Various trains to Bremen today where thankfully no small town confusion resides in my head.Hopefully the four changes go smoothly but as we’re dealing with the infamous DB that seems to be more hope than expectation,at least two of the trips are on Dutch trains so things might be fine.The good thing is have time and the hotel is right by Bremen Hauptbahnhof so even if it’s a crock of shit trip once I get to Bremen I’ll be fine…
So have done things slightly different this time with Interrail.Normally I include the outgoing & ingoing Eurostar trips which is fine & cheaper of course(just,they do tend to whack on the price of mandatory reservations) but you also lose two days travel so instead of seven days hoiking around Europe I would only have five…this time I paid for Eurostar separately and so have the full complement of days and the Bremen leg is my first use this time…
I am also slightly winging it in that I have only booked up until Berlin and gonna play it by ear after that.I usually like being ultra organised but thought “fuck it let’s be a bit risky” what’s the worst that can happen? Don’t answer that…
Another glorious day.Waiting outside the hotel for their cafe to open so I can grab a coffee before shooting off on the train.The station is only a few minutes away so no rush…had to grab the bathroom quickly for my shower before anyone else did.That’s the trouble with shared bathrooms.It’s a dog eat dog world.The one upside is previous punters always leave lots of shampoo & conditioner and invariably it’s better than anything in your possession.Suffice to say my hair & beard is as luscious as a Crufts champion today…the shared bathroom experience has been very painless this stay but sometimes they can be angst filled seething cauldrons of unease.Or something…I’m en-suite in Bremen so all’s good…
So that sort of rhetorical question earlier about what’s the worst that can happen nearly had an answer.I thought I’d better punch in my trains into the Interrail app and my pass wouldn’t load.After about 15 minutes of frantically checking everything I could think of and also much industrial language ( as football commentators say) I decided to check the app in the Apple store and it just needed an update.Once done all was fine but it was a hairy moment…
Bit of a mad dash at my first change as the train I got off hung around to let all the cyclists on and my train had to divert platform.Whilst cycling is laudable it can be a pain in the arse when they’re holding up trains.Managed to get mine with 30secs to spare and i’m in a six berth compartment which I don’t think I’m supposed to be in.Ah well…turns out I was cool as the ticket inspector didn’t mention it.
My first three connections were all regional trains and all fine but as soon as I have to catch an inter city DB train it’s at least half hour late,because of course it is…I did however get introduced to Jesus whilst having a smoke outside a station on the Dutch German border.She also offered me some water which looked like the top had been messed with and my immediate thought was Kool Aid so declined…
Anyway will let you all know how I got on in my final league of the journey tomorrow…
Laters all…
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