My Last Bottle Of Lammsbräu
This is my last bottle of Lammsbräu.
My Last Bottle Of Lammsbräu
The supplier is still awaiting deliveries of this excellent gluten-free beer from Germany.
I ordered something else from the supplier; Beers of Europe, on Tuesday and it arrived yesterday. So at least the local loop is efficient!
How Not To Plan A High Speed Railway
The farce that is Fyra might have got a bit better as there are now going to be some extra Thalys trains on the line soon, as is reported here.
But this will only partially compensate for the loss of the Fyra V250 trains and capacity will be nowhere near that needed.
It will also do nothing to get round one of the major design faults of the line; the lack of a branch to the Dutch capital, The Hague. A city incidentally, which doesn’t have an airport well-connected to the city centre, unless you count Schipol.
In some ways the design of the line, would be like the UK, creating a high speed line to Scotland, that bypassed Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.
The Dutch also have a problem in that their tracks aren’t to the European standard of trains on the left, electrified to 25,000 volts AC, so it makes it difficult for high speed trains to run on secondary lines, as they do in most other European countries, The suburban Class 395 run in rural Kent and on HS1. Like the Thalys, they have a multi-voltage capability.
Another problem is that there aren’t enough Thalys trains and you can’t just rustle up some new ones quickly. In fact I suspect there is a large shortage of rolling stock across Europe and I suppose the real problem, is that because every country seems to work to different standards and local politics, manufacturers rely too much on living on the scraps politicians give them. So say if we need say some extra stock on the East Coast Main Line, we can’t generally borrow from the Germans. Saying that though, but for a few years Regional Eurostar trains did run to Leeds. But then that train was designed to run in the UK, France and Belgium.
We also complain in this country about orders for trains going to foreign manufacturers, but this is a Europe wide problem.
What we need is standards for railways that apply across most of Europe. When you have travelled on trains as much as I have you realise what a disconnected design it all is.
A Word Calls Up A Storm In Germany
My old German teacher; Frank Stabler, said that the German’s loved words and often joined them together to make long new ones.
But a new word imported into German from American English is causing a bit of a controversy.
The word is shitstorm and it was voted Anglicism of the Year in 2012 by German language experts, as is reported here.
It’s even been used by Angela Merkel, but I don’t think I’ve ever used it!
German Pipe Fittings
On my trip back from Stockholm, between Osnabruck and Cologne, I sat next to a German electrical engineer.
He astounded me at one point, by saying that German pipe fittings on industrial plants were in Imperial units.
I have been unable to check on the Internet, but I assume it is true and is probably down to American influence.
From Osnabruck To Brussels By Train
On the Friday, I decided that I would go home the direct route, by taking a train to Brussels and then using the Eurostar.
By eight I was on the platform waiting for the 08:37 train to Cologne, for an onward connection to Brussels.
I waited and I waited! The only entertainment was several car carrying trains going through.
Car Carrying Trains At Osnabruck
i could have sworn that the same train went through first one way and then the other.
I did meet a German lady, who was probably a lot older than me and she was on her way to Paris, after a change at Cologne. Like me, she had a First Class ticket on the 08:37. Even with the advantage of her native tongue, she couldn’t even ascertain what was happening. We did get messages like this.
Zugdurchfahrt
Google Translate says it means train passes. Passes what? Wind? We were also treated to the site of trains going to Cologne that seemed to be running normally.
Hamburg Köln Express
But as these were the Hamburg Köln Express or HKX, our tickets weren’t valid. The HKX has Internet-only ticketing and runs what the lady said were clapped-out ex East German carriages. So it would appear that HKX is something like a German version of Grand Central, running trains in competition to the incumbent operator. But looking at the rust-buckets running on HKX and listening to the lady, they appear to be about ten classes below, those of Grand Central.
In the end we sat and waited on some of the most uncomfortable seats I’ve found in a public place.
Uncomfortable Seats
Seats are generally noticeable by their absence on German stations, as I suppose the operators assume that the trains turn up on time and you don’t need to sit down. Uncomfortable seats mean that stations don’t get cluttered with passengers. I suppose though, we could always have played hopscotch.
Hopscotch
But then I never have and don’t know the rules. And anyway like baseball (i.e. rounders), it’s a girly game. The words are Dutch and mean that the train leaves in 40 mins? – no problem.
They should be so lucky!
We waited for well over an hour and a half, before a train arrived. I got in and found that as the corridors were so congested with bags, it was like crawling through a tunnel to get to a First Class carriage, where I did find a seat next to an amiable German electrical engineer, who spoke excellent English. The highlight of the run to Cologne was catching a glimpse of the amazing Schwebebahn at Wuppertal.
A Glimpse Of The Schwebebahn
I think I might have done better to go to Wuppertal the previous day and ride up and down on this amazing train. I’ve ridden it before and there’s a video I made here.
At Cologne, I had to get my tickets endorsed for another train to Brussels, as my intended one was now probably on the way back from the Belgian capital. But I didn’t get the right endorsement, and for a moment, I thought, that I’d be thrown off the Thalys to Brussels. But I found a seat and just sat put, although I did lose my temper with a Frenchman, who said the seat was his. So he stood to Brussels!
For the last part, I decided to stand and moved to the end of the carriage, which like all trains of the past few days was full of luggage. But sitting on top of it, were a group of Canadians, who had ten minutes to catch the Eurostar out of Brussels.
At Brussels, I stood by, as cases went everywhere and just piled up on the platform.
But I’d made it back to civilisation from the hell of German railways. And for the first time since I took the Underground to Heathrow, reasonably on time too.
I’d also made it back from Osnabruck, without one word of apology from any of the staff I met.
All I expected now, was for Eurostar to get me to St. Pancras.
I
German Trains Don’t Have A Coach 13
German stations like a lot of continental ones, have a poster showing where your coach will be on the platform.
German Trains Don’t Have A Coach 13
It looks to be a good idea, but just imagine the system at somewhere like Clapham Junction or Crewe, where we seem to run many more trains than our European cousins.
Incidentally, I don’t think we have a coach 13, as we give coaches on long trains, like those out of Kings Cross and Euston, letters rather than numbers. Several times though, I’ve travelled in coach M. Is that unlucky?
The Floods In Central Europe
A few weeks ago I was in Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna and Southern Germany.
Now it seems that much of the area is under water, as the BBC reports.
I know it was only luck, but I certainly got my timing right.
I’ve never ever been flooded out in a house and I don’t ever want to be.
My hearts go out to all of those who are suffering.
A German Barbecue
I saw this tent by Exmouth Market.
A German Barbecue
After my experiences in Munich lately, I went to investigate and he could have fed me something tasty and gluten-free.
But he was from Cologne!
The Final Insult From Germany
The only thing, I consumed on the train was water, Coke and an orange juice in the morning. But others were luckier!
The Final Insult From Germany
The muffin could have been nice. The notes say the following.
Contains colouring. Contains antioxidant. Contains preservatives. With presevative, curing salt. Contains sweetener. Contains caffeine.
Nothing at all is said about gluten.
I suppose gluten is compulsory in Germany!
The Sleeper From Munich To Paris
It takes over ten hours, but as I wanted to be back in London in time to get to Ipswich for the Hull game on Saturday, it was the only way I could do it.
I had booked the sleeper on Deutsche Bahn’s excellent web site at bahn.de. I had a self-printed paper ticket, that worked well. These are some of the pictures I took on the journey.
We arrived in Paris on time at 09:30. I had slept reasonably well.
The Anonymous Widower 