We arrived in Munich on July 10th at 6am - after another night train! We had a compartment with 6 seats and at first only 3 of them were occupied. We sat back, relaxed and thought to ourselves, "This could be a pretty good night train with only half of the comparment occupied. We have plenty of space to stretch out and snooze." After about an hour of travelling, our fellow passenger left and it was just us 2.
Well, as time went on, the scenario changed. At about 1am, we were awoken from our light sleep as 4 teenagers were placed in our compartment. They then began to talk amongst themselves (with outdoor voices) when it was obvious we were sleeping before they entered. Typically with night trains, you have to make a reservation and we knew that only 4 of the 6 seats were reserved (2 belonging to us and 2 belonging to other people who would join the train later on throughout the night). These teens didn't have reservations and were part of a school trip, so one of the train attendants shoved 2 of them in our compartment (as 4 of the seats had reservations). As soon as the attendant left, the teens brought in 2 of their friends for a full cabin filled with chatter and giggles at 1am!
After about an hour or so, the kids began to get sleepy and one soon rested her head on my arm. I thought, "Hmm...Do I gently nudge her head back off my body or just let it be?" I decided to just let it be - yes, sometimes I can be that nice :) I swallowed up the discomfort and added body heat and just let it be.
At about 3am, the people (an elderly couple) who had reservations for the other 2 seats entered the compartment. Wow, I've never seen people move so fast. The teens jumped from their seats and without question, all 4 left the compartment. The elderly couple got settled in and we tried to sleep once again. I think in total, I had about 1 hour of sleep on that night train. Between the teenagers chatting, the movement between people and the elderly man attending to what I think was a weak bladder every 30 minutes, I was pretty thankful that I was off the train at 6am.
On to Munich! Finally, we had arrived and we were in desperate need to freshen up. For €1, we could use the bathrooms at the train station and this time I paid it, as I wanted to wash my face, brush my teeth and use the toilets. Being in Europe, I haven't had to pay too often to use the bathrooms. In most of the train stations what I have done is enter a train that's on the platform that isn't set to leave for at least 5 minutes and use their facilities, instead of paying at the station! Hee hee - keep that little secret between just us! It has saved me several Euros so far! I do have a Eurail pass and basically I have an unlimited ticket to ride these trains, so I don't feel guilty. If the train were to depart with me on it, I would simply show my Eurail pass and I would be allowed to take the train. If I didn't have the Eurail pass and was doing this, I'd hear guilty bells chiming in my head. Guilty, guilty, guilty! Not a nice sound.
After we freshened up, we locked up our luggage and went off to explore Munich. It was a Sunday morning and most shops and museums were closed (on Sundays in Europe, most things are closed. It truly is a day of rest). The streets were also relatively quiet as we were exploring so early, so we finished our itinerary quite quickly. Here are some pics from Munich.
Well - that was our morning/afternoon in Munich. We then boarded another train for Dusseldorf where we slept at the airport overnight as we had a 6:3am flight to Bilbao, Spain.
Well, as time went on, the scenario changed. At about 1am, we were awoken from our light sleep as 4 teenagers were placed in our compartment. They then began to talk amongst themselves (with outdoor voices) when it was obvious we were sleeping before they entered. Typically with night trains, you have to make a reservation and we knew that only 4 of the 6 seats were reserved (2 belonging to us and 2 belonging to other people who would join the train later on throughout the night). These teens didn't have reservations and were part of a school trip, so one of the train attendants shoved 2 of them in our compartment (as 4 of the seats had reservations). As soon as the attendant left, the teens brought in 2 of their friends for a full cabin filled with chatter and giggles at 1am!
After about an hour or so, the kids began to get sleepy and one soon rested her head on my arm. I thought, "Hmm...Do I gently nudge her head back off my body or just let it be?" I decided to just let it be - yes, sometimes I can be that nice :) I swallowed up the discomfort and added body heat and just let it be.
At about 3am, the people (an elderly couple) who had reservations for the other 2 seats entered the compartment. Wow, I've never seen people move so fast. The teens jumped from their seats and without question, all 4 left the compartment. The elderly couple got settled in and we tried to sleep once again. I think in total, I had about 1 hour of sleep on that night train. Between the teenagers chatting, the movement between people and the elderly man attending to what I think was a weak bladder every 30 minutes, I was pretty thankful that I was off the train at 6am.
On to Munich! Finally, we had arrived and we were in desperate need to freshen up. For €1, we could use the bathrooms at the train station and this time I paid it, as I wanted to wash my face, brush my teeth and use the toilets. Being in Europe, I haven't had to pay too often to use the bathrooms. In most of the train stations what I have done is enter a train that's on the platform that isn't set to leave for at least 5 minutes and use their facilities, instead of paying at the station! Hee hee - keep that little secret between just us! It has saved me several Euros so far! I do have a Eurail pass and basically I have an unlimited ticket to ride these trains, so I don't feel guilty. If the train were to depart with me on it, I would simply show my Eurail pass and I would be allowed to take the train. If I didn't have the Eurail pass and was doing this, I'd hear guilty bells chiming in my head. Guilty, guilty, guilty! Not a nice sound.
After we freshened up, we locked up our luggage and went off to explore Munich. It was a Sunday morning and most shops and museums were closed (on Sundays in Europe, most things are closed. It truly is a day of rest). The streets were also relatively quiet as we were exploring so early, so we finished our itinerary quite quickly. Here are some pics from Munich.
Glockenspiel
Glockenspiel up close
Inside the Hofbrahaus
Inside the Hofbrahaus - People have their own mugs locked up!
Theatinerkirche
Englisher Gardens
Surfing at Englisher Gardens - this was really cool to watch!
Residenz
Well - that was our morning/afternoon in Munich. We then boarded another train for Dusseldorf where we slept at the airport overnight as we had a 6:3am flight to Bilbao, Spain.
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