4-6-09 Trains to Munich

4-6-09 Trains to Munich

Our day started with a very comfortable five hours on a comfy first class train, with a reserved cabin all to ourselves. However, in Schwandorf, about an hour from Munich, DB decided to stop the train and tell us to make two transfers to go the rest of the way.

This was a little frustrating, but no worries. We found out which of the trains we needed for our first leg to Regensburg – only to find that it was an overstuffed commuter train with no seats left – so we were left to stand for 30 minutes. A little more frustrating, but things were still not too bad.

When we arrived at our stop, German trains being how they are, we had all of five minutes to get from one track to the other. We rushed past the slowpokes and their heavy baggage, sweating from wearing our coats in the midday sun and standing in a crowded space, ran to the track, only to find that the train that should take us to Munich had switched tracks, and was already leaving.

I can be a little overdramatic sometimes, but this was just too much for me. I think I nearly fainted from a combination of fury and heat exhaustion. It took me several minutes to calm down after this point. Despite everything that had gone wrong, there were still a few things working in our favor. We were very lucky to be stranded where we were - Regensburg has a nice, air conditioned train station, unlike quite a few others we’ve been across. We were also lucky that there was another train heading to Munich about 90 minutes later. We caught that one and it turned out to be a decent ride.

 (forthcoming: map of train hops)

When we got to Munich, what we found was worth all the trouble. The Haubtbahnhof there is huge and amazing, and after a 10 minute walk (past the European Patent Office!) we found our hostel and got checked in. To our surprise, we had a private wc and shower! Only two downsides to this place – the elevator was an ancient and dangerous, only went to the 5^th floor and our room was on the 6^th, and the hostel was full of screaming children, especially at night. No worries though, we had earplugs and drugs to help us sleep through the cacophony.

Had to go back downstairs to get a user/pass for the internet, the signal is poor even though the AP is in the hallway a few feet down, and the connection is extremely poor beyond that (3s+ ping times to yahoo/google). I did manage to laboriously type in the Czech directions on my cough syrup into Google Translator to verify that yes, you are supposed to drink the stuff, although it tastes like poison and I cannot figure out the correct dose. Interestingly, in the Czech Republic the medicine doses are not indicated by age but by body weight. That might make more sense actually.

After this we ventured out into Munich for the first time. After being in Prague for a few days, being in Munich was like a return to the 21^st century – modern buildings, infrastructure, etc. We found a place to eat that looked good, but it was run by a rude Turkish guy who spoke German poorly and English even worse, and the food was awful. Natasha asked for falafel, which he was out of, so he suggested something as an alternative, which turned out to be a fried fish patty (Natasha *hates* fish). So that was a generally bad experience. Not only that, but on our way home it started to pour rain and neither of us were dressed for this, so we had to run back to the hostel soaking wet. After all that, though, the swanky room was enough to get us relaxed again. We watched some German TV, played on the internet, and went to bed.