

[–] Wisas62@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (7 children)

This is a wild comment. ~3.8MM sq miles vs ~1.6MM

Lisbon to Vilnius ~2375 miles longest route I could picture Portland ME to San Diego ~3200 miles Portland OR to Miami ~3250 miles NY to Chicago ~800 miles Hamburg to Vienna ~600 miles

[–] brotundspiele@feddit.org 1 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Try Lisbon to Oulu: 4750km. I also explained why the land area is irrelevant when we talk about distances. If you're looking for a distance even closer to New York — Chicago (1271km) I could offer Vienna — Paris (1235km) which is also served by NightJet. Driving for one more hour doesn't really matter while you're asleep.

[–] Wisas62@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You want to include Scandinavia, well if I include Alaska it's ~5k miles from Miami to Anchorage. Point still stands its a wild comment to make.

[–] brotundspiele@feddit.org 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

You're right, that's a wild comment trying to exclude Scandinavia from Europe.

Why wouldn't I want to include Scandinavia. It's part of mainland Europe, reachable by train from Portugal without ever crossing an EU external border. As opposed to Alaska which is not part of the mainland US. I didn't include Alaska for the same reason I didn't include Hawaii, Greenland or the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.
Btw. Stockholm alone has more inhabitants than all of Alaska.

[–] Wisas62@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Your statement is incorrect. The Danish straits are considered international waterways and the gulf of Finland has a central strip of international waters (even though the Helsinki–Tallinn Tunnel never got started). So if you are trying to get technical, you should know your shit first. You cannot get to any of Scandinavia without crossing international space via train.

This whole mess can just be over if you just agree that the statement is wild. You're pulling at straws to defend an argument that doesn't make any sense.

[–] brotundspiele@feddit.org 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You really don't know what international waterways are, do you. The Danube river is an international waterway, but that doesn't mean that there is any border going through Vienna. It just means that the state the waterway belongs to has to allow free passage through their territory. Also, you never enter the international waterway, because there is a bridge over the waterway and guess what: The waterway is in the water. So much for knowing your shit.

I really don't care if you find any of my statements wild. I don't care about you at all. As far as I'm concerned you can keep your delusions about how great the USA are and how tiny the rest of the world is. Just stop bothering me with that BS.

Farewell, have a great life.

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