8 Munich to Budapest!

Thursday, July 7th
Another sunny day--we have been blessed with beautiful tourist weather; I love the rain, and we did bring umbrellas just in case, but we never needed them. And we have avoided the heat quite well--which is good, considering our accommodations.




Andy woke--well, didn't really wake until I shoved a food bar into his hand and spoke rather brusquely through his fog of another low blood sugar. "Andy! Eat this!" Also, by this time it was clear that Andy in his generosity had shared his cold with me, so I began the runny nose and sneezing just in time for the next leg of the trip. Fortunately the worst I usually suffer is a sore throat and some drainage. I was glad to be traveling by train, though, and not having to change altitude. But it did make me a bit cranky, so maybe there was a little impatience in my tone, which was lost on this particular low; it took him half an hour to get moving, of course on a morning that we had to be on a schedule. It was good that I had gotten up a half hour early because I couldn't sleep.




I got a nice hot shower, which helped with the congestion. Then I got all dressed to travel by train--fun! It was a little fancier, which was nice for a change; I love casual, but it's fun to dress up, too.
(Side note--to all the travel fashion bloggers etc.--nobody cares what you wear; just be comfortable. Well, maybe it's different in Paris or someplace, but blue jeans and flipflops were not uncommon, let's just put it that way...)




We grabbed a couple more souvenirs and a quick German pastry from one of the many kiosks in the train station. Andy went to get a Starbucks (which in itself is unusual because he is not fond of American Starbucks), and of course just at that moment, the train arrived.


This food court has taken over the station most deliciously.

No worries, it was in plenty of time that he received his order; that was one plus--in most of the Starbucks in Munich the wait was not as long as back home.






We dragged our suitcases up the ramp on to the platform where Railjet 63 was waiting; we quickly passed the locomotive and first three (labeled "Economy") and the restaurant car to arrive at: FIRST CLASS! YAY! Well, slightly premature celebration--apparently there are three First Class cars, so after the first futile attempt to find our seats, Andy wisely suggested at the second car, "Go up first and make sure that this is the right car," which it was.


I must say, First Class was really nice--plenty of leg room, nice tray tables, rear-facing seats which are actually much easier on the eyes. And, as opposed to first class airline tickets, the additional cost for these seats was minimal. I would highly recommend this to any train-travelers--totally worth it.


Aslan waits as we ready ourselves to leave the station.

Rare sighting: Andy and Starbucks and a smile trifecta!




The train got on its way and shortly thereafter the porter came around to check tickets. Andy again sequestered himself to his headphones to listen to more of his audiobook.






The train wheels called to the passengers as they traversed the rails at varied angles, which was amusing to the ear. Sometimes the sound was like horses' breath, other times as warning moans or grunts. Other than that, the ride was very smooth.






The passage from Munich to Salzburg was quiet as it came out of the city into the flat countryside, past residential "Bavarian HOA required" red tiled roofs and white stucco walls and geranium flower boxes to the farmlands of corn and cows and horses. Apparently the corn is very little for human consumption, mostly for silage and for ethanol fuel.




Though ours was a direct route, we did take on passengers along the way. Slowing into Salzburg, an amusing anachronism: rush hour traffic jam on the bridge over the river overlooked by a small castle on a hill...all surrounded by the Sound of Music mountains.




This is a great opportunity, riding along at a fairly brisk clip, to consider general impressions from the last few days in Munich.
Like Neuschwanstein, there seems to be a  mild pervasive sadness, no smiles, lots of cigarettes.
Birds: pigeons--all colors, white and brown, green and white, black and white, some gray but with wildly varying patterns. Crows, a grackle, a sparrow.
Bikes: watch out!! They know no fear and are bigger than you.
People: speak English better than you speak German, so don't worry.
Trains: always on time.

Moving from Salzburg to Linz, the landscape becomes more rolling hills, and the houses take on the more traditional symmetry. The sunny blue sky is littered with puffy cumulus. Each of the small towns seems to have a church in the middle, often with a disproportionately large steeple sporting an onion dome; apparently this was a common architectural feature in Germany during the Baroque era and didn't denote any particular denomination.




There are lots of solar panel farms--it's amusing, too, to see panels on some of the older architecture.


As we continue eastward, tall stands of spruce begin to predominate; I would so love to hide under their branches! White flowers generously dot the green fields--could it be...? (Break into song...)






Along with the spruce, though perhaps just coincidentally, lumber yards sprout up too. It is fascinating to see the process visually laid out as we go by--logs to trimmed to sawn to packaged and ready for delivery.






It seems there is a greater restraint and intentionality in the landscape as we travel through Austria. That said, the occasional tackiness is universal--cheap plastic Adirondack chairs seem out of place in the postcard scenery.






The train is saying:
Whoosh whoosh, huh huh "LUKE I AM YOUR FATHER"...yes, it did say that...



One nice thing about the train is that you can go to the restaurant car or you can eat at your seat. I wasn't in the mood for going anywhere, so Andy was nice enough to order lunch for us; I'm enjoying a delicious carrot-ginger soup with croutons--sooo good, and soothing on my sore throat--until I realize it has cream in it--uh-oh, hope I stopped eating soon enough! But this smoked salmon and cream cheese on Vollkornbröt is exquisite.

Now vineyards, sycamores, foundation ruins from who knows how many centuries ago?...and we roll into Linz.




Haha, I guess it's good for Andy's sake that we are meeting up with Dave and Sheila; I think we have had enough togetherness, and we both are getting snarky. Just a little...




Vienna--big fields and fields and bedhead looking field of golden grain.
Wind farms--careful birdies! I wonder if the red stripes on the blades are intended for them or just for decoration because the birds are clueless--until ZAP they're dead on the ground.


Wow--an entire field of sunflowers--glowingly happily beautiful!


Fields and fields of sunflowers

There are fields and fields of them as we cross into Hungary.




Györ, the first main stop in the country, didn't speak to well of itself;
 though it is supposed to be the most important city in northwest Hungary, its broken windows and ill-tended yards do not represent well. In fact, the best visual aspect of the place is the graffiti--ubiquitous, colorful, clean, excellent quality. Apparently there is planned graffiti production time every year...hmmm.

Back to more fields...hay in modern rolls, geometrically arranged on the diagonal.
Hey, a murmuration of starlings! Birds do exist in large numbers here after all.






During our entire train journey, there has been an LED board with stop information and train speed, etc. It says we are traveling at 160 km/hr, but it doesn't feel that fast. Of course, I am used to traveling in mphs, maybe that's why...






Color-blocking fields of green and gold--sunflowers, corn, wheat, and more.




Andy remains immersed in Henry the IV or some number--I am glad he is enjoying his audiobook!






Many times the trackside berms occlude the view, but now going through a less rural area it's easier to see bedraggled architecture and traffic on a bridge, signs of urban life. Sea cranes compete with steeples on the other side of the river, which is now thickly lined with deciduous diversity of silvery cottonwood (apparently the silver-gray coloration is useful in hot dry climates), maple, walnut, black locust, etc. It's funny to observe mini crop circles in the drying wheat. How do they do that? hmmm....






So many abandoned buildings. I don't really get that; I wonder what happened. There is a feeling of ennui and I haven't even met any people; can a landscape be tired?






The parts of town approaching Budapest seem to be getting nicer, which is encouraging.




Kelenföld: crows...that is all...






Finally, here it is, our final stop, in 7 minutes! People start to line up and get ready to get out, a little prematurely in my personal estimation, but oh well, okay...we got our luggage from the rack at the front of the car and brought it back to our seats for easier disembarking and waited for a few more moments. An Indian family in front of us had had a rather long afternoon of it; the children were very well-behaved, but someone still complained about the volume. That person clearly has never been around American kids! I was impressed at how articulate they were for their age and the complexity of thought available to them. Great family.




Anyway, the first familiar sights in this new country awaited us on the platform--Dave and Sheila!!!! it was like coming home! (Too much hugging going on to take a pic...) It was so nice, also, to not wonder about what to do next; we were in someone else's hands, and loving hands, at that! They took us to the car and then through the winding streets up to their home.


The view from the Farthings' driveway

We freshened up and then headed out to see Independence Day 2, a special viewing set up by Dave's work. There was a light buffet and then free popcorn and soda. It was not the best movie ever, but it was familiar and fun. We returned and chatted for an hour or two before turning in.