What is it about trains and us?

Arriving at Munich Hbf with 45 mins to spare, we had time for a coffee, buy some food for the train trip to Salzburg and find which station our train would be arriving at, train EC 131, carriage 262, seat number 42, 43, 44 & 45. So far all good. The notice board said carriage 262 would be at zone A on the platform, at what would be the last 1 or 2 carriages of the train, that is the first carriages into the platform. What could be easier? 👌

Train arrives, we stand in zone A and as the carriages pull in we see carriage number 261, 263 and so on. No 262 at this end, so a quick dash up the platform to the front of the train, suitcases in hand, still no 262, so back down to the other end and get in the last carriage, 261. To make a long story short, there was no carriage 262, it just didn’t happen and it seemed we could sit anywhere we liked.
Next problem, there was only 1 vacant seat, which for reasons not to be discussed, I sat in while the others either stood in the aisle with the 4 suitcases or went to the dining car.
Having bought some sandwiches for the trip, Jean went to the dining car where there were seats available and proceeded to eat her food, only to be told by the guard/ attendant that she couldn’t eat there because this was the restaurant car. Already incensed at not having been provided with the reserved seats we had booked, she was not inclined to deal with being told that she couldn’t eat in her sandwich in a restaurant car, which she proceeded to do anyway.
Fortunately, the trip was only about 1 1/2 hours so by the time we arrived in Salzburg she had calmed down enough to navigate our way to the hotel, this time on foot. 😂

As you would have seen by now, the Christmas markets in Salzburg were less crowded than in Munich, so it was far more enjoyable wandering through the old town and up to the castle fortress overlooking the town.

Our time in Salzburg hasn’t all been about Goulash soup, deer ragout and apple strudel, although there has been a fair bit of all of that.
Possibly the highlight of our stay here was last day. While Lauren went on an eagerly awaited Sound of Music tour that took in most of sites of the more memorable scenes in the movie, Jean, Sarah and I took a local bus out of town to St Gilgen, again, the fb photos will better describe how great the day was.

So tomorrow, we are off to Lake Bled for Christmas and we are all hoping that the Austrian train system is just that little bit more reliable than their German counterparts.