Trains in reality - travelling and good fortune

Many years ago, when the children were small, we took a day-boat out onto the river at Ely in the Fens, and it took only a few minutes puttering along between the reeds before the engine packed up (or the prop got completely fouled by weeds) and we stopped.  The children were scared, started crying (though we were in no danger) and it was quite an adventure to get them safely onto the bank through the reeds, and along the track back to the boat-hire office. The two men who owned the business were like tiny wizened gnomes, very sanguine and amusing, and they handled the situation brilliantly, reassuring the children and saying 'You will never forget the day you were shipwrecked on the Great Ouse!'

This excellent philosophy stood us in good stead yesterday as we launched onto our great train journey (First Class) across Europe. The luxury booking was a first for us, all the way from Faversham to Salzburg, but of course buying a first class ticket does not inoculate you against happenstance.   The train to Ebbsfleet (Eurostar connection) broke down at Rochester with complete lack of power. Only by leaping off and eventually finding a taxi did we get to the continental train on time.

We hissed along to Brussels having a 'free' breakfast on the way, and changed without difficult to the Frankfurt train...

  

but for some unknown reason, that decided to stop short of Frankfurt and leave us at the Airport Station - where we missed the next connection.

  

We had a wait under the amazing asymmetrical glass domed roof, and found we were too late to reserve new first class seats (which of course we had already paid for) for the next leg. Luckily there was space, though we didn't know if at any stop a pre-booking passenger might arrive and turf us out....    Then at Stuttgart we realised our wait was taking too long. The police arrived. More police. More waiting, and our chance of getting the Munich connection was evaporating.  The delay was caused by a drunk on our train... he had to be arrested.   

Munich - a huge huge station, and we got there with (theoretically) enough time to get from platform 19 to platform 4 to board our properly booked last leg. But... we were at the back of a 12-coach train, the platform was crowded, and platform 4 was in a separate part of the station ... too far to reach in 6 minutes. 

So, another wait, and another one, as a completely different train came and went at platform 14 where the last train to Salzburg sets off.    Ah! At last, onto this last one, into a small smart compartment, through the dark night, and so missing all the mountain scenery we had hoped to see.   At Salzburg the googlemap thing was really confusing, and a huge pavement improvement scheme outside the station didn't help... we ended up inside a wire cage about half a mile from the station with no visible way out.  Heroically, Andrew prised some of the panels apart and in one bound we were FREE!   The suitcase wheels clanked along on the cobbles. The pavements were staircases (agh!).  But the hotel was still open!  Hoorah!  (Thank you! )  I kept thinking of the boat-hire-men on the Ouse...  We were safe, we eventually got there, we bought reasonably ok food along the way, actually it was all fine.  OK, it had all taken a VERY long time... sixteen hours door to door.  And we were tired!  But we had a lovely shower and crashed into bed.   We like the Hotel Modus, and recommend it.

It's in Paracelsusstrasse. (What a name). Here's the letterbox on a neighbouring house

So this morning we set out to find our little apartment in the city centre...

   

and here we are, in a house 500 years old, on Steingasse (Stone Lane) which is a prehistoric track, once a main road and now pedestrianised and chic.

  

 
This is the handle on someone's front door!

  

  

We have lovely music (5 stations), lots to look at, and four days to enjoy ourselves. The architecture is stunning. There are beggars stationed every 50 yards ... older chubby foreign ladies smiling... how do they do it? Are they managed by some sort of gang-master?  I need to prepare for them with some small change.  After my experiences in Brighton last weekend, I can see this is a huge problem, global... how the fortunate respond to the poor.  We are fortunate. So fortunate.  We travel first class.