When I had to leave Ljubljana for Munich it wasn’t much of an early start (for which I was thankful), but it meant I didn’t really have anything to do.
I didn’t want to leave my luggage at the hostel and then have to go back for it. I also didn’t want to just sit at the hostel waiting for the time to head to the bus station.
I had a brainwave. I decided I would leave at checkout time (11:00 in this case) and then go get some food and just meander to the train station and sit my jacksie there and just people and train watch.
I went to the Spar and got some food and drink and then went to the self-checkout. I bought 3 croissants – you have to punch in a code and then the amount into the terminal to get a barcoded sticker (it can’t be changed to English so you have to hope for the best) that can be scanned at the checkout – I scanned what I thought were three croissants and no sooner had I done that the lady there came up to me and told me that something wasn’t right and they needed to check it. What was she accusing me of?!?!?! It turns out that it didn’t accept the three that I had entered and only registered it as one. She blamed the system but I could feel the judgement searing into the back of my neck.
I carried on my merry way to the train station and found a seat that gave me a great view of the railway and the trains. The people: or so much. That’s cool though. I was also keeping warm as the sun was on my back and it was lovely (especially since my jacket was packed away). I sat here for a couple of hours and then started to feel sick. I started to feel dizzy too so I decided to go to the bathroom and see if I needed to be sick. I didn’t. I went into the station hall and got out my jacket as I was feeling super cold. I popped some pills and then went and sat back outside to get some sun and just watched trains for another hour.
I was dreading the coach journey as it was supposed to be 6 hours long. 6 hours just sat there. I’ve done it before on coaches. I’ve done it before on long-haul flights. This should be easy. I had a seat right at the back against the window and I got some great views on the drive to Munich. I was glad of the time the coach left as it meant I could get some sleep as a couple of hours into the journey it would be dark so I didn’t feel compelled to look out in case I missed that perfect shot. The rest of the journey was a standard coach journey.
We crossed the border from Slovenia into Austria and our passports were checked. We had to get off the bus here for them to be checked before being allowed back on.
We had a 20-minute break at a service station somewhere in Austria. My goodness. The prices were crazy expensive. A 750ml bottle of water was £5. It made water there more expensive than fuel which was a little over £2 a litre. There was snow on the ground which was really cool to see and it made the air lovely and cold. It was bliss.
A little while later we crossed the border into Germany and the border police got on the coach and did the checks onboard.
We then carried on to Munich and I was so glad to be off the coach and just be able to walk around.
Munich Locations
Zurich Locations
Innsbruck Locations
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There’s not a lot to be said here since we got in so late. I went and found the tram I needed to get to the hostel. I had to take two trams. I got off the first one and went to go in the direction I thought I needed but second guessed myself because I saw another tram stop. Usually in Europe, they have stops on either side of the junction/traffic lights. Here it was different. I was mad I didn’t follow my gut. Mostly because I was desperate for the toilet.
I got to the hostel and checked in and asked if my reservation had mentioned a lower bunk. I had an email to say they had but reception said otherwise. Grrrr. Anyway, I got a lower bunk in the end and I headed up to the room so I could unpack what I needed for the day tomorrow and then go to sleep. I was knackered at this point and knew I would only get about 5 hours of kip. Aside from doing next to nothing today, it was good to sit at the station and it was good to cross into Germany knowing it is only four days until I fly home.
Everywhere I’ve been on this part of the trip has been really cool. I’d say the favourite part of this trip was Innsbruck. All of the scenery on this trip was amazing. Snow-capped mountains and rivers and mountain homes. Truly amazing.
Cities visited: 3 – Zurich, Innsbruck, Munich
Countries visited: 3 – Germany, Switzerland, Austria
Coach hours: 18:30
Trip miles: 852
Last night I had a quick check on the DB app to make sure I knew which platform to go to for the train to Nuremberg. When I looked, there was an alert about something but it was in German. I did a translate and it turned out that on the day I was leaving there was a 24 hour rail strike. It said it was starting in the evening but services during the day could be cancelled too. I didn’t think any more of it as it said my service was still running.
I left the hostel and headed to the station and on the tram I checked again and it was still running. I got to the station and got some food and something to drink and headed to the platform and went to the end so I could get some pics and videos of the trains arriving/departing. Part way through there was an announcement in German and I understood a couple of words but not enough to make out what was being said. I looked at the app and my train had been cancelled. Now I was getting worried. I didn’t want to not be able to get home. I was ready to be home at this point.
I went and found someone and they said that they thought there was another train running to Nuremberg but they weren’t 100% on it. I got to the train and asked someone on the train and they said it was. I was relieved. I found somewhere to sit and just relaxed for the journey.
I got to Nuremberg and headed to the S-Bahn to go to the airport. I was on it and then it terminated at the station before the airport. I was worrying some more. I went out and saw there was a bus so I was ready for that. At the last stop there were a couple of guys who were headed back to Stansted and we both wondered what would happen and how we would get to the airport. One of them came back out of the station and told me there was a train due in a couple of minites to the airport. Thank goodness for that. I didn’t really want to get a bus.
I got to the airport and just went through security and to the gate so I could sit down and just relax.
I was second on the flight and felt like I had won the Ryanair lottery as I was assigned seat 01A. It also meant I could get off quicker. I was third off at Stansted and I just made a beeline for the border as I knew how bad it could be sometimes and I had an hour to get to the train. I got to the border and it was empty. I was through in about 2 minutes. I was so glad to be back across the border and on the train back home.
The trip was amazing and I absolutely would do most of it again.
You can view all of my Zurich pics here
You can view all of my Innsbruck pics here
You can view all of my Munich pics here