Getting around
Like our previous trips to Europe, we mostly travelled around on the train system. The exceptions were our first stop, Kraków, which we arrived and departed by plane through Frankfurt, and San Sebastián, which we reached by flying Venezia to Bilbao pretty cheaply.
With this being our third family trip, we have gotten pretty good at handling the ticket buying, usually online and ahead of time, and making all kinds of connections and adjustments. What changed from previous trips, though, was that we had several late trains and track problems, even in Germany, that we did not expect (you know, because it was Germany).
More after the jump
The first problem for us we when we were going to Prague. Previously, Prague was an easy trip for us from Frankfurt by rail, but this year the Nürnberg to Prague leg is handled only by IC bus. We had reservations about traveling by bus for several hours, what with the potential for bad toilets and carsickness. However, as we weighed the options, any alternative would have added hours to the trip. Add to that it was Myles' birthday, we guessed he would have preferred to get to Prague as quickly as we get him there. We opted for the bus, hoping that being it was, you know, a German bus it would be something a little more comfortable than a Chinese long-distance bus. So at Nürnburg, right there in front of the train station, we waited tentatively for our bus.
Fortunately none of us got really carsick, nor were in need of the restroom at all while we were on the ride. When I purchased the tickets, I was able for an extra nine euros book us family seating, meaning a group of four around a table. The kids had plenty of room to spread their snacks, books, and toys about. The bus was equipped with vending machines, with not terrible coffee and cold beer. When the bus conductor introduced himself and talked through the safety features of the bus in German, I thought I had heard something....different about his pronunciation. I couldn't place it. Then when he repeated the same spiel in English, I could hear a strong regional accent, something from the north of England maybe? Then, I overheard him apologizing in German to one of the passengers because his German wasn't good enough to understand what she had asked him. My interest was too piqued to let it go.
Later as the conductor helped me with the vending machine, I had to ask him about his origins, and then, how he came to work for Deutsche Bahn. He was from Liverpool, now married to a German woman. He had worked on the bus route for the last six months, and before that he had been delivery man for a few months. He hadn't lived in German for even two years, and didn't speak German before that. I was impressed how he was able to move there and learn enough German to hold down a job.
As we got closer to Prague, though, we hit construction and lane restrictions that had us at a standstill for quite a long time. We arrived in Prague more than an hour after our schedule. The standstill was both ways for a while as we could see the traffic leaving Prague having as much difficulty as we were approaching the city. We weren't in danger of missing any connections, since Prague was our destination, but we were worried that the ticketing system did not appear to reflect this construction zone in the schedule.
A few days after that, we wanted to travel from Ústí to Günzburg. Our connections were a little tight, and we definitely did not want to chance any problems with the bus hitting unexpected traffic. Keeping entirely with the rail system, our plan was to go from Ústí to Dresden, then Dresden to Nürnburg, then Nürnburg to Donauwörth, and then, finally Donauwörth to Günzburg in time for the 8 pm in person check-in at our hotel. I bought the tickets online and had them saved to my iPad for easy, ticketless transit.
The train ride up the Elbe river is full of magnificent views. The rock faces lining the river valley have an almost mythical quality to them, like they are some ancient giants that have retreated into a petrified existence.
We changed trains at Dresden without major incident. Initially we boarded the wrong half of the train, one splitting off at some point and not going to Nürnburg. We had enough time to correct this mistake before we pulled out of Dresden, as well as share the slight embarrassment with a few Germans who also did this. Taking our reserved seats, we settled in for several hours across Saxony and Franconia. I even tweeted a sense of relief.
But then----our train just stopped somewhere around Marktleuthen. Over the PA system, I heard something about a problem with the tracks ahead. I glanced at the time, and saw we were not yet in any danger of missing our twenty-plus minute connection. We sat for several minutes before the engineer left the compartment at the front of the train for the one at the rear and moved us back a few hundred meters before returning to the front. I hoped this meant we would be switching tracks and still arrive in Nürnburg with some time to spare. After a few more minutes, there was another announcement as our sighing engineer left the controls again at the Nürnburg-bound side and went to what was the rear. We were returning to Hof, they announced.
Not only were we returning to Hof, but we were going in much haste. Maybe the Germans were used to this, but this American family kept exchanging nervous glances as we were uncomfortable with how fast the train was moving. Sure, we have been on high-speed trains before, but those were trains that we knew would be going fast.
At Hof, there was a mad scramble by all the passengers to change to another waiting train to Nürnburg, actually the one that was scheduled for an hour after ours. I looked up at the monitors as we disembarked, and saw that the reason we had returned so quickly was so that the train we were on could be used to take over the route to Dresden, the reverse of the one we had been, as that train was stuck on the other side of whatever problem there was in Marktleuthe.
In Hof, we scarcely had time to board the train. We would definitely miss the earlier trains to Günzburg. At Nürnburg I left Randy and the kids on the platform and ran to the Deutsche Bahn office for help. I was so worried...about making it to Günzburg that night, about taking the kids to Legoland, about not being able to bring enough German out of my brain's storeroom to communicate effectively our situation.
So when it was my turn at the counter, I came across as a mess. A mess that was able to speak and understand some German, mind you, but a mess. The ticket agent was an angel. She tolerated my German, never once offering to switch to English, which, oddly, could have made me feel much worse. The ellipses below represent my not-quite-sobs, by the way.
"Our train....to Nürnburg....so late...and...and..."
"Yes, dear. It is ok. Just breathe." (looks over my itinerary)
"We would like to......Günzburg...go...but...but...."
"No problem. You can still get there tonight. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Better?" (starts poking at her computer terminal)
"But my kids....with me...want to see Legoland....and...and..."
"Now, my dear. It is much too late to go to Legoland tonight. Your children will be asleep!" (smiling, still trying to calm me down and handing me our new itinerary, same as before but arriving three hours later)
We arrived in Günzburg, very late, and with exhausted kids. Legoland, about which I already blogged, went swimmingly.
For the next week and a half, we had few other problems. We mostly enjoyed spectacular views, like this of the Rheinfalls.
And then there's meeting other passengers. That's another reason that I enjoy trains so much more than planes. People make conversation on the train.
When we were on our way from Switzerland to Italy, we sat across from Korean newlyweds. It was their first trip to Europe and their honeymoon. The bride asked if it were our first trip, too. When I told her it was actually our third through that part of Switzerland, she was surprised. She couldn't believe we were still Ooohing and Aaahing and taking pictures if we had already been there. I explained to her that the weather had been bad before when we were there, and besides, look! It's Switzerland. It's magnificent!
Once were were in Italy we had occasional train confusion, but we've come to expect that. It comes with the territory. So what if I still can't figure out how our tickets never match up with the online schedule. Or wonder where in Monfalcone we might find our train to Gorizia. Monfalcone has no Binario 4. Would we be catching a ghost train?
It wasn't until we were trying to get from Hendaye to Aachen that we had a problem again.
We boarded at Hendaye, on that first morning train to Paris that travels along the Atlantic coast, through Dax and Bayonne and Bordeaux. It is a beautiful ride. Since we were traveling during the All Saints holiday break, there were more families on this train than we have seen in previous years. Across the aisle from us sat a grandmother with her kindergarten-aged grandson. She carried with her a very full bag from the Relay news stand, stuffed to bursting with what looked like every children's magazine sold there. I wondered if it were years of experience or years out of practice that prompted her to prepare in this way, providing him an endless stream of paper entertainment. They were so sweet.
Arriving at Montparnasse, we found our way to the taxi stand under the station. There was a line, but we had two hours to make our train at Paris Nord, plenty of time. There was some confusion once we did get in the cab as he insisted that we surely were going out of Gare de l'Est, because that was where the German trains were. I checked our tickets, and showed him that yes, we were going out of Nord. He wasn't rude about it, but merely looking out for us, though the stations are almost next to each other, so getting there would have been the same route. We passed so many of the big landmarks, like the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, not a big deal to Parisians, but still a wonder to me. I did get a picture of St. Denis while we were stopped at one point, prompting the driver to ask if we liked that style, gothique. We do, we told him.
At Paris Nord, there was the usual chaos. We still had about an hour for our train. There were a lot of police milling about, which was not surprising. It wasn't long, though, that we started to hear urgent sounding announcements overhead, in French and then even in English. The police had to clear out an area and our cooperation was appreciated. There, in the area in front of platform 12, the police started to push the crowds back and then they taped off a rectangle. Every few minutes they enlarged this rectangle, pushing us back further. Most of the train traffic seemed to stop during this time. The police weren't forthcoming with the reasons. In the crowd in a mix of languages we could hear people coming up with names of potential VIP who might be arriving and needing security, like Lady Gaga or Angela Merkel.
While we were standing there, an American student who was standing next to us asked us where we were from. We told her Pennsylvania, but we had been living in China for the last eight-plus years. Funny how small the world is sometimes, but her brother also currently lives in Beijing. He's a journalist.
Only minutes before our train was scheduled to depart, we still had not boarded. As it was announced, we realized access to our track directly was blocked by the police line. We were directed to walk down a different platform that was open, and take the stairs at the end of it to cross underneath. Our train was sitting on a far end of the scheduled platform, far from where the police were controlling the area.
We never did learn with certainty what was going on. Later I searched twitter and saw mentions of colis suspect and passengers infirmes around that time. Based on the casual chatter we saw among the police, we weren't sure that there really had been a suspicious package, but we'll probably never know.
Through most of our trip, we were able to see some beautiful fall colors in different parts of Europe. Most of the leaves in western Germany were off the trees by the time we were finishing our trip. What we did see from the train in the Eifel region were mistletoe hanging in the bare trees. We had never seen this before, it was a lovely surprise.
With this being our third family trip, we have gotten pretty good at handling the ticket buying, usually online and ahead of time, and making all kinds of connections and adjustments. What changed from previous trips, though, was that we had several late trains and track problems, even in Germany, that we did not expect (you know, because it was Germany).
More after the jump
The first problem for us we when we were going to Prague. Previously, Prague was an easy trip for us from Frankfurt by rail, but this year the Nürnberg to Prague leg is handled only by IC bus. We had reservations about traveling by bus for several hours, what with the potential for bad toilets and carsickness. However, as we weighed the options, any alternative would have added hours to the trip. Add to that it was Myles' birthday, we guessed he would have preferred to get to Prague as quickly as we get him there. We opted for the bus, hoping that being it was, you know, a German bus it would be something a little more comfortable than a Chinese long-distance bus. So at Nürnburg, right there in front of the train station, we waited tentatively for our bus.
Fortunately none of us got really carsick, nor were in need of the restroom at all while we were on the ride. When I purchased the tickets, I was able for an extra nine euros book us family seating, meaning a group of four around a table. The kids had plenty of room to spread their snacks, books, and toys about. The bus was equipped with vending machines, with not terrible coffee and cold beer. When the bus conductor introduced himself and talked through the safety features of the bus in German, I thought I had heard something....different about his pronunciation. I couldn't place it. Then when he repeated the same spiel in English, I could hear a strong regional accent, something from the north of England maybe? Then, I overheard him apologizing in German to one of the passengers because his German wasn't good enough to understand what she had asked him. My interest was too piqued to let it go.
Later as the conductor helped me with the vending machine, I had to ask him about his origins, and then, how he came to work for Deutsche Bahn. He was from Liverpool, now married to a German woman. He had worked on the bus route for the last six months, and before that he had been delivery man for a few months. He hadn't lived in German for even two years, and didn't speak German before that. I was impressed how he was able to move there and learn enough German to hold down a job.
As we got closer to Prague, though, we hit construction and lane restrictions that had us at a standstill for quite a long time. We arrived in Prague more than an hour after our schedule. The standstill was both ways for a while as we could see the traffic leaving Prague having as much difficulty as we were approaching the city. We weren't in danger of missing any connections, since Prague was our destination, but we were worried that the ticketing system did not appear to reflect this construction zone in the schedule.
A few days after that, we wanted to travel from Ústí to Günzburg. Our connections were a little tight, and we definitely did not want to chance any problems with the bus hitting unexpected traffic. Keeping entirely with the rail system, our plan was to go from Ústí to Dresden, then Dresden to Nürnburg, then Nürnburg to Donauwörth, and then, finally Donauwörth to Günzburg in time for the 8 pm in person check-in at our hotel. I bought the tickets online and had them saved to my iPad for easy, ticketless transit.
The train ride up the Elbe river is full of magnificent views. The rock faces lining the river valley have an almost mythical quality to them, like they are some ancient giants that have retreated into a petrified existence.
We changed trains at Dresden without major incident. Initially we boarded the wrong half of the train, one splitting off at some point and not going to Nürnburg. We had enough time to correct this mistake before we pulled out of Dresden, as well as share the slight embarrassment with a few Germans who also did this. Taking our reserved seats, we settled in for several hours across Saxony and Franconia. I even tweeted a sense of relief.
But then----our train just stopped somewhere around Marktleuthen. Over the PA system, I heard something about a problem with the tracks ahead. I glanced at the time, and saw we were not yet in any danger of missing our twenty-plus minute connection. We sat for several minutes before the engineer left the compartment at the front of the train for the one at the rear and moved us back a few hundred meters before returning to the front. I hoped this meant we would be switching tracks and still arrive in Nürnburg with some time to spare. After a few more minutes, there was another announcement as our sighing engineer left the controls again at the Nürnburg-bound side and went to what was the rear. We were returning to Hof, they announced.
Not only were we returning to Hof, but we were going in much haste. Maybe the Germans were used to this, but this American family kept exchanging nervous glances as we were uncomfortable with how fast the train was moving. Sure, we have been on high-speed trains before, but those were trains that we knew would be going fast.
At Hof, there was a mad scramble by all the passengers to change to another waiting train to Nürnburg, actually the one that was scheduled for an hour after ours. I looked up at the monitors as we disembarked, and saw that the reason we had returned so quickly was so that the train we were on could be used to take over the route to Dresden, the reverse of the one we had been, as that train was stuck on the other side of whatever problem there was in Marktleuthe.
In Hof, we scarcely had time to board the train. We would definitely miss the earlier trains to Günzburg. At Nürnburg I left Randy and the kids on the platform and ran to the Deutsche Bahn office for help. I was so worried...about making it to Günzburg that night, about taking the kids to Legoland, about not being able to bring enough German out of my brain's storeroom to communicate effectively our situation.
So when it was my turn at the counter, I came across as a mess. A mess that was able to speak and understand some German, mind you, but a mess. The ticket agent was an angel. She tolerated my German, never once offering to switch to English, which, oddly, could have made me feel much worse. The ellipses below represent my not-quite-sobs, by the way.
"Our train....to Nürnburg....so late...and...and..."
"Yes, dear. It is ok. Just breathe." (looks over my itinerary)
"We would like to......Günzburg...go...but...but...."
"No problem. You can still get there tonight. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Better?" (starts poking at her computer terminal)
"But my kids....with me...want to see Legoland....and...and..."
"Now, my dear. It is much too late to go to Legoland tonight. Your children will be asleep!" (smiling, still trying to calm me down and handing me our new itinerary, same as before but arriving three hours later)
We arrived in Günzburg, very late, and with exhausted kids. Legoland, about which I already blogged, went swimmingly.
For the next week and a half, we had few other problems. We mostly enjoyed spectacular views, like this of the Rheinfalls.
And then there's meeting other passengers. That's another reason that I enjoy trains so much more than planes. People make conversation on the train.
When we were on our way from Switzerland to Italy, we sat across from Korean newlyweds. It was their first trip to Europe and their honeymoon. The bride asked if it were our first trip, too. When I told her it was actually our third through that part of Switzerland, she was surprised. She couldn't believe we were still Ooohing and Aaahing and taking pictures if we had already been there. I explained to her that the weather had been bad before when we were there, and besides, look! It's Switzerland. It's magnificent!
Once were were in Italy we had occasional train confusion, but we've come to expect that. It comes with the territory. So what if I still can't figure out how our tickets never match up with the online schedule. Or wonder where in Monfalcone we might find our train to Gorizia. Monfalcone has no Binario 4. Would we be catching a ghost train?
It wasn't until we were trying to get from Hendaye to Aachen that we had a problem again.
We boarded at Hendaye, on that first morning train to Paris that travels along the Atlantic coast, through Dax and Bayonne and Bordeaux. It is a beautiful ride. Since we were traveling during the All Saints holiday break, there were more families on this train than we have seen in previous years. Across the aisle from us sat a grandmother with her kindergarten-aged grandson. She carried with her a very full bag from the Relay news stand, stuffed to bursting with what looked like every children's magazine sold there. I wondered if it were years of experience or years out of practice that prompted her to prepare in this way, providing him an endless stream of paper entertainment. They were so sweet.
Arriving at Montparnasse, we found our way to the taxi stand under the station. There was a line, but we had two hours to make our train at Paris Nord, plenty of time. There was some confusion once we did get in the cab as he insisted that we surely were going out of Gare de l'Est, because that was where the German trains were. I checked our tickets, and showed him that yes, we were going out of Nord. He wasn't rude about it, but merely looking out for us, though the stations are almost next to each other, so getting there would have been the same route. We passed so many of the big landmarks, like the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, not a big deal to Parisians, but still a wonder to me. I did get a picture of St. Denis while we were stopped at one point, prompting the driver to ask if we liked that style, gothique. We do, we told him.
At Paris Nord, there was the usual chaos. We still had about an hour for our train. There were a lot of police milling about, which was not surprising. It wasn't long, though, that we started to hear urgent sounding announcements overhead, in French and then even in English. The police had to clear out an area and our cooperation was appreciated. There, in the area in front of platform 12, the police started to push the crowds back and then they taped off a rectangle. Every few minutes they enlarged this rectangle, pushing us back further. Most of the train traffic seemed to stop during this time. The police weren't forthcoming with the reasons. In the crowd in a mix of languages we could hear people coming up with names of potential VIP who might be arriving and needing security, like Lady Gaga or Angela Merkel.
While we were standing there, an American student who was standing next to us asked us where we were from. We told her Pennsylvania, but we had been living in China for the last eight-plus years. Funny how small the world is sometimes, but her brother also currently lives in Beijing. He's a journalist.
Only minutes before our train was scheduled to depart, we still had not boarded. As it was announced, we realized access to our track directly was blocked by the police line. We were directed to walk down a different platform that was open, and take the stairs at the end of it to cross underneath. Our train was sitting on a far end of the scheduled platform, far from where the police were controlling the area.
We never did learn with certainty what was going on. Later I searched twitter and saw mentions of colis suspect and passengers infirmes around that time. Based on the casual chatter we saw among the police, we weren't sure that there really had been a suspicious package, but we'll probably never know.
Through most of our trip, we were able to see some beautiful fall colors in different parts of Europe. Most of the leaves in western Germany were off the trees by the time we were finishing our trip. What we did see from the train in the Eifel region were mistletoe hanging in the bare trees. We had never seen this before, it was a lovely surprise.
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