Au revoir Geneve guten tag Nürnberg (mit umlaut)

Following the merciful end of the conference on Thursday afternoon, Friday promised to be the start of the start of the fun part of my European adventure. 

Following a brisk bus and tram trip to Gare Cornavin (the main Geneva train station) I found I had time for a modest breakfast.  Finding a suitable café seemed easy enough, and better still, a blackboard menu advertised a petit dejeuner for 7.90 francs, which seemed very reasonable.  I confidently approached the counter and indicated my choice, which seemed to be readily understood and accepted, although it was clear my hostess’s English was even worse than my French, if possible.  But all was looking good until I started indicating with hand gestures where I wished to sit.  A problem was immediately apparent.  It seemed that the etiquette was not to choose my own table but to wait at the counter until my coffee was ready, following which I would be shown where I was to sit.  OK, I guess, except that it was then made clear that my allocated seat was in fact outside, where the temperature had just reached zero and ice was just starting to melt from the tables and chairs.  I’m still not sure where I went wrong.  Did I mistakenly say that I wanted to smoke?  Did I look like I needed some fresh bracing air?  More likely the 7.90 franc breakfast is so cheap that the catch is that you eat it outside, where it’s plain for all to see that you’re a cheap bastard who’s too mean to pay for an inside table.  Worse still, I was the only patron subjected to this ignominious treatment.  The irony was that the breakfast (orange juice, proper coffee, croissant and baguette, including marmalade) was excellent.  The coffee was hot, in a generous cup and the food was fresh (and seasonal and simple). 

 

 

Regardless, a tip was out of the question, and nor was I going to return my tray inside.  It’s probably still there, being pecked at by pigeons.

From there, it was onward to platform 4 for the 8.14 to Biel/Bienne, which was my first of 3 changes of train en route to Nuremberg.  Lesson one (well possibly lesson two, after: don’t order the cheap breakfast) – don’t arrive 10 seconds late for a Swiss train.  If the departure time is 8.14, the automatic doors close at 8.13 and 50 seconds, and you’re on your way right on time.  Not a problem for me, although while I was waiting I did see an unfortunate would-be passenger vainly try to open the door of his train 5 seconds before departure.

I had splashed out on first class, as it’s hardly any more than second, and very pleasant it was too.  The waiter would bring you coffee in a real cup and saucer if you ask nicely.  My fellow travelers were blessedly civilized.  Most of the first leg of the trip skirted the edge of a lake (they’re hard to avoid in Switzerland, even if you wanted to).  There were possibly snow-capped mountains over the other side of the lake, or at least I think that’s what I glimpsed through the fog.  I’m sure it will lift for 5 minutes at about 2 this afternoon.

The connection at Biel/Bienne for the next stop (Basel) was 8 minutes, which would have worried me, except for the certainty that everything would be on time.  And it was of course.  I could have had a quick cuppa while waiting.  The scenery changes after Biel/Bienne.  As far as I could tell we left the shore of the lake and headed into some hilly terrain.  Small to medium villages are everywhere.  Europe is so densely populated.  No wide brown land here. 

Sorry about the crap train window photos.  I'll do better tomorrow.

Basel is on the border of Switzerland, France and Germany. Time to change languages from Francais to Deutsch.  The connection at Basel was a leisurely 13 minutes, but a little more challenging owing to a platform change from the information on the ticket I printed before leaving home.  That was just to keep me on my toes.  There was free wifi on board and, amazingly, it worked.  There’s teutonic efficiency for you.  Mainly farmland outside.  Not exactly wide and brown; more compact and green.  My neighbours were uniformly well dressed and seemingly well bred, well heeled and several other ‘wells’ as well.  I think I may have lowered the tone of the carriage but I was at least unobtrusive.

My third and final change was at Karlsruhe.  No, I’d never heard of it either, but it’s big enough to have 12 platforms at the station, which certainly beats Canberra. 

 

On this leg I had an enclosed compartment for 6 which I had to myself at first but was full following a stop at Mühlacker (also mit umlaut).  My new chums included two ankle biters but they were well enough behaved.  There were 9 stops, including Stuttgart, which I can now cross off my list of places to visit.  My only mistake of the day (since breakfast anyway) was to decide to delay lunch until the final leg, which started at 1.06 (on the dot, of course).  One problem only - no restaurant car on this train, and it was 3 hours and 12 minutes to Nuremberg.  Good thing I had the croissant and baguette at 7AM. One of the proudly proclaimed features was free bicycle storage in second class.  So if you ride a bike and aren’t worried about malnutrition, this is the train for you.

I have now arrived in Nuremberg and checked into my palatial Ibis, but further news will have to wait until the morrow, as I need to urgently go forth for some bratwurst and sauerkraut …