European train travel part 2 – avoiding Deutsche Bahn

Ten or eleven connections, should I be worried?

It’s ten or eleven because I’m not sure if I will need one or two trains home from Basel. The plan is eight or nine trains, one train replacement bus and two buses. Not in that order. Traveling in five different countries. It’s going to be epic. The good kind, I hope.

I’ll be writing on this piece when I can. Currently on my second Belgian train stuck somewhere outside of Antwerp. By car this is where you will get stuck, any time of the day. Looks like that is true for trains as well. I hope we will continue soon. Train announcements are only in Dutch, but signs are Dutch and French. So at least I’m not missing crucial information about not making loud phone calls on the train.

Okay, so now we are being thanked for our patience as we’re waiting for an oncoming train. Good thing I understand Dutch. Did you know that Belgium has three national languages? Dutch, French and German. I should feel right at home here.

Oh, and I’m not deliberately avoiding Deutsch Bahn. Well, I am but not for THAT reason. There is construction work going on and while I would normally have taken a train up to Arnhem and then hopped on a direct train to Basel I’m not since that’s the line they are working on. Now, if I trusted Deutsche Bahn I might have still gone for it and changed trains several times and gotten on replacement buses, BUT … as things stand, not so much.

It gets too complicated with seat reservations and canceled or delayed trains. Just not what I wanted for this trip home. There will be a replacement bus service in Luxembourg, and I trust that that will all work out well.

I could also have traveled through Rotterdam getting the Eurostar from there to Paris and then from Paris to Basel. Would have been a bit faster, but again with seat reservations and I couldn’t get a seat on the train I wanted. The later train would have gotten me into Paris late tonight and I didn’t feel like just spending the night there.

My ticket was not checked on my entire trip up and now it’s been checked three times already on this Belgian train. I don’t know which I prefer. I guess having my ticket checked feels better to me - bordering on annoying.

Now on my third Belgian train (fourth overall). Spacious seats, lots of leg room, but nowhere to charge my phone and/or laptop. Too bad really, but there you go. I do have a powerbank for my phone and I can stop writing at any point should my laptop’s power drain too fast.

Something I realized when changing trains in Bruxelles Nord. I understand how train stations. The elevator was at the far end of the platform – I won’t get into how unhelpful that is – and when you got to the lower level there was nothing there. So, what you do in that case is you walk past all the stairs up to the tracks and look for the main hall. There always is one if it’s a bigger station. That’s where you’ll find departure times for all trains, signs to lockers and restrooms and food, we mustn’t forget about food.

This station had like four or five ways to get up to the tracks but there was an escalator in only one place. Find that one and use it if you can. Much easier than the elevator. And I won’t talk about how they always smell like a urinal. I get being desperate for a loo but in an elevator? Come on!

While we’re on the subject, getting in and out of a restroom where you have to pay with luggage is not always entirely straight forward, but I’ve developed a strategy that works. I roll my suitcase through first on its own put my backpacks back on top of it and only then do I pay and move through the barrier. And pushy angry German dude will just have to wait. And no, I totally didn’t smirk when the machine declined his card. I would never use Schadenfreude against a German. Never.

I got myself a fizzy fuze iced tea. We don’t get those in Switzerland. I always one when traveling. It’s not just the fizzy we don’t get, they also had to call that iced tea “fuse” in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. In Swiss German “fuze” is very rude. And because I’m like 10 years old, I laugh every single time.

OMD, Dutch with a French accent is super cute. Sorry, not making fun it’s just adorable. Okay, now we’re speaking French on the train. Got it! Just give my brain a minute. And then in Luxembourg it’s gonna be French? German? English? HELP! At least in Switzerland we have a nice geographical language border. You’re only ever confused in bilingual towns.

I’m liking this train; it has a super nice feel to it. It’s kind of slow but seems reliable. I loved the passive-aggressive announcement in Brussels about a train delay. It said: “due to an incident in Germany the train to … is running 13 minutes late” that’s code for: “The Deutsche Bahn has completely lost the plot and we’re annoyed that the screw up the schedule of trains running in Belgium, but we have to pretend to be nice about it”.

The picture I’m sharing is one from Roosendaal station where something embarrassing happened. It’s a really good story and I had a good laugh about it, but I think it’s one that I’m just gonna keep to myself for now.

I’m posting this while my laptop still has power and then maybe another one further along the way. Nor sure if I’ll have a cute little table like the one I have here on the next couple of trains. I mean I know they have them on the train from Strasbourg to Basel, but there it’s a matter of being fast enough to get a seat that has one.

Oh, this area looks super familiar to me. I wonder if the freeway runs close to the train tracks. Just checked and yes it does. Well done me. I always drive home through Luxembourg. Avoiding Germany – again. I love driving fast, but there is fast and then there is insane.

Are you wondering if you need to be here for this conversation, I’m having with myself yet? Well, I’ll give you a little break and will check back in later when in France or Switzerland. Most likely not from Luxembourg. I’m not there long enough. That place is tiny. And I will be on that train replacement bus as well.

Have a lovely day.