Bavaria: Munich and Regensburg Da capo

Bavarian Fairytale: Neuschwanstein Castle

After getting off the train at Füssen, we hopped on a connecting bus leading right to the foot of the hill on which the  Neuschwanstein Castle was built. As with most public transports in Bavaria, the bus trip is also covered by the Bayern Ticket.

Due the mountainous terrain, there was a fair amount of snow that accumulated on the ground and on top of buildings.

Ticket office

We arrived at the ticket office at 2:20PM and were told that the next tour would be at 3:40PM. Since the map indicated that it would take 55 minutes to walk to the entrance of castle, we began the journey uphill. 

As we approached the top of the hill, the tower of the castle emerged from behind the sparse coniferous woods. 

In retrospect the indicative walking time of 55 minutes was a material misstatement and we found ourselves at the entrance in less than 30 minutes, despite walking at a fairly slow pace. Thus, after a quick look at the souvenir shop, we spent the remaining time writing postcards.

The weather has been beautiful, and together with the fluffy clouds drifting by, the Neuschwanstein Castle felt every bit like a part of fairy tale.

Stepping into the entrance, we were greeted by our guide, who led us through a tour of the third and first level of the castle. The second level was never completed.

The castle was build by King Ludwig II of Bavaria as an homage to Richard Wagner, and was the inspiration of Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle. Other relevant information are available on Wikipedia.

It is unfortunate that photographes were not allowed inside the castle, presumably because of conservation reasons, because words alone were simply insufficient to describe the elaborate decorations and luxurious furnishing.

Coming out from the castle, we took some final shorts before the sunset and headed down to the train station for the 6:06PM train back to Munich.

Conclusion
Neuschwanstein Castle had indeed lived up to its name being the inspiration of Sleeping Beauty Castle, and probably would bring out childhood memories of fairytales.

DB Prague to Munich

Our original plan was to catch an overnight train to Warsaw, though due to some changes in itinerary we decided to swap Warsaw for Munich. Given the train schedule, and the fairly long travelling time between Prague and Munich, the 5:50PM train became the latest practical option.

As we boarded the train from Prague Main Station, almost every compartment was filled with people and we had to traverse several carriage before we managed to find a seat.

Prague 2015

After depositing the luggage at the train station and pulling out some petty cash from the ATM, we headed straight to the Prague Castle. Our time in Prague was short, as we only planned 6 hours for the city, which was further compressed by the train delay of nearly 40 minutes.

Somehow the design of the metro station reminded me of the terminal 3 at Indira Gandhi Airport.

Photo credit to Krokodyl

After a quick ride on the metro and tram, we arrived at the Pražský hrad, otherwise known as the Prague Castle.

While it's called Prague Castle, it is actually a complex comprising palaces, churches and gardens. There were several tour options available, with different tickets ranging from CZK250 to CZK350 covering different areas.

As we were on a tight schedule, we went with the shorter circuit B, although given more time we would probably opt for the more comprehensive circuit A.

We began with the St. Vitus Cathedral, an imposing structure featuring beautiful stained glass.

Coming out of the cathedral, we walked across the windly plaza and stepped into the Old Royal Palace.

Vltava river from 

Given that we had a train to catch, we had to bade the castle goodbye and return to the train station, but not without first buying a really nice brownie from the cafe outside the castle.

OBB Part 2: Vienna to Prague

We arrived at the Vienna Main Station at 7:01AM to catch a 7:07AM train, which was slightly aggressive given we were not locals and the train station was fairly large.

Railjet RJ 70 Gustav Mahler
Vienna Main Station – Prague Main Station
Wednesday, Mar 11 2015
Depart: 7:07AM
Arrive: 11:21AM 
Travel time: 4hr 14min

Thankfully our train departs from platform 11, which was not too far from the entrance. It was worth noting that perhaps in an attempt to increase the efficiency of platform usage, two trains (in our case the trains heading to Prague and Bratislava) were departing from the same platform. 

I wasn't quite sure if I had seen such practice in other countries outside Europe but found it really interesting since it could in theory double the handling capacity of the station, though the passenger would have to be careful not only to find the correct platform, but also to board the correct train from the specified sections of the platform.

For the journey from Vienna to Prague, we are booked on the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) Railjet, which was supposedly the premier service of Austrian Railways.

The cabin was clean and the seats were fairly comfortable, but could not recline, dashing my hopes of catching up on sleep.

One plus point of this train service was that wifi was available on board, and free of charge.

The overhead screen rotated between the real time position of the train, as well as the estimated time of arrival.

As the train crossed the border into Czech Republic, Czech police boarded the train and demanded passports from passengers.

It was interesting to note that there were occasional stops in the middle of nowhere, presumably to give way to other trains.

We were delayed by nearly 40 minutes, arriving at Prague Main Station at 12 noon.

While the Railjet was certainly modern and comfortable in terms of cabin furnishing, the same cannot be said for its efficiency. Granted, this may be the fastest mean of public transport available, though taking 4 hours for a mere 300 plus kilometres is hardly efficient.

In comparison, the Chinese trains from Wuhan to Guangzhou covers more than a thousand kilometres in the same time of 4 hours and 13 minutes. The Japanese train from Tokyo to Osaka covers 500 plus kilometres in less than two and a half hours. To be fair the price we paid for the train ride was a mere CZK540 (USD22) each, which was way lower than both the Chinese trains and Japanese trains above mentioned, so I would not be complaining about the speed.

Vienna 2015

Our first impression of Vienna was from the window of the tram bringing us from the train station to the hotel. The city was beautiful, and weather was beautiful

After a quick nap, we headed down the street to Cafe Central, a famed establishment in Vienna. 

The cafe was lavishly decorated, with beautiful chandeliers and marble pillars. The pastries served however, were good though certainly not fantastic. To be fair the prices were reasonable, with each serving of pastries between EUR 3 to 5.

Perhaps the saving grace was this 

The service was absolutely atrocious. While the waiter at the patisserie counter was helpful in advising us on the choices, the remaining waiters just couldn't be expected to pay attention to our requests. It took us to stop three waiters to refill our glasses and two to get us the bill. For most of the time, they simply basically ignored our calls and gestures.

Continuing the stroll down Herrengasse, we arrived at the Hofburg Palace, where the Imperial Apartments and the Silver Collection are housed.

We bought the Sisi ticket for EUR23 each, since we intend to visit all of the three museums.

Coming out of the Imperial Apartments, we strolled out of the courtyard into the plaza, where we were greeted by a beautiful sunset.

We headed to dinner at the Figlmüller, which is famous for serving the Viennese schnitzel so representative of Viennese cuisine.

We took the metro to Schönbrunn Palace, which was also covered by the Sisi ticket.

Museum of Art History

Review: Hotel Prinz Eugen, Vienna 2015

As we had to catch an early train at 7:07AM to Prague on Wednesday morning, it was imperative to spend the second night at a property close to the train station. Although Vienna is a fairly small city and our previous hotel was only 20 minutes by tram, breakfast is only served from 6:30AM, and we will have to skip it or miss the train.

The hotel was diagonally opposite the Vienna Main Station, and only a 5 to 7 minutes brisk walk away.

The lobby was well furnished and had a really cosy feeling, though we did not use it.

Check-in was fast and wifi vouchers were given to us.

The staircase was also well decorated, with plenty of city guides at the counter, though most of them were in German, not English, perhaps indicative that the hotel generally caters to the domestic or regional travelers.

The room was really small, almost reminding me of hotels in Hong Kong. Given that we were only spending one night here it wasn't that much of an issue.The room was clean and the bed were comfortable, which was sufficient to recharge for the night before heading to Prague the next morning.

This time round, although the wifi was provided by the same telco Swisscom, the surfing speed was much faster than at the previous hotel and I managed to resend my assignment to my classmate.

The bath room was clean, the water pressure and temperature were also good.

We had a peaceful night's sleep.

The breakfast selection was far less extensive than at the previous hotel, though was sufficient for a quick bite before catching a train.

Conclusion

Review: Hotel De France, Vienna 2015

We knew that the hotel is located near to both the metro and tram station, though thanks to my stupidity we managed to head in the wrong direction. It took a few turns and 15 minutes before a sudden realisation that the hotel was only steps away.

The associate welcomed us at the reception. As we arrived from an overnight train and were hoping to grab some rest before exploring the city, we requested for an early check in at 10am. The associate checked the room availability and gave us an early check in, which we really appreciated. Wifi vouchers were also given to us at check-in.

The bellman delivered our luggage and escorted us to our room, which was on the second floor (or third floor in non-European lingo). 

Close to the entrance was the bathroom area, featuring a shower with two shower heads. The toilet was separately located opposite the bathroom.

The ceiling was really high, which coupled with the large windows provided ample natural lighting.

The beds were comfortable, though certainly not the standards at Marriott or Avista, which was reasonable given the price we paid.

Feeling refreshed after a quick nap, we left the hotel to explore Vienna. Location wise, the hotel is really located in the heart of Vienna, only a 5 minutes brisk walk to the Central Cafe and 10 minutes by foot to the Imperial Apartments at the Hofburg Palace. Then again, Vienna is a really small city and most of the major attractions can be covered on foot.

It was a pain however, to access the Internet at the hotel. The connection was intermittent, and the surfing speed was really really slow. We were trying to search for the famous Viennese schnitzel and it took us nearly 20 minutes.

The breakfast selection was nothing compared to what you would have expected in Asia, but impressive for an European property.

The cold smoked salmon and cold cuts was also reasonably good, though the salmon was a little too salty than I would have liked it to be.

It's worth noting that sparkling wine was served at breakfast. In addition, they have a egg counter where you could order omelettes and sunny side ups, although the counter was not staffed for nearly half of the time (if not more) when we were in the restaurant. Again this was sub-par to an Asian hotel of similar price range, though given the much higher cost of labour in Europe perhaps we ought to give them credit for setting up such a counter in the first place.

We checked out of the hotel after breakfast and the associate at the reception proactively offered to deposit the luggage for us so that we can travel on a light load. While most hotels provide such service, it's really gracious for the associate to take the initiative and make the offer.

Overall, it was a reasonably good hotel and have generally delivered what would be expected of a property at this price range.

OBB Part 1: Zurich to Vienna

Arriving from St Gallen at Zurich Main Station at 9PM we strolled to platform 7 for the train to Vienna. 

EN467
Zurich Main Station – Vienna Main Station
Sunday, Mar 8 2015
Depart: 9:40PM
Arrive: 7:51AM (+1)
Travel time: 10hr 11min

We are booked on the 9:40PM EN467 from Zurich Main Station to Vienna Main Station. As the train passes Buches in St Gallen, it would actually it would have been more convenient to board the train from Buches, though to be conservative we boarded from Zurich instead.

I immediately regretted booking the seats instead of a sleeping couchette. While the seats were featured as recliner seats, they turned out to be compartment seats. The lumbar support was really limited and it was clear that we could not get a good night's rest.

Thankfully apart from a small stretch between Innsbruck and Salzburg, we only had to share the compartment with another passenger and could hence take turns to stretch out on the row of three seats.

The train stopped for more than an hour at Salzburg, from 3:23AM to 4:38AM.

We woke up finding the train approaching St Pölten, an hour out of Vienna and the sun was beginning to rise up from the horizon.

As we were having breakfast, daylight began shining on the farmlands along the tracks.

We arrived at Vienna Main Station on time at 7:51AM

We bade farewell to our train and strode off to the tram station for the quick ride to our hotel.

Conclusion
The train ride was the most efficient way to travel from Zurich to Vienna. Although the faster Railjet trains cut down the ride from 10 hours to 8 hours, the Railjet trains only operate during daytime, effectively wasting an entire day on the road.

Central Europe Spring 2015

Usually I would not write a review on train rides, as I perceive them more as a mean of commute rather than travel.

However, this trip was (and potentially future trips in Europe) heavily dependent on rail travel , it made sense to reflect upon the planning and execution process.

1. St Gallen to Zurich - Swiss Railway, free on the Gleis 7
2. Zurich to Vienna - Austrian Railway, CHF 30 (USD 30)
3. Vienna to Prague - Austrian Railyway, CZK 540 (USD 21)
4. Prague to Munich - German Railway, CZK 540(USD 21)
5. Munich to Fussen and back - German Railway, Bayern ticket
6. Munich to Regensburg and back - German Railway, Bayern ticket
7. Munich to Lindau - German Railway, Bayern ticket

8. Lindau to St Margrethen - Austrian Railway, EUR 7

9. St Margrethen to St Gallen - Swiss Railway, free on the Gleis 7

At the

Day trip: Appenzell

We took the train from the St Gallen, which climbed up the mountains on a winding narrow gauge track, passing some great mountain scenery along the way.

Alighting at Gais, we walked out of the station and roamed nearly aimlessly along the road.

We walked along the railway tracks, and were surrounded by the snow on one side and green pasture on the other.

Coming out of the church, we headed to the Brauerei Locher, which is a brewery making Appenzeller beer and whiskey. On the way

Bavaria: Munich and Regensburg

We took a 7:30AM bus from St Gallen train station to Munich ZOB. While the bus was nowhere close to what you would expect to see on the luxury coaches plying Singapore to Kuala Lumpur or within Indonesia, they are reasonably comfortable for a 3 hours ride.

I can't help but to notice is that the seats on the bus appear to recline on different degrees. The first seat I was on. Though since there were only a few passengers that wasn't a problem at all as

One thing to note is that the seats are not reserved, so it pays to turn up slightly earlier so you can get a better seat (or sit together with friends) if the bus were full.

And the best part was that there was free wifi onboard the bus, although the connection was rather intermittent. The bus driver was not only responsible for selling tickets, but also sold drinks and snacks. 

We arrived at Munich ZOB on time at 10:30AM, and were picked up by my friend's uncle, who took us for the next hour and a half drive to Regensburg, passing by the Victory Gate on our way there.

Photo credits to Cheryl

Our hosts were extremely hospitable, and we even got a warm reminder of home with the Chinese New Year yusheng.

Photo credits to Cheryl

After lunch, Philip gave us a quick introduction of the history of Regensburg and suggested some places of interest. It was a real eye opener. While I might knew that the capital of Australia is neither Sydney nor Melbourne, but the much less well known Canberra, I would not have guessed that Regensburg was actually the first capital in German history.

Connie was our host for the afternoon, bringing us around the old city of Regensburg, with the first stop at the Old Chapel.

Photo credits to Cheryl

The fresco and was absolutely beautiful.

The next stop was also a church, the Regensburg Cathedral. When we got off the car, we stepped back in awe at the sight of the majestic Gothic façade, complete with elaborate sculptures.

The interior was stunning too, with beautiful stained glass. It was a real pity that we could not see the sunlight flooding the cathedral through the stained glasssince it was rainy and that I had to cheat by using Instagram filters.

I always believed that a trip is never complete without trying out the local food, and apparently my friends share that belief, so it was apt to round up our tour of the old city with a visit to the Regensburg Sausage Kitchen.

The sausages were served with sauerkraut (a pickled cabbage) and tasted really good, though I suspected the cold weather contributed to that feeling.

The Regensburg Sausage Kitchen was facing the Stone Bridge on the Danube, which was another historical monument. While the chilly winds drove away any romantic association with Strauss's Blue Danube, the mandarin ducks partially made up for it.

Connie sent us to the train station at Regensburg, where we boarded the train to Munich Central.

On the return trip the wifi did not work on the bus, so it would be hard to kill time, though that was alleviated by the fact that its was a night bus.