Journey through the sleepers of Germany
Deutsche bahn is a reliable intermediary connecting cities, villages, people and entire nations. She has been weaving her railway webs for many years now, catching in her nets not only the entire local German population, but also such stray slobs like me.
Having received the task in the morning formation to advance towards the Polish border, cross it unnoticed, dig in and send SMS about the work done, I resignedly went to complete the backpack. The building was in Hamburg, so it was necessary to start your journey to the Polish thorns right from here.
I have never used trains in Germany, and I did not plan to. But the task had to be completed in the shortest possible time and with minimal losses.
Arrived at Hamburg Hauptbahnhof at 6 am full of hope and good mood.
Having approached the ticket machines, I had already developed my fingers in advance, threateningly bringing them to the machine.
I note that these mechanisms are slightly different from standard subway devices, but they also speak several languages and are always able to bring you to clean water, that is, to the final point of buying a ticket.
The process is not complicated and any student who knows how to divide in a column and has English skills can easily beat the machine. We choose stations, refuse all conventions (discounts, bonus cards) and bitterly agree to the 2nd class. You will be popped up with several offers varying in price and time. I recommend that you pre-print the routes of your favorite crossings. It's only on the screen that everything is so smooth - the beginning and the end. There will always be 1.2 or even 3 transfers between the end stations. And it would be nice if there was more time for jumping between the trains, so that you do not trample the polite Germans with heavy boots, jumping from escalator to escalator.
So, after comparing the options, click on the payment.
Here we pop cards, currency with banknotes up to 50 euros, or shower the machine with small things.
On departure from the machine, you should have 2 pieces of paper: the ticket itself for the friends of the ticket runners and the trip schedule with the numbers of stations and platforms.
That's it, we are looking for a platform and are waiting for your composition along with other travelers.
If you have time, you can walk around the station itself. There are a lot of eateries, a tourist center and toilets for 1 euro. In snack bars, prices are reasonable: coffee 1.20-1.80 and sandwiches 0.60-1.60. There are plenty to choose from.
Those who expect to spend a little more time in Hamburg can leave their luggage in the luggage rooms and jump on the local metro, whose platforms are located in the neighborhood. Luggage storage is automatic, rates are indicated on the photo.
Taking the train to Poland was a success for me. The doors slowed down next to me and I already guessed that I needed to press the button to open them.
A rather stunned crowd rushed along with me, so I had to think on the fly.
Plopping down on a chair, I thought that I seemed to have coped and sighed happily. But it was not there.
First of all, look after the wagons. The composition has 2 class, 1 class and a restaurant. The class is usually indicated on the wagons. Inside there are seats in the compartment, at tables for 4 and simple seats in the spirit of the bus layout.
When I was tucking my bag between the table and the seat, the lady tugged at my sleeve and said that the seats were reserved. How so? So all the tables are already occupied, I thought, and sat down in my usual place. But even here I had no peace. A group of pensioners who came in looked at me indistinctly at their paper with a reservation and contemptuously pointed a finger in my direction. I, just in case, said hello and asked what, in their opinion, the place I can take.
And then they revealed to me the secret knowledge of German prudence.
All those places near which the green inscription Hamburg-Berlin is lit (in my case), that place is booked. By the way, you are offered to do this when buying a ticket by paying a little extra.
I found peace and rest in the next car, where no one climbed with their armor.
The cars are comfortable, have a toilet like an airplane and the Internet. But not simple. HotSpot from Deutsch Bahn offers you 4.95 to become their client for 24 hours. Name, password and wherever there is their icon, you have a green light. You can pay directly on the Internet on the train (their site works even without a connection). Who really needs it, I recommend doing this, because my usual German Internet almost always lost connection on the way.
Slightly slowing down on bends, the train carried me through the 237 km separating Hamburg and Berlin in less than 2 hours. No wonder it is called Intercity Express (ICE). Despite all the conventions, the train was brazenly late for 15 minutes. True, we were warned about this in advance.
At each place there is a leaflet with the timetable, transfers to the nearest trains at other stations and various information.
The train station in Berlin was already more impressive. And here I had to deviate a little from my traditions and religion. The number of the platform differed from that indicated by me in the piece of paper, and the name of my intermediate station was nowhere to be seen. Conclusion - you always need to navigate only by the train number and departure time. But the name of the final destination can be at least Kaliningrad.
On my platform, both trains went in the same direction, with almost the same stops, only the one on the right was mine. This time it was just IC, with a little more stops.
In all trains there are inspectors who stamp your tickets. They can also remind you of a transfer station, but everything is in German.
In a border town, I changed horses for the last time at the crossing, this time jumping on a simple regional RB train. Only 2 cars, painted in cheerful colors. This one bowed to each post and greeted each platform.
So nothing overly complicated - you just need to be attentive, efficient, and it is also desirable to be well-mannered and know the basics of German. Then your understanding nodding your head and inserting in the spirit: Naturlich and Genau, will be extremely positively marked by your neighbors-grandmothers, of whom there are a lot.
P. s. From the useful, I’ll add that a monthly pass for all German trains will cost you 309 euros (if you are under 27, then it’s cheaper), and 459 for two. Moreover, all children with the same surname as yours travel on a balloon until they are 15 years old.
Bahn. de/deutschlandpass
There is also another all-you-can-travel pass, only for 1 day. It costs 44 euros, plus 6 euros for each subsequent passenger. But here there is a limitation that only regional trains can be used.
Details are best checked at Bahn. de/quer-durchs-land.
Well, I am glad to tell you that by traveling by rail you save the environment. If this is not your goal, then as an option you can choose car pooling for moving between cities. On special sites, local drivers are looking for fellow travelers to fill the car to the eyeballs. So the very economical Herr will always be happy to give you a lift from one city to another for twenty, if he is on the way.
