Romania to Austria to Germany

Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Friedrichshafen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Forgot to say that our spend up at the station yesterday also included 2 large coffees - less than $1 each. Money can go a long way in Romania.

Well at 1 .24 a.m.we reached the border at Curtici - right on time too. The Romanian police were very nice - he even wished me a Happy Birthday! We had to put the time back an hour then, and had the Hungarian police check our passports at 1.05 - still on time. I went back to sleep and slept through until about 5.40. I didn't have a clue where we were. We were meant to be at Budapest at 4.40 and leave at 5.10. Had we been through and we weren't late after all?

That was wishful thinking! We got to Budapest at 7 a.m. But before that we had another drama. About 6 o'clock a dreadful noise started coming from our bathroom. Bryan found a conductor/guard who was awake and he woke up our guy. A lot of groaning (and a fair bit of bad smell!) later, they'd stopped the noise. We used the WC at the end of the carriage after that. Since there was only 1 other guy on the carriage, this didn't matter. In fact, this WC and shower were much roomier than the one in our compartment . We also got to look at the compartments with just a basin - much smaller than ours. So worth paying a bit extra for the private shower & toilet even if you don't use them.

Arrived at Vienna Westbahnhof at 10.52 - 2 hours and 38 minutes late. There was no wifi on the train, so we couldn't look anything up. The plan had been a train to Bregenz at 9.30 and then change and arrive at Friederichshafen on Lake Constance at 17.07 (or 17.27 if we were a bit late). Luckily Vienna Westbf had a Business Lounge. As we drank our scrumptious latte and nibbled croisssants, we checked the train times. We could get to Friederichshafen the same route, leaving at 11.30 and arriving at 19.07 - but with 3 very tight changes (instead of 1 easy one).

The Austrian landscape looked very ordered after Romania, but I soon got used to it. Very easy on the eye. If there were animals grazing in an unfenced area, they were surrounded by a movable string fence (looked electric) - no need for shepherds here . We went through Salzburg to Innsbruck on a Railjet train - fast, clean, wifi, dining car. Then Innsbruck to Feldkirch on an EC which was very comfortable and had First Class. Innsbruck is surrounded by mountains, and the rail line to Feldkirch was another scenic mountain route - Arlberg was the highest point. Didn't take so many photos today - but everything was still awesome.

Crossed the platform at Feldkirch to carry on to Lindau. This train was very busy with workers going home - down to a REX (Regional Express) train now. The final leg was a regional train that shuttles backwards and forwards from Lindau to Friedrichshafen. Lindau is on the border of Austria and Germany. There'd been a few stretches along the side of Lake Constance. Arrived just after 7 pm and found the hotel easy enough. Had to ring up and get a code to open the door though. It wouldn't work for Bryan, so the guy had to get on his bike and come around - it worked fine for him.

First thing we tried was the internet. It didn't work. We rang the man - still wouldn't work. Since he'd arrived on his bike we guessed he might also run the Mexican Restaurant that was recommended. It was just around the corner, and yes he was there. After a walk around the town's 'promenade' along the lake, we went back and had Mexican for dinner. At "El Bocado". I had a few Tequila Sunrises! The internet at the restaurant worked intermittently, but we never did get it to work at the hotel.
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