on a train through the alps

I am starting to go through all my photos from my trip to Germany and Italy. Did I mention just how much fun I had? I took my very first ever international solo trip. I bought a train ticket to leave from the main station in Munich, Germany to go to Verona, Italy for an overnight trek.

My train left at 7:30 a.m. bright and early on Friday morning. Lucky for me, our hotel in Munich was literally 100 yards from the train station. I bought the ticket online from the DB Bahn site. Seemed easy enough to select the Internet special, 2nd class fare. However, no one tells you that when you print your ticket, it will be in German. Good luck trying to figure out how/where you should board the train.

This was my first lesson in going with the flow on international adventure. Luckily I showed up for the train with 15 minutes to spare, because I ended up accosting friendly German men already aboard the train to get them to try to interpret my ticket. After lots of pointing and shrugging, I got the gist. Turns out you have to determine which train car you belong on, and then your seat. Luckily I was only one car off when I first boarded.

But, if you’ve never done this before, it is good to know. I was so relieved to be in my seat and in the right place once we got going. And especially when the conductor came by to punch my ticket. I already felt like a pro. Coffee in hand, book in my lap… 5-hour train ride ahead of me through the beautiful Alps… it was perfect.

Here are some shots of the scenery through the Austrian Alps on my journey from Munich, Germany to Verona, Italy.

On our way to Austria!

Just outside of Innsbruck, Austria. Hello Alps!

One of many castle sightings along the way. It never gets old.

Quick! There goes another castle!

This was how I knew we were close to Italy.

Olive groves and Dolomites. Ah... Italia!

I got in at 1:00 p.m. and was so thrilled about the train trip and the exploring to come! More soon…

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 16th, 2011 at 11:59 pm and is filed under The Daily Balance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.