Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Sunday July 03, 2005
So, I let myself sleep in the morning. I had breakfast in the hotel. The hotel staff spoke French. I was reminded of how bad my French had gotten since I had last studied it in grade nine. I was even having a hard time trying to remember how to say "thank you" (it's "merci" stupid!).
I got to the train station around noon. I had bought a beer on the way to the station so I would have something to drink on the train! That's thinking ahead!
At the train station, I boarded a train for Trier, Germany. It was only twenty minutes from Luxembourg, but... still in a different country! Luxembourg is very small...
At Trier, I talked with a information-desk-lady to help me route my trip through the German train system. I needed to get to Munich! She did a query in her computer and printed out a schedule which told me where to change trains, which platforms to board them, which train numbers to look for, and what times to do all of the above. I couldn't quite understand everything that was printed out on the schedule (it was written in German), so I asked this German girl on the train platform to help me decipher it. It turns out that she was pretty friendly and we got to talk until I had to change trains. Her name is Justine... she let me take her picture:
The train travelled through the beautiful Moselle river valley. It was a winding, deep, river valley... surrounded by hills, villages, and vineyards:
After a while, I reached Koblenz, the city where the Moselle river empties into the Rhine river. I said my goodbyes to Justine and boarded my train to Mainz. The trains between Koblenz and Mainz travel through the famous Rhine river valley. This valley was similar to the Moselle river valley, except there were fewer bendies in the river, and TONS of castles perched on the tops of the hills:
Eventually I reached Mainz and boarded another train to Mannheim. My schedule told me that, at Mannheim, I had a total of four minutes to get on the InterCity Express (ICE) train to Munich, and I had to get to another platform, lugging my suitcase the whole way. This did not seem to give me a large margin of error--especially since my own train was running a couple of minutes late--so I knew that I should run for it so I wouldn't miss the train! So as the train pulled into the station, I looked out the window across the station to where I thought my next train would be. I saw it! So, I scurried out of the train, ran down the ramp off the platform, down the tunnel, then up the next ramp, jumped on the train, and sat down. Less than a minute later, the train pulled out of the station. I did it!
So as I settled into my first class seat as the train roared across a German plain at 250 km/h, I thought all was good in my world. Some of the train's staff emerged and they were changing these little signs in the car that indicated the train's destination. Apparantly my train was not going to Munich. It was going to Stuttgart... and that was the end of the line! Crap! I asked the staff on the train what was happening... how come I was on the right platform at the right time and still managed to board the wrong train? Apparantly the train I really wanted was running a whole half-hour late, and this one was trying to run ahead in order to compensate. The train I really wanted was also going to Stuttgart next, and I could board it there so I could make it to Munich. That sounded good enough for me. Crisis averted!
So, at Stuttgart, I finally got on the ICE train I wanted to be on, and I let it take me the rest of the way to Munich. At this point, it was about 7 PM, and, since I didn't have lunch or dinner, I decided to eat my dinner in the restaurant car aboard the train. I figured I wouldn't have another chance to eat in a restaurant car on a train on this trip! I got some yummy lemonade beer (40% lemonade) with sausages and potato salad!
Finally I made it to Munich at around 8 PM. It only took me about a total of eight hours to get there from Luxembourg. I found a pretty nice hotel fairly close to the train station (about two blocks away) and within easy walking distance of the Aldstadt ("old town"). I decided to do a walk around to see what was around my hotel. During my walk around I found some people from Nova Scotia on their way to the Hofbräuhaus (Royal Beer House), the famous beer hall in Munich. They let me join them and we went to have some beer. This place was very touristy, but seemed like a quintessential Bavarian experience. There was even an oompah band! Beer came in one litre glasses (I had two) and was very delicious. Pretzels and strudels were eaten. The place closed at midnight. When I left, I got a really cool picture of hundreds of one litre beer glasses all lined up:
I got to the train station around noon. I had bought a beer on the way to the station so I would have something to drink on the train! That's thinking ahead!
At the train station, I boarded a train for Trier, Germany. It was only twenty minutes from Luxembourg, but... still in a different country! Luxembourg is very small...
At Trier, I talked with a information-desk-lady to help me route my trip through the German train system. I needed to get to Munich! She did a query in her computer and printed out a schedule which told me where to change trains, which platforms to board them, which train numbers to look for, and what times to do all of the above. I couldn't quite understand everything that was printed out on the schedule (it was written in German), so I asked this German girl on the train platform to help me decipher it. It turns out that she was pretty friendly and we got to talk until I had to change trains. Her name is Justine... she let me take her picture:
The train travelled through the beautiful Moselle river valley. It was a winding, deep, river valley... surrounded by hills, villages, and vineyards:
After a while, I reached Koblenz, the city where the Moselle river empties into the Rhine river. I said my goodbyes to Justine and boarded my train to Mainz. The trains between Koblenz and Mainz travel through the famous Rhine river valley. This valley was similar to the Moselle river valley, except there were fewer bendies in the river, and TONS of castles perched on the tops of the hills:
Eventually I reached Mainz and boarded another train to Mannheim. My schedule told me that, at Mannheim, I had a total of four minutes to get on the InterCity Express (ICE) train to Munich, and I had to get to another platform, lugging my suitcase the whole way. This did not seem to give me a large margin of error--especially since my own train was running a couple of minutes late--so I knew that I should run for it so I wouldn't miss the train! So as the train pulled into the station, I looked out the window across the station to where I thought my next train would be. I saw it! So, I scurried out of the train, ran down the ramp off the platform, down the tunnel, then up the next ramp, jumped on the train, and sat down. Less than a minute later, the train pulled out of the station. I did it!
So as I settled into my first class seat as the train roared across a German plain at 250 km/h, I thought all was good in my world. Some of the train's staff emerged and they were changing these little signs in the car that indicated the train's destination. Apparantly my train was not going to Munich. It was going to Stuttgart... and that was the end of the line! Crap! I asked the staff on the train what was happening... how come I was on the right platform at the right time and still managed to board the wrong train? Apparantly the train I really wanted was running a whole half-hour late, and this one was trying to run ahead in order to compensate. The train I really wanted was also going to Stuttgart next, and I could board it there so I could make it to Munich. That sounded good enough for me. Crisis averted!
So, at Stuttgart, I finally got on the ICE train I wanted to be on, and I let it take me the rest of the way to Munich. At this point, it was about 7 PM, and, since I didn't have lunch or dinner, I decided to eat my dinner in the restaurant car aboard the train. I figured I wouldn't have another chance to eat in a restaurant car on a train on this trip! I got some yummy lemonade beer (40% lemonade) with sausages and potato salad!
Finally I made it to Munich at around 8 PM. It only took me about a total of eight hours to get there from Luxembourg. I found a pretty nice hotel fairly close to the train station (about two blocks away) and within easy walking distance of the Aldstadt ("old town"). I decided to do a walk around to see what was around my hotel. During my walk around I found some people from Nova Scotia on their way to the Hofbräuhaus (Royal Beer House), the famous beer hall in Munich. They let me join them and we went to have some beer. This place was very touristy, but seemed like a quintessential Bavarian experience. There was even an oompah band! Beer came in one litre glasses (I had two) and was very delicious. Pretzels and strudels were eaten. The place closed at midnight. When I left, I got a really cool picture of hundreds of one litre beer glasses all lined up:
# posted by Rob Szumlakowski @ 4:00 p.m. 
