Travelling to Berlin
So I'm in Berlin again. I wanted to go to Prague and found I had to break my journey somewhere and I like Berlin.
Since I was last hear two years ago there have been a couple of changes that made travelling slightly easier.
Firstly, the Eurostar I took to Brussels went on to Amsterdam. Previously the Eurostars stopped on a dedicated platform from which you had to go down to the main station concourse to find your connecting service. This time, the train I needed to Cologne was waiting on the next platform, although at the opposite end of the platform to where my seat had been on the Eurostar.
There was a problem boarding the train to Berlin at Cologne. There was a fault with the carriage in which my seat was reserved - something about the air-conditioning, I heard - so I was directed to another carriage at the other end of the train. There were plenty of empty seats and I guessed that "freigeben" on the display above the seat meant something like unreserved (it's not in my German dictionary, but Google translate gives me "release") but someone did try and claim the seat later, although as I had the empty dish my dinner had come in on the table, he decided to go elsewhere. (You get at seat meal service in first class on DB.)
I have spoken before of my problem with the new main railway station in Berlin. When I first travelled to Berlin in 2004 the main station was the Zoo station but when I went back in 2010 the new all-glass station had opened. I quickly discovered that all the visibility between levels in the station did not go well with my fear of heights.
There are five levels to the station. Some of the platforms are on the second floor and some are in the under-basement. If you are standing in the wrong position on the upper platforms, you can see all the way down to the bottom, all five levels, and my legs refuse to move.
The last two times I travelled to Berlin, the trains from Cologne came into one of the upper platforms, and that was where I had to catch the train home. I required a certain amount of trepidation on my part to get on to the platform.
These trains still went through the old Zoo station, which is still operational, so yesterday I was waiting for the familiar sites including a view of the famous Siegessäule just after going through the Zoo station to tell me it was time to get my case down. (Unlike British trains, you can store a substantially sized suitcase in the over-seat luggage rack.) Suddenly I realised we were in a tunnel and I just had time to get my case down before the train stopped at one of the underground platforms.
And this proved good for me. I only had to go up one escalator - not too bad - and there was a sign directing me to the exit to Invalidenstrasse, which was were my hotel is. Furthermore there was a subway under the road which came out right next to the hotel entrance. It looks like all the trains I'm catching are from these platforms, so that's a great relief for me.
Also posted to Dreamwidth. There are
comments there so far.
Since I was last hear two years ago there have been a couple of changes that made travelling slightly easier.
Firstly, the Eurostar I took to Brussels went on to Amsterdam. Previously the Eurostars stopped on a dedicated platform from which you had to go down to the main station concourse to find your connecting service. This time, the train I needed to Cologne was waiting on the next platform, although at the opposite end of the platform to where my seat had been on the Eurostar.
There was a problem boarding the train to Berlin at Cologne. There was a fault with the carriage in which my seat was reserved - something about the air-conditioning, I heard - so I was directed to another carriage at the other end of the train. There were plenty of empty seats and I guessed that "freigeben" on the display above the seat meant something like unreserved (it's not in my German dictionary, but Google translate gives me "release") but someone did try and claim the seat later, although as I had the empty dish my dinner had come in on the table, he decided to go elsewhere. (You get at seat meal service in first class on DB.)
I have spoken before of my problem with the new main railway station in Berlin. When I first travelled to Berlin in 2004 the main station was the Zoo station but when I went back in 2010 the new all-glass station had opened. I quickly discovered that all the visibility between levels in the station did not go well with my fear of heights.
There are five levels to the station. Some of the platforms are on the second floor and some are in the under-basement. If you are standing in the wrong position on the upper platforms, you can see all the way down to the bottom, all five levels, and my legs refuse to move.
The last two times I travelled to Berlin, the trains from Cologne came into one of the upper platforms, and that was where I had to catch the train home. I required a certain amount of trepidation on my part to get on to the platform.
These trains still went through the old Zoo station, which is still operational, so yesterday I was waiting for the familiar sites including a view of the famous Siegessäule just after going through the Zoo station to tell me it was time to get my case down. (Unlike British trains, you can store a substantially sized suitcase in the over-seat luggage rack.) Suddenly I realised we were in a tunnel and I just had time to get my case down before the train stopped at one of the underground platforms.
And this proved good for me. I only had to go up one escalator - not too bad - and there was a sign directing me to the exit to Invalidenstrasse, which was were my hotel is. Furthermore there was a subway under the road which came out right next to the hotel entrance. It looks like all the trains I'm catching are from these platforms, so that's a great relief for me.
Also posted to Dreamwidth. There are
comments there so far.