28 June 2013

Day 14; Train day 8: Magdeburg-Berlin-Stralsund

Wouldn't you think German trains could run on time? One has this fantasy that they do, but in reality they are far, far worse than British ones. I don't think we've been on a single train run by Deutsche Bahn that has been on time, and they have mostly been st least 15 minutes late, if not more!

Yesterday's trains were no exception. The first train, to Berlin, was late, and the slow train got there first!  We went all the way to the Ostbahnhof, as I had remembered a supermarket that sold sweet sprinkles like they sell herbs. But it was a Rewe, which are ubiquitous, and the sprinkles are now all available in the UK, which they weren't 5 years ago. Did buy some salads for lunch, though.

We then took the S-bahn back to the Hauptbahnhof, which had only just opened last time we were there, and had been in the middle of a building site. It still is, rather, but there has been a lot of development.  We looked at the sightseeing boats on the river and wished we had more time.

Then down to wait for our train to Stralsund and to be very tempted be the Berlin-Warsaw express on the next platform, but eventually our train arrived, 20 minutes late of course, and we went to Stralsund, eating lunch en route.

The hotel here is very nice but I must remember, in future, to ask for rooms on a lower floor if there is no lift, as it is a 3rd floor walk-up and my knees do not like stairs. And although there is, allegedly, free WiFi, it doesn't really work. So I have bought roaming, which is EE and just as fast, and very little more expensive than what I paid for it in Magdeburg. But why are the prices coming down on Monday? 

The SW's suitcase has disintegrated big-time, so we need to go and buy another. I had suggested he use my old one, as I bought myself a lightweight one for this trip, but he took his own. Big mistake!

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