Bavaria Days 7-8: Vienna to London
I'm writing our last two days as one post because it was all part of the same return journey.
As we arose in Vienna it was lightly snowing, the first we'd seen in Europe. After breakfast, as we stepped outside, it was even heavier. We made our way past the opera house to the ring road. As we waited for the number 2 tram to ride around the ring encircling the city centre, I got this shot of Sarah with the opera house in the background.
The trip was about half an hour and a nice tour, but train photos are generally rubbish and mine were no exception so I won't share any here. As we returned, the weather was considerably lighter - no more snow, and some sun. We passed the opera house once again to the Sacher Hotel.
Our mission here was to try the famous Sachertorte chocolate cake. Margo used to make this when she worked in a Bavarian bakery. I thought the cake was okay, but the frosting was amazing. Margo and I also ordered coffees with a special Sacher liqueur. Sarah of course had a hot chocolate.
Next we visited a confectioner's shop across the shopping street. Sarah got this shot of Margo leaving with our edible souvenirs.
We walked some of the route I'd taken the previous evening. Turning back to return via the shopping streets by which we'd arrived, I saw this carriage go past and it seemed very Viennese.
Here is the cathedral again, in the daylight and showing its context amidst the shopping streets.
We returned to our room, knowing it would be the last space to call our own for a while. Then a taxi to the train station.
Our train journey to Munich was actually three legs. But fortunately Margo booked us first class this time, as apparently the cost difference was trivial. So our first leg, the longest, was possibly the best train ride we've had yet: leather seats, seatback video, carpeting, wood paneling. I ordered a Weissbier and it was served in the same glass you'd find in a pub. Sarah was given an activity book and crayons.
For a while our trip was quite hilly. We'd pass above valleys of houses and towns. Later the landscape flattened and again I noticed A-frame houses.
At our first transfer, we had a few minutes to change trains. Munchen (Munich) was not listed as a final destination for any of the platforms, so I sprinted ahead to ask an attendant. We found our train once again with minutes to spare. This train was not so nice - older and noisier. At one station, we stopped next to a train carrying stacks of fresh BMWs. I wondered if anyone would notice one missing.
We had our last transfer in Friesing, just ten minutes from Munich. Back at the station, we had about two and a half hours before our overnight train to Paris. Margo booked in plenty of extra time in case a train was late (tickets are usually non-refundable and non-exchangeable), and though we definitely needed it with our casually-scheduled Italian train a few trips ago, our German trains were bang on time, as far as I noticed.
Hunting around for an easy dinner choice, we found a tapas bar right in the station. Perfect.
We ordered a collection of nine small dishes: corn; rice; shnitzel; latke (potato pancakes); ravioli; croquettes; tomato and cucumber slices in viniagrette; sausages; and saurkraut with dumplings. I also got a few things to help me sleep.
(Sarah took this picture also. Her timing is pretty good now.)
Our Deutsche Bahn train carriage was an impressive display of what can be put into a small space.
Three beds on the left, and a full shower and toilet in the bathroom to the right. Though, I saw the sink should swing away to use the shower, and I never did figure out how to do it, so I barely fit behind the shower curtain the next morning. But I was also impressed by the design: the bunk lighting that was nonintrusive to other bunks; the hidden wall bits that folded out with cupholders for the coffee and tea we were served in the morning.
We slept fairly well and arrived in Paris before 7 am. Here we had almost four hours to spend before our Eurostar departure. You might think we'd be mad to wonder how to spend a few hours in Paris, but as it was just dawn, most shops were closed, and we were still quite tired, we settled on something of a café crawl for the short walk from Garde de l'Est to Gare du Nord.
We'd probably had three or more coffees or hot chocolates each before we joined the boarding queue at the Eurostar terminal.
By now we're such seasoned travelers that the Eurostar is like a local train, so our return to London was quite uneventful. Our return to Ipswich took more of the afternoon, and as we found our house keys and went inside, it was nearly dark.
As I write several days later, we still have mounds of laundry to work through. Sarah's taken a bit of a cold and stayed home from school today; I suspect the main cause is hot chocolate withdrawal. But it's great to be back and resume our boring lives for a few more months.
As we arose in Vienna it was lightly snowing, the first we'd seen in Europe. After breakfast, as we stepped outside, it was even heavier. We made our way past the opera house to the ring road. As we waited for the number 2 tram to ride around the ring encircling the city centre, I got this shot of Sarah with the opera house in the background.
The trip was about half an hour and a nice tour, but train photos are generally rubbish and mine were no exception so I won't share any here. As we returned, the weather was considerably lighter - no more snow, and some sun. We passed the opera house once again to the Sacher Hotel.
Our mission here was to try the famous Sachertorte chocolate cake. Margo used to make this when she worked in a Bavarian bakery. I thought the cake was okay, but the frosting was amazing. Margo and I also ordered coffees with a special Sacher liqueur. Sarah of course had a hot chocolate.
Next we visited a confectioner's shop across the shopping street. Sarah got this shot of Margo leaving with our edible souvenirs.
We walked some of the route I'd taken the previous evening. Turning back to return via the shopping streets by which we'd arrived, I saw this carriage go past and it seemed very Viennese.
Here is the cathedral again, in the daylight and showing its context amidst the shopping streets.
We returned to our room, knowing it would be the last space to call our own for a while. Then a taxi to the train station.
Our train journey to Munich was actually three legs. But fortunately Margo booked us first class this time, as apparently the cost difference was trivial. So our first leg, the longest, was possibly the best train ride we've had yet: leather seats, seatback video, carpeting, wood paneling. I ordered a Weissbier and it was served in the same glass you'd find in a pub. Sarah was given an activity book and crayons.
For a while our trip was quite hilly. We'd pass above valleys of houses and towns. Later the landscape flattened and again I noticed A-frame houses.
At our first transfer, we had a few minutes to change trains. Munchen (Munich) was not listed as a final destination for any of the platforms, so I sprinted ahead to ask an attendant. We found our train once again with minutes to spare. This train was not so nice - older and noisier. At one station, we stopped next to a train carrying stacks of fresh BMWs. I wondered if anyone would notice one missing.
We had our last transfer in Friesing, just ten minutes from Munich. Back at the station, we had about two and a half hours before our overnight train to Paris. Margo booked in plenty of extra time in case a train was late (tickets are usually non-refundable and non-exchangeable), and though we definitely needed it with our casually-scheduled Italian train a few trips ago, our German trains were bang on time, as far as I noticed.
Hunting around for an easy dinner choice, we found a tapas bar right in the station. Perfect.
We ordered a collection of nine small dishes: corn; rice; shnitzel; latke (potato pancakes); ravioli; croquettes; tomato and cucumber slices in viniagrette; sausages; and saurkraut with dumplings. I also got a few things to help me sleep.
(Sarah took this picture also. Her timing is pretty good now.)
Our Deutsche Bahn train carriage was an impressive display of what can be put into a small space.
Three beds on the left, and a full shower and toilet in the bathroom to the right. Though, I saw the sink should swing away to use the shower, and I never did figure out how to do it, so I barely fit behind the shower curtain the next morning. But I was also impressed by the design: the bunk lighting that was nonintrusive to other bunks; the hidden wall bits that folded out with cupholders for the coffee and tea we were served in the morning.
We slept fairly well and arrived in Paris before 7 am. Here we had almost four hours to spend before our Eurostar departure. You might think we'd be mad to wonder how to spend a few hours in Paris, but as it was just dawn, most shops were closed, and we were still quite tired, we settled on something of a café crawl for the short walk from Garde de l'Est to Gare du Nord.
We'd probably had three or more coffees or hot chocolates each before we joined the boarding queue at the Eurostar terminal.
By now we're such seasoned travelers that the Eurostar is like a local train, so our return to London was quite uneventful. Our return to Ipswich took more of the afternoon, and as we found our house keys and went inside, it was nearly dark.
As I write several days later, we still have mounds of laundry to work through. Sarah's taken a bit of a cold and stayed home from school today; I suspect the main cause is hot chocolate withdrawal. But it's great to be back and resume our boring lives for a few more months.
posted by Michael Nelson at 7:42 am
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