The Strange Lady
The litter bins on the platform, are large three hole ones, so that passengers can sort their rubbish for recycling.
A Typical DB Litter Bin
One of the strangest things I saw, was an reasonably well-dressed elderly lady ferreting through one of these litter bins and removing any glass bottles, which she then put in her bag. Whilst we waited at the station, she came back a couple of times, after someone else put a bottle in the bin.
On My Way To Ulm
I had booked the sleeper to Paris from Munich at 22:50, so as a diversion during the afternoon, I went to Ulm. I had found a restaurant there on the Internet, that said it did gluten-free food, so the plan was to have an early supper and then return to Munich.
I made the mistake of taking a slow train, which took nearly three hours, when I could have done it in just over the hour.
A Fugger Express
As you can see it was called a Fugger Express, which sounds a bit rude to me. I didn’t like the train, as you sit rather high compared to a typical UK train, and when getting in and out of some of the seats, you can miss your footing. The generous European loading gauge may give advantages, but it might not make passenger entry and exit easy. To me, the low European platforms are not a good idea.
Low European Platforms
I don’t have too many problems, but on one station, there was a massive gap between the platform and the train and behind me was a three-year-old who jumped to get off. If they’d missed, they could easily have fallen under the train.
The train also passed through the wonderfully named station of Kissing.
Kissing Station
The next time though, I do this journey, I’ll take a faster train. There are lots of trains and Deutsche Bahn issue a very simple Munich-Ulm timetable detailing them all on virtually a double-sided piece of A5 paper.
The countryside is summed up by pictures like this.
Typical Bavarian Countryside
Green fields and woodland, with the ocassional church poking towards the sky.
But I do wish I’d taken a fast train.
Munich’s Information-Rich Buses
To get back from the English Garden, I used a bus.
They were on of the most information-rich buses I’ve ever seen.
As London buses do, they also give you a running commentary of the route.
The only thing they lack, is decent maps at the bus stops.
Note how they use real video displays, whereas British buses and trains use simpler displays using LEDs.
Left Luggage Lockers In Germany
All of the stations, I visited in Germany had lots of left luggage lockers.
Left Luggage Lockers In Munich
These in Munich, which easily took my small case cost just €3.00 for 72 hours.
i used them in both Munich and Nuremberg.
The Excelsior Hotel In Munich
This hotel was very convenient for the station and was well worth a stay.
The staff were very helpful, wi-fi was complimentary and I was able to have a very good breakfast with proper tea.
I would certainly stay again.
German Rail Ticket Machines
These were excellent and worked in most common languages.
German Rail Ticket Machines
There were also lots of them and the queues were fairly minimal.
A Quick Look At Nuremberg
When I got to Nuremberg, it started to rain and I quickly found that the city was booked solid because of a massive exhibition.
I had particularly wanted to go to Nuremberg, as one of my customers years ago, had been an observer at the War Crimes Trials in the city. He was an Austrian Jew, who escaped before the war and had then spent the war years in the Royal Engineers. He had some amazing tales.
But because of the lack of a decent hotel, I decided to move on to Munich. Next time, I’ll book the Victoria Hotel, which is right by the station.
From Vienna To Nuremberg By ICE Train
The trip was four and three-quarter hours in the ICE train.
In some ways it reminded me of parts of the East Coast Main Line in the UK, where you travel for miles through flat and green countryside. But as you can see, you do have the Danube appearing at times.
Lokking at the route now, it would have been better to perhaps split the journey into two, with a stop at somewhere like Regensburg, which definitely seems a place worth visiting. So perhaps a sensible rule on a trip like this, is to check where your train stops between your overnight stops. Bear in mind, that the three German cities I explored, all had their stations in the centre.
It wasn’t all German efficiency though, as there was no coffee on the first part of the journey, as the buffet had no hot water.
But otherwise it was a trip that went smoothly.
Would I Go Back To Vienna?
Probably not deliberately, although it is a good transport interchange.
The reason is that I have lots of happy memories there with C, which were partly ruined by the hotel.
I’ve now also seen most of the parts that interest me.
Leaving Vienna
On Thursday, the 11th, I took the train out of Vienna for Nuremberg.
As you can see I got up early and caught one of the German ICE trains at 06:52.
One of the strange things was that the free magazine was hung up on a string in the carriage. But that was also done on Metro trains in Vienna.
The Anonymous Widower 