Philip of Staines
@philipdp
I love to share my adventures - and even more to enjoy yours! I live in Staines - and that is all you need to know...
A hop, skip and jump via Hengelo brought me to Hamburg, a city full of life and love!
I felt a certain pang of regret when I saw this view - although it was just the Amsterdam boat train for me!
Goedemorgen! First off the ship, so no idea how the EES queues went, but those after me seemed to get through quick enough. Made 08.44 metro (still can't see what they improved over the old rail service) and now heading east!
Fancied a treat tonight - the Stena Plus Lounge. Very nice nibbles and drinks, including wine are inclusive, but hot meals are paid for. There will be something in the morning too. My only gripe - why wine and not beer?
Ship ahoy! The chirpy staff at Harwich started the check in at 20.30 and at 21.00 we walked on board. How relaxing...
There is a direct train to Harwich, but more enjoyable is to take the 18.30 Norwich and change at Manningtree. There's a buffet on the train, and the one at the station is rather special. I'm glad I'm travelling this way!
Off we go for a little summer escape. Sadly, the ticket to London will probably be the only paper ticket of my whole trip... Let's go!
And just like that, I ended up back in Staines! Thank you for following - see you on my next one, whenever that may be...
Due to engineering work, a change in peaceful Stendal is necessary. And the next train is a lovely ICE 2, with the welcoming 'lobby'.
Time to sort tomorrow's travel. DB says no seats available, but if you book full fare there suddenly is. But České Dráhy comes to the rescue...9
At Leipzig, I find a coach to myself in an incredibly long ICE. Unusually, everything is working - and the DB burger is delicious!
After a visit to the famous Żabka, my all too short visit to Poland came to an end.
At Poznań I took the Baltic Express to Wrocław. A lovely meal, but who designs a buffet area with seating like this? One seat doesn't even have a table...
The many faces of Poznań Główny. The 'Letni' (summer) station is a lovely little surprise.
Dzień dobry! The day starts in Bydgoszcz with a delay caused by a late Intercity. But soon we are on our way.
You know how you should always bring a small gift when you visit a family? Well, I forgot and so the Gold Bunny ended his journey here, in a small flat in Bydgoszcz...
In Bydgoszcz I checked into the elegant Hotel Ikar, a bit out of town.
I could have taken the Zamoyski all the way from Rzeszów, but the catering was just a machine. So I changed onto it in Warsaw.
Set amidst the otherwise hourly Pendolini to Warsaw was this special treat - a nice EIC 'proper' train, non-stop to the capital. No supplementary charge, modern coaches, comfy seating, and żurek in the restaurant car. What more do you need?
Passing up the temptation to have the full Czech experience, I made do with some chocolate pancakes as I doubled back to Kraków (I wanted longer in bed, hence going as far as Rzeszów!)
Dzień dobry! A nice breakfast somewhere near Tarnów, and then a visit to the shower. But I think we can all guess how that went.
Tonight will be the train with many names. And a sleeping compartment with an interesting design flaw.
ZSSK I know you are clearly trying to run this place down, but it's potentially an amazing building if you had a bit of vision. And meanwhile, bring back the luggage lockers.
I took the newly electrified service to Bratislava. While clearly there'd been no timetable improvements, the luxurious OeBB coaches were a treat after that Railjet thing.
At Villach I changed to the following Railjet, one with available seats. But what seats - I thought 2nd class Railjet seats were bad, but these are no improvement at all.