Our “Memorable” Train Trip to Germany
What to you think when you hear “German”. For me, I think of BMW and Audi, not to mention a precise, on-time, efficient, and rule following people. Well…it’s a good thing we don’t hinge our opinion of an entire culture and country on one train ride. It sure was a doozy.
The plan was to give the kiddo’s a true European train experience. You know, a relaxed and fun day taking in the beautiful countryside, passing quaint villages, viewing the height of the summer wheat harvest. We got up early to have a delightful breakfast with some dear friends in Copenhagen. After a brief car ride to the train station, we eagerly awaited the first leg of our journey. That is just about where the pleasantries ended.
While waiting on the platform, we heard a calm and clear voice over the loud speaker announce that our train to Hamburg Germany was delayed. “Train number 13465 to Hamburg will arrive in 12 to 15 minutes.” We looked up to the many timetable screens on the platform and we saw the departure time tick later and later every minute or two. Then we heard that kind and clear voice yet again, about 25 minutes later. “Train number 13465 to Hamburg will arrive in 12 to 15 minutes.” By this time, I’m getting worried. Our connection in Hamburg to our next stop was beginning to look a lot like a missed connection.
After about an hour, a local train pulls up to our platform. Not the regional type that can cross international lines. However, I had a sense to inquire if this train was going to Hamburg anyway. I did so immediately. “Maybe”, the kind Dane replied. So, I gathered the family and we queued up to board. Sure enough, we were soon on our way! Phew!
At this point I’m thinking that we could make the connection if the train goes fast enough. And, boy, the train was zipping along. Then just as the train was making so good time the following announcement comes over the loudspeaker, “Attention. Attention. Please hold onto something or sit down”. Then the engineer hits the breaks abruptly and comes to a full stop. I was standing at the time and almost fell over. That was startling! Then after some time of idling on the tracks, we were informed that there were some “technical” issues and they didn’t quite know how long it would take to fix, but they are were working on it. More time lost.
The train finally got on the move again and all is going well. We were eating snacks, reading books and enjoying the scenery. We were also watching the cute puppies that were with the family across the aisle from us. All was relatively peaceful until one of the dogs’ poops in the middle of the isle! Not once, but three times! The poor guy was all different types of miserable, not to mention stressed.
We finally arrived at our “new” first transfer. New, because we learned while underway that the “local” train from Copenhagen was not allowed to cross into Germany. It was sent in an attempt to salvage our trip to Hamburg with hopes that our original train, stopped at the Germany/Denmark border, will have fixed it’s “technical issues” by the time we arrive. Thankfully all appeared in order and we unloaded in the border town of Padborg, Denmark.
By now the animals in the zoo were getting a bit restless. The doors of our train opened and everyone flooded out in what can be described a rush of controlled anxiety as folks walked, ran, and waddled their way to the next platform. What made this worse was that the train only had two doors open for people to board through, and it began to rain.
We found a nice spot on the train and we begin to move. After some time, I got up to look for a WC and I begin to notice that the toilet nearest to us is locked. I wait patiently and no one comes out. That’s odd. So I explore for another option. The next WC has a sign stating that it’s out of order. The next set of toilets are locked. Turns out that about 75% of all of the toilets on this train are “out of order”. That’s definitely not good!
Then came the random alarms. They sounded like a fire alarm and only screeched for about two seconds. It was startling all the same. But after the third time we got used to it.
All the while I’m looking at the time realizing that we will likely miss our next connection in Hamburg. But hey, that’s okay, because there’s a connection at 6:29pm and we can make it, if there are no more delays.
Did I say delay? Of course. Did you know that “signals” can fail? Did you know that when a signal fails that train stops? I didn’t know that until today! Yet more minutes added to the increasing total of time wasted. After a number of starts and stops due to the “signal” issue we get moving. Then we halt again! We are literally minutes away for our next connection and we can’t get there! The train engineer comes on the speaker and says “I’m sorry that we’re stopped. I actually don’t know why.” Wait. What? That sounds about right. A perfect comment for today’s shenanigans. Then we get moving again.
Thankfully the connecting trains were willing to wait for us, so were able to catch the final ICE train to Mannheim, Germany. Then our angel of a friend picked us up for the final leg of the trip. A trip that started 10:00am should have ended at 9:30pm. But hey, it’s better to arrive three hours later than expected then not arriving at all. Right?
