Athens to Amsterdam 10/1-7/2023 Episode 2 – Bologna to Munich Monday, 10/2

Our train was to leave at 7:45 this morning so we were up early eating our Italian breakfast of croissant and coffee. Of course, the croissant was enhanced with Nutella and the coffee was instant which I can’t seem to get right. I always end up with sludge in the bottom – but the top part is good! We arrived at the station before 7:00 to enquire about the change in travel. There was a line to get a ticket then to have your ticket number called to then get assistance, so we decided to plunge ahead and hope our deduction about the change being the arrival platform was correct. 

Finding our train – EC (Eurocity) 88, and platform – number 10 was easy, but we had to go downstairs to the tunnel to walk under the tracks to get to it and then back up to the correct platform. Standard stuff. 

Unfortunately, the elevator was not working, we know this because we we tried it and had to get off – like the group before us who we just didn’t believe, so we walked down the stairs. A lady grabbed one of our bags to “help” and then wanted payment for having done so. Also standard stuff. I politely thanked her several times and she got the idea and went away. Not a situation where I was going to pause to dig out money.

As we walked through the tunnel to our platform two different men offered to  “help”, which we refused. Fortunately the elevator up to the platform was working, so we rode up with a young man and his bike, and waited on the platform with a school group and a few others. Our train arrived about 7:30, which was terrific as it meant we had plenty of time to board and find our seats. 

This train is a German, EC or Euro City train that travels between cities across international borders. Even though they are not considered “high speed” trains, they average about 60 mph and can go up to 125 mph. Due to the nature and length of this journey we booked first class and made a reservation for seats.  While I tried for a different configuration, we were assigned seats in a compartment for four in the very last car. Turns out that was wonderful!  We were alone in our compartment, by the window from Bologna to Verona, where a couple joined us. They were very polite and quiet which was nice. 

The train was pretty quiet from Bologna to Verona, just normal “rock you to sleep” train sounds, but when we left Verona at the foot of the Alps, the train changed directions. An engine was bumped up to our car, and now we were in the front of the train.  The difference of the pressure and movement on the connections made for a lot of loud squeaks and squawks!

We both enjoy European train travel. The trains are usually clean, fast, relatively cheap and ubiquitous (I always wanted to use that word in a sentence) so you can get to almost anywhere from almost anywhere else. Stations, and on crowded city trains are where you have to be vigilant about skilled, professional pick pockets.

It is so very interesting to pass through beautiful villages and towns, along scenic rivers, through forests and between mountains that you many times cannot see by car. I always think it would be fun to travel with just a small backpack and jump off whenever the notion strikes to ramble through some of the villages.  The only real downside for me is the rudeness of individuals on trains – and in other public spaces – who, for reasons I cannot fathom, think it is okay to play whatever they would like on their electronic devices with no earbuds or headphones. I am very grateful our travel companions did not have that issue!

This time of year there is no snow in the part of the Alps through which we traveled, but the mountainsides of green – and rock in the higher elevations, the terraced hillsides of fruit and olive trees and vineyards, the local villages with homes and freshly plowed fields and gardens, and the small churches with steeples that rise above the villages look like something straight out of a storybook that you would like to experience in addition to reading. Of course we also pass by cities with apartment buildings right by the tracks filled with concrete and structures of many people living in the same square footage. It’s difficult to get good pictures from a moving train, but here are a few.

I typically think about the people in the villages and cities we pass. I wonder what their lives are like, whether they attend that church with the glistening steeple or even know the God who loves them, if their current stories are filled with abundance and happiness or care and despair. When our friend Lelya was visiting from Russia for the first time many years ago, we asked whether she thought Americans were very different from Russians. She thought for a minute and said, “people are people, wherever you go”. I have found her words to be so accurate. Perhaps because we are all created in the image of the same God?

As we got closer to Munich I asked the couple in our compartment about the stop prior to ours so we could prepare. He told us the name of it, said he would alert us, and offered to help with our luggage. Terrific!

When we were close he took down the bags, stopped people in the hallway from passing so we could exit our compartment and carried our bags to the door. When we arrived he lifted them down, escorted us off, and waved us on our way. Another amazing intervention for us. I don’t know whether God sends angels or just opens people’s eyes to how pitiful we look, but I’ll take either or both!

Figuring out the trains was the next task. We had tried to work all of that out before we left, and Genny had typed up detailed instructions to get us from Point A to B to D and G and back for the travel we had planned. I won’t even attempt to describe the various train systems, but suffice it to say that sophisticated systems can also be complex, and these took a bit more effort. Because we were traveling on different systems that included trains and buses through Germany and Austria over the next three days we went to a ticket office. We had written out the various planned travels and the young man was SO helpful. He figured out exactly what we needed, simplified it, and gave us instructions, the price, and the tickets, all in a fraction of the time and likely cost that it would have taken me. Easy peasy!

From there we boarded our train at Munchen Ost (Munich East) to travel two stops to Rosenheimer Platz (Place) to walk to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Munich City Center. Following Genny’s instructions, we rode escalators and walked about seven minutes underground, past restaurants, shops, Aldi and HIT grocery stores, and a tailor where they were advertising lederhosen and other Bavarian clothing for Oktoberfest – the largest Folk Festival in the world. Because of a special German holiday, it was extended this year to the day after our arrival. While we did not make it to the Oktoberfest grounds (but thanks for the tip, Beth Z) we saw plenty of celebrations.

We arrived at the hotel, got checked in, rested for a bit, and returned to the train station for a ride to the Marienplatz, the center of Old Munich.

When we arrived we found non-working escalators and lifts, so walked up two flights to the inside of the large station. There were multiple exits, all marked in German (we were a little surprised there wasn’t more English in such a high tourist area), so Genny picked a likely looking one with an escalator going up – and look what was at the top!

The Glockenspiel!! So exciting!! The heart of Marienplatz, the Rathaus Glockenspiel, AKA – Town Hall Chimes is an exceptionally large clock with 32 life-size characters. Each day at 11:00 and noon, and 5:00 p.m. during certain months, the characters reenact stories from the history of Munich in the 1500’s. The show lasts about 15 minutes and a golden rooster above them crows three times to mark the end. We were not able to be there to see that happen, but just being seeing the Glockenspiel was wonderful!! (And I like saying Glockenspiel!)

We walked around the square, had dinner at an outdoor restaurant (lots of pork, potatoes) and coleslaw) and took our leftovers for sandwiches for our next day’s travels.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the grocery to purchase yogurt and fruit for breakfast and English Muffins to make the sandwiches.

Once again there has been the opportunity to see things and places about which I have read and imagined. There will be more about the Marienplatz on our last day, but we will end here for now, rambling about Munich.

Much love to you all,