European Rail Trip 2023 - Part One - I Am Not In Love With Trains
“I have seldom heard a train go by and not wished I was on it.”
So wrote Paul Theroux in The Great Railway Bazaar published in 1975.
And as opening lines go, it does seem to be quite a good fit for this post.
Because, and I feel I need to make this clear right from the start, whilst I am not in love with trains as such, I am and have always been very much excited by the prospect of long distance train travel.
Of the endless possibilities and the thoughts of adventure and of actually having the time, yes, the time, to sit back and take a moment or two to contemplate the journey as it unfolds rather than to just think about the destination.
Which is how you would have found me, found us even, on the platform of our local station just a couple of weeks ago, waiting patiently but also rather excitedly, with long suffering early morning commuters, for our suburban service to London and a fortnight (almost) of romantic, reflective and adventurous travels across Europe.
Which would, I hoped, either lead to a big, fat tick against one of my bucket list challenges or a gentle nudge at the already slightly open door behind which exists a whole world of train and travel related adventures in future.
We shall, as they say, see what happens.
Well, I know what happens of course, but you will have to stick with me to find out if you really are that interested.
So, back to that platform alongside the commuters. It was the start of a good day actually. A train up to Vauxhall and tube to St. Pancras. Then a Eurostar service to Paris Gare du Nord. A quick trip on the Metro down to Gare De L'Est to drop off our backpacks in the left luggage and then a couple of hours in the sunshine to enjoy Paris. It was sunny, hot even, and we strolled along the Seine, full of positive feelings at the start of our adventure. The blossom on the trees and tourists in the streets were all out in force and we had great fun exploring a city we love. Rather quickly we managed to find a beautiful little garden we had not visited before, hidden away on the Ile de la Cite, the Square du Vert Galant, with a lovely view along the Seine and some fascinating history. Only four-tenths of an acre in size, it was full of beautiful plum and apple trees in full blossom and Parisians taking a lunch break or working on their studies. The “Most Romantic Garden In Paris” managed to live up to its name.
We took a quick look at some of the courtyards at the Louvre and then came across a rather magnificent and impressively large model of a painter outside the Louise Vuitton store. No idea what it was all about but it was clearly a photo opportunity if ever I saw one.
We jumped back on the Metro to Gare de L'Est to collect the luggage and grab a quick bite to eat in the station before our early evening TGV train down to Mannheim. About 3 hours of very fast travel down through France and across the border into Germany in a very smart and comfortable carriage. We arrived in Mannheim to a glorious sunset and a very short walk (about 2 minutes, tops) from the station to the hotel. We wrapped up what had been a rather good first day with a few drinks in an almost empty hotel bar, talking over the highlights of our first rail experiences and trying not to smile too much at the slightly grumpy Germans next to us watching Bayern Munich being beaten by Manchester City on a laptop.
Special mention has to be made to the group of elderly women from Alabama, all in or around their 80's, who showed their appreciation of my help with their cases by chatting to us for most of the Eurostar journey to Paris and the subsequent unloading of said cases from the luggage rack once we had arrived. If you can imagine a group of about half a dozen Dolly Parton “soundalikes” all chattering away and having a great time, that was us as we travelled under the Channel.
We made a bright and early start the next morning, uncommon for us on holiday, after a decent nights sleep, also rare on our travels. We wanted to explore Mannheim a little before our late morning train taking us deeper into Germany. We grabbed a map from the hotel reception and set out into another sunny day. Not having too much time available we headed for the main tourist spot in the city and found it with only one or two minor diversions. The Mannheim Water Tower was quite stunning for something designed and built in the 1880’s as part of an urban development plan. Located in a beautiful semicircular park with gardens full of flowers and art-deco surprises, it was a wonderful way to start the day and allowed us plenty of photo opportunities.
Having had a bit of a trawl around the local coffee shops (a theme for the trip) we finally found a place that served decent coffee (or so I was told) and breakfast, all offered by an Australian student from Perth. We had a fascinating chat with him, learned that Mannheim is actually a really cool place to study, and then headed back to pick up our luggage and head to the station. (continued after the photographs)
We had a very laid back afternoon, travelling through Germany on another comfortable train. Not the fastest journey to date but the few hundred miles included stops in interesting places including Frankfurt and Leipzig before touching down in Berlin, our destination for the next four nights and a place I have wanted to visit for a long time.
On arrival at our hotel in Berlin, a rather swish place it has to be said, the staff were a little shocked when two mature and scruffy backpackers turned up at their reception. After some rather audible tutting and one or two slighty patronising looks they did realise that we were genuine and we eventually found ourselves booked in and ready to explore.
In some ways it’s good to know that we pulled off the tired and slightly disheveled backpacker look so easily!
As is often the case with posts such as this, it would simply take too long to detail every place we saw in our three days exploring Berlin. We were lucky with the weather, it was sunny and warm for most of the weekend, and we found some really interesting and cool places to enjoy. We were not quite so lucky with our health, but that can happen anywhere and any time. Lets just say that we both suffered a little for a few days on our travels but we were determined not to let it ruin our adventure.
So, in no particular order, welcome to our Berlin highlights.
The rather wonderful Tiergarten, located just a short walk away from our hotel. Considered Berlin’s “green lung” we walked here most days and enjoyed one particularly wonderful early evening in the sunshine, people watching beside one of the lakes.
The absolutely stunning Victory Column, which we walked past frequently and visited one evening when the light was just perfect. Designed to celebrate a Prussian war victory in the late 1800’s (there are far too many to recall which one) we used the very cool musical subways to reach the column in the middle of the road and had our photograph taken by a friendly girl from Edinburgh.
We spent a lovely warm day exploring the gardens at the Schloss Charlottenburg, a baroque palace built at the end of the 17th century and located on the River Spree. We were in no hurry (Gail was recovering from sickness) and we got lost in the beautiful setting, even finding time for some sketching in the sunshine.
Perhaps the most poignant of our experiences was a stop at the Holocaust Memorial, more accurately known as the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Consisting of almost 3,000 grey oblong pillars, it had an emotional power to it that I find difficult to share in just a few words. Although at the time of our visit it felt a little awkward that it is located no more than a couple of minutes walk from the deliberately non-descript car park that covers the remains of the Fuhrerbunker, the place where Adolf Hitler was married and subsequently died. A very strange emotion indeed knowing how close they are to each other.
Our visit to Berlin wouldn’t have felt complete with a trip to a museum or a dip into the world of street art. We managed both with a walk around the Nollendorfplatz Ubahn station area and then some time exploring the ultra cool Urban Nation Museum for Urban Contemporary Art.
We also managed to visit plenty of other wonderful places including the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag Building and Checkpoint Charlie.
Clearly three days was never going to be enough time to visit everything that interested us. So many places will have to wait for our next visit, even the Ramones Museum (yes, there is such a place and yes it was on my list!).
But perhaps my over riding memory of our first visit to Berlin was on a sunny and warm Saturday afternoon in the Tiergarten. As we strolled along the beautifully wooded paths, watching people out in small boats on the lake and enjoying the general buzz of a sunny spring day in the city, we heard the faint sound of people in the distance. We duly followed it, turning a number of corners with no help from signage, only to come face to face with an absolutely rammed beer garden. The Cafe am Neuen See is a famous place in a beautiful location. With a restaurant and beer garden under large, mature trees next to a lake (the Neuen See), we were immediately impressed. We got talking to a friendly local who chatted with us for some time, explaining the history and telling us that it was his favourite place in Berlin. And with the happy and well behaved crowds enjoying the spring sunshine by the side of the lake it was easy to see why.
So, as we headed back to Berlin Hauptbahnhof in the back of a cab driven by a very friendly guy from Nigeria (everyone was friendly, as most people are if you show them a little interest and respect) we started the next stage of our adventure. But in order to try and keep the length of these posts under some sort of control, you can find out more (if you really want to) in my next post.
