This day was mostly a travel day. We departed Venice by hopping a train at the Venice train station. It was a little hairy because we did not know where at the station to catch the train. As with all the train stations, we know the number of our train and we know the destination but we don’t know what platform the train will arrive in. Like the airport, that is posted on a huge board in the station. Typically, it can be as early as 30 minutes before we get on the train, but this morning, no platform posted, which makes us a little nervous.

The platform was posted just 7 minutes before the train arrived. Train stations are unlike airports in that mostly airports are pretty calm, people get to their gates and sit down and wait. Trains boarding can move a lot faster. When you consider there are as many as 27 to 32 platforms to load from, you like to be close to the one you plan to board.

We were headed to Verona and finally got on board. There are also differences in regional trains and fast trains. Nearly all fast trains require seat reservations but often regional trains do not. It’s nice to know which train car and which seats you will be riding in. Without a reservation, you just get on and find a seat as quickly as you can. On the train to Verona we had a wonderful seat in a carriage in which only five or six other people were on board. The seats had trays like in an airplane, charging stations and a place to throw any trash. This particular train also had foot rests that adjusted.

Also traveling on trains, you have to store your own luggage. Often there is an area at the front or back to the car you’re in to store suitcases. But, sometimes those spaces are all filled and you have to find other paces. Often there is a cargo area over the seats but it usually is only large enough to store a backpack, which we always do. Getting the luggage in place most of the time is easy but at other times you have to be creative and find other places between or under seats where you are not sitting.

We ate breakfast in our room in Venice because the breakfast area was not open before we needed to leave. We went to a grocery story and bought some yogurt and a pound cake to eat. After we ate that, we headed to the train.

In Verona, we had a two hour layover to catch the train to Innsbruck. We grabbed pizza and ate it in a little bistro while we waited. Today also was the day that some of the Italian rail works were going on strike and all passengers were alerted that it could change or delay service. We had no problems except for a small delay.

At the Verona station, toilets were not free. It cost one euro to use the toilet and we were thankful that the fee could be paid with a debit card by tapping it on the turnstile that let you in.

TO INNSBRUCK

We boarded our train to Innsbruck but for some reason—possibly the rail strike—we sat for 20 minutes with no air. It was stuffy. Once the train was rolling it was comical that the conductor announced several times that someone had left their luggage in front of one of the train car doors, which prevented people from getting on and off. Finally the conductor called the name of the person who owned the luggage and said it was to be jettisoned at the next stop if it was not moved. We didn’t hear any more so we assumed it was moved.

Our trip to Innsbruck was made more interesting because we were headed into the Austrian Alps. They were as magnificent as the ones in Switzerland. We could see snow on top of the mountains. And, the temperature began to drop as we went higher into the mountains. The scenery was just beautiful.

We arrived at the Austrian border, the train stopped while police or border agents came aboard the train. They just walked up and down the isles but did not ask for any identification, except for one man on the train they looked at his papers.

We arrived in Innsbruck late in the afternoon. Our hotel—the first non-local hotel we’ve stayed in (an AC Marriott) was not far from the station. Karen has done a wonderful job getting our hotels in easy walking distance of the train station. The hotel was as plush as any you’ll find in the USA. The room was large, had chairs and places to hang items in the bathroom. And, it was the first hotel we’ve stayed in that also had wash cloths. (Karen knew that most hotels didn’t offer wash cloths so she had packed two for each of us)

Also, our room was on the 9th floor and we had a spectacular view of the mountains all around us. Innsbruck has hosted two Olympics and we saw some of the venues where they were held, although most have been converted for other uses. An Olympic ski jump was visible from our room.

We wandered around downtown for a while, which was very nice and very quiet. We came upon a local restaurant where we ordered supper. We were hungry because of the light breakfast and the fast-food lunch. We ordered beef, potatoes with onions, a fried egg on top and cabbage slaw on the side. A little spicier than what we normally eat, but very good.

Sunday morning, we ate in the hotel restaurant and it was about the most normal breakfast we’d had in a while. Eggs, bacon, toast and orange juice. We’ve not got the coffee down yet, but we are working on it. Every hotel we’ve stayed at has a machine that makes all kinds of coffee. Just put your cup under it, push a button on what kind of coffee you want and out it comes. We’ve found that coffee with hot milk, which all comes out into our cup, is the closest to what we drink at home.

TO MUNICH

It was 48 degrees when we left Innsbruck and headed to Munich. The scenery again was beautiful and we saw a lot of farming. Couldn’t tell what was being grown but there was a lot of it. However, we did see fields full of sunflowers.

Karen had planned a three and a half stop over for us in Munich to spend some time exploring. She had planned for us to store our luggage at the train station and walk to city center to see and hear the famous Glockenspiel, which plays every day at noon. Because there was no English translation on how to get into the lockers, we decided to just walk to town center with luggage in tow.

Just before getting there were heard people yelling and screaming and clapping. We knew it wasn’t because we were arriving. We discovered that a mammoth race was underway. Hundreds of runners were coming through town center and hundreds more were standing around cheering them on. The center was cordoned off so runners could come through. There was a drum group also standing in town center playing their drums—and they were really into it. They were an organized group because it wasn’t just beating the drums they were making music with it.

We arrived to the town center about 10 minutes before noon. We were wondering if we would be able to hear the glockenspiel when it played. Thankfully, the drums quietened some as another small crowd of tourists gathered around the space. The bells rang for a while and we wondered if the glockenspiel would perform, but it did a little after the bells stopped. The huge figurines stationed high up in a tower began to move with music provided. I’m sure it was telling some kind of story because we just enjoyed seeing them move. It was almost like watching a life-sized cuckoo clock at work. Unfortunately it was pouring down rain as we walked there and back.

Because of the rain we decided to go back to the train station. The Munich train station was a madhouse of people hurrying to and fro. Many sprinting to catch their trains. There were very few places to sit. The big goal was to stay out of the way of those bolting to catch their trains. Karen and I both took the opportunity to visit the toilets. They were pay toilets. For some reason my debit card was not being read and a long line was forming behind me and I knew that there was only one thing on those folks’ mind.

When a man came out the entrance, I tried to get through, not waiting for my card to read. The gate hit me in the side, I dropped my debit card but was able to recover and get in the toilet.

It was so hard to find a place to sit, Karen decided she would buy each of us a pretzel and we’d eat it on the train. The train, a German regional one, was one on which we didn’t have reserved seats, because none were being allocated. There was some confusion about which train we were to get on. We learned we had to hustle to get on and find a seat. Storing the luggage was a hassle but we finally got everything stowed away.

Again, as we were leaving the area, the scenery was great, although some late comers to the train were having to stand for the two hour ride to Fussen, our destination for the day. We ate our cold pretzel, which was unbeknown to us infused with butter and drank our Coke. We met a lovely Vietnamese student studying in Fussen and had a great visit with her on our ride.

Karen snapped this photo of me at my seat on an almost empty first class car on our train. It makes it so much nicer when the car is not packed with folk. The bottom photo is of the glockenspiel in the town center in Munich. Despite the rain and the race going on behind us, it was a most interesting musical.