After visiting Berlin and Dresden, I was off to Italy to visit our daughter and grandchildren. Travelling solo, I elected to spoil myself with first class rail travel and break the journey in Salzburg, a city I had never visited. I cannot stress enough how easy it is to use the German Railways website 
to investigate options, and even to book seats anywhere on the system. (in fact the site allows viewing rail travel schedules all over Europe, but booking is restricted primarily to German trains)
Thus, here I was back at Berlin Hbf, this time waiting for one of Germany’s High Speed Intercity (ICE) trains. I have travelled on other faster trains before, but I was really looking forward to this experience. This train would take me as far as Munich, a distance of around 600km in under six hours. Right on time, the train known as ICE1507 pulled into the platform.
I was immediately impressed by the comfortable and spacious seating, 2 and 1 configuration, with a generous centre aisle. Beyond glass doors was an even more luxurious compartment, which presumably attracts a premium fare. I was also intrigued that, being in the last carriage, we could see the rails disappearing behind us. Before very long, we had reached a speed of 200km/h and the countryside was speeding by. Coffee and tea also arrived on a trolley for those that felt so inclined.
Notable in this fairly flat landscape, was the large number of wind power generators. I had contemplated moving to a vacant forward facing seat for a better view of what was coming when we pulled into Leipzig, our first major stop. This is a terminal, rather than ‘through’, platform so leaving Leipzig, I was now facing forward without changing seats. The downside was that with the driver up front, the view of the tracks ahead was switched off!
We made several short stops, at one of which, our smartly dressed official could step out to stretch his legs. Peckish, I decided to head to the buffet car and enjoyed a good lunch of soup and salad, washed down with a pleasant white wine…..totally at peace with the world at 200km/h!
Again, on schedule, we reached Munich. Here I was able to get a better shot of the ICE train that had brought me more than half way across Germany to its southern ‘edge’.
With a little over forty minutes to pass, I was able to get a drink from a station kiosk and then find my next train, which was already in the platform, but not yet loading. Called “Railjet”, These trains are operated by the Austrian Railways. This particular train starts in Munich, Germany, then passes through Austria from west to east, finishing in Budapest, Hungary after just over seven hours. My stop, Salzburg, was to be the first stop, about ninety minutes after leaving Munich.
Internally and externally positively gleaming, this train gave me the feeling of being nearly brand new. Whether or not new, it was extremely clean and well maintained, a credit to the system.
In contrast to the relatively open flat countryside of earlier in the day, we were soon taking a more winding path through hills, passing quaint villages and distant mountains.
All too soon, Salzburg Castle came swinging into view, signifying the end of the journey for me, for that day. While some may consider it a long trip, I had enjoyed every minute of my nine hour journey on these two trains.
