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Tag: public transport

Wien, Bayern & Berlin Reise – 10

Published on 4 October 2022 
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Back to Brussels

So the last day of my trip—the voyage home—went a little bit different than I originally planned. I actually knew that it would a couple of days ago, when Deutsche Bahn sent me an e-mail telling me the one of the trains I booked was cancelled, but I could use my ticket for other DB trains to get me home.

So I looked up another convenient combination of ICE trains, and booked seats on those, since my original seat reservations did no longer apply, of course. However, those were considerably later than my original trains, so I decided to add a late checkout to my easyHotel booking. That way I could sleep in a little, and leave my bags in the room while I went out for brunch.

For that, I went to Codos this time, where I had a very tasty breakfast burrito.
By then it was time to do a last bit of packing, and actually check out.

I did well reserving a seat on the train I planned taking, since it was absolutely packed, even in first class! Add to that the fact that about an hour before departure, they had to switch trains, so everyone with a reservation was assigned a new carriage and seat. As you can imagine, quite a few people didn’t see that e-mail before they boarded, so where clueless about where to sit…

I didn’t manage to book a solo seat, but since someone though you could reserve a seat for luggage as well, and used the seat next to me for that purpose, I kind of sat solo after all. I did have to suffer quite a few dirty looks from people who thought that those were my suitcases! Anyway, I was seated quite comfortably until at least Frankfurt Flughafen train station, and got started on watching Die Kaiserin, which seemed quite apt to finish this trip with.

In Frankfurt I had to change onto another ICE, and even had a seat in the compartment with the see-through wall behind the driver’s seat, but unfortunately it was set to opaque.. On this train I didn’t have a solo seat either, but the person that reserved the seat next to me between Köln and Aachen, never showed up.

By the time I arrived in Brussels—quite tired, after ten full days, and with a delay of over forty minutes—I had finished watching Die Kaiserin, and was ready to take the last few metros home, unpack, and organise my virtual and real souvenirs of this trip.

Done reading about this trip? Resume reading my blog in the usual order!

Wien, Bayern & Berlin Reise – 7

Published on 1 October 2022

Berlin by Boat

After awaking in my last hotel for this trip, I had breakfast at Zeit Für Brot, and a visit to the Tränenpalast, to learn a bit more about a side of Berlin I wasn’t too familiar with yet.

A first coffee at Café Neundrei, and it was time for a little cruise on the Spree, in a canal boat from Amsterdam, converted to be 100% electric now.

For lunch I went to Markthalle Pfefferberg, one of the newest trendy food places. Fewer restaurants than I expected there to be, but the Kerala fried chicken burger was quite tasty nevertheless. Quality over quantity, right? Although the quantity of the food from Gully Burger was more than sufficient as well…

In the far east of Berlin was Dark Matter, where I discovered—among many other mesmerising things—the clean future of campfires.

Another coffee at Tres Cabezas, and it was finally time for beer! First up was Straßenbräu, followed by Bräugier Ostkreuz—where Certified Cicerone Oli gave me some helpful tips for my upcoming exam—Schalander, Protokoll of course, and to finish the night with some dirty fries and a stamp, Brewdog Friedrichshain.

Wien, Bayern & Berlin Reise – 6

Published on 30 September 2022

Breakfast in Bamberg, Beer in Berlin

Time to travel again! To avoid a half standing breakfast again—yesterday’s bakery had quite peculiar ‘seating’ arrangements—I booked a breakfast in my hotel, saving some time in the process.

I still had time for one museum before my train, so I went to the Diözesanmuseum. I originally just planned it as a ‘filler’ museum, just to kill some time and check off another activity on my Bamberg Card, but as I had learned about the importance of Bamberg as an episcopal city, I’m glad I included it. When I was an altar boy, we didn’t have a handy “A” for “aqua” and “V” for “vinum” on the little jugs for water and wine, as far as I can remember!

After a Portuguese coffee at Zuckerstück, it was time to check out, and I headed to the station for my ICE to Berlin.

In Berlin, I headed straight for my familiar easyHotel to check in and drop off my baggage, and then off to Populus Coffee for a proper third wave coffee. Then it was time to go to Lager Lager, and boy, was it nice to taste an IPA again, after days of lagers…

The next stop was Markthalle Neun, for some beers at Heidenpeters, and some empanadas from one of the Street Food Thursday stands.

Then it was time to revisit some classics—Biererei, Hopfenreich, and Muted Horn—before turning in for the night.

Wien, Bayern & Berlin Reise – 4

Published on 28 September 2022

Oktoberfest, the OG

After a couple of days in Wien, it was time to move on to Bamberg, but with a very important stop along the way… It’s the end of September, so it isn’t hard to guess where I went: Oktoberfest in München!

I put on my brand new Lederhose—I shrunk out of the pair I bought a couple of years ago—and headed to Wien Hbf for my four hour ÖBB Regiojet trip to München. It was a bit too early to have breakfast before boarding—apart from a croissant in the first class lounge—so I had my last Austrian breakfast on the train.

After arriving in München and storing my bag for the day, I first went for lunch, to line my stomach for what was to come. Although I didn’t really have time to play tourist today, there was one place I had sung about many times before—🎶In München steht ein Hofbräuhaus🎶—so I simply had to visit it! Of course I already had a first Maß—of Dunkles—with my Obazda there.

A quick coffee at Man versus Machine Coffee Roasters, and I was ready for the main event.

As I’m quite a traditionalist—even if it comes to traditions I’m not really a part of—I went straight for the Oide Wiesn, and its Festzelt Tradition. They had a Blaskapelle playing there, and even served the beer—Augustiner Edelstoff—in stoneware Keferloher, instead of glass.

Since I would be on the train for two hours just around dinner time, I decided to have an early dinner—Knuspriger Spanferkelbraten mit Kartoffelknödel und Speckkrautsalat—at the Augustiner-Keller, right next to the station.

On a weekday, a lot of places in Bamberg seem to close quite early, so even before checking into my Ibis Bamberg hotel, I stopped at Brauerei Spezial for a Märzen.

To conclude the day, I went to Stillbruch, one of the rare interesting bars still open late.

Wien, Bayern & Berlin Reise – 3

Published on 26 September 2022

A Castle and a Curtain Call

Today I went full-on tourist again! After breakfast, and a first wake-up coffee at Coffee Junkie, I went to Schloss Schönbrunn, on the western outskirts of Vienna. Quite popular and busy, but worth it nevertheless. Unfortunately it was not allowed to take photos from the inside…

For lunch I went back to the centre, to Bier & Bierli, for some Gröstl, a Tiroler specialty.

Since I was a bit ahead of schedule, I went for another coffee, at Kaffeefabrik this time, and some Kaiserschmarrn at Café Museum. It didn’t quite live up to my childhood memories, but at least I could cross it off my list…

By then it was almost time for a guided tour—by an actual person this time—of the Wiener Staatsoper. I just missed out on a performance of Die Zauberflöte, so I’ll have to come back for that another time.

By then it was beer o’ clock, so I went to brewpub 1516 Brewing Company to get me started.

After that I really started to deviate from my plans, since I somehow missed my next stop wasn’t open on Mondays, and the one after that only served beers I already had before. So earlier than expected, I ended up at Statt-Beisl im WUK. The last planned beer stop of the evening was achtundzwanzig, basically the taproom of Brew Age.

Although the Kaiserschmarrn kept me filled up for quite a while, I really needed some sustenance after that last barleywine… So I indulged in another Viennese staple: Wurst. I looked up where I could get a decent one nearby, and ended up at the Wiener Würstelstand. It definitely did the trick…

Getting up early for my train to Munich the next day, so after that, I called it a night.