This is a trip report about a ride on the CityNightLine from Munich, "Die Weltstadt mit Herz" or "the City with Heart" to Amsterdam, also known as "Mokum," or "safe place" in Yiddish. This is also my first ever trip report^, so bear with me! The background section of this TR is lengthy, and while I think it complements the report nicely, it is not necessary to read. If you'd simply like to read about the train trip itself, please scroll down to the
Train Trip section in
Post #2. Thanks!
Background:
It's mid-April 2012, and my friend and I are frantic. After deciding to study both science and language abroad in beautiful Germany and officially signing up for the Summer 2012 term (6/12 - 8/12), my friend and I were still trying to decide what to do both before and after the trip came to a close. We were flying around our dorm room trying to plan while he labored away on his engineering assignments and I pulled my hair out over the latest organic chemistry problem set.
We had already figured out what to do before the start of the trip: Fly into LHR, stay in London, take Eurostar to Paris, stay in Paris, fly RyanAir to Rome, stay in Rome for a few days, and meet up with the rest of the students in the program in Rome before going to Germany for the start of classes. However, we had totally neglected to plan out what we would be doing after. We both wanted to visit Amsterdam, but we were in a time crunch now and things were getting expensive.
A quick look on the BA website proved to be discouraging. Fares from MUC to AMS were through the roof. LH did not prove to be better. We briefly felt discouraged and wondered if we'd be able to make it to Amsterdam... Then, we got a clue! We were going to Europe, and Europe has an extensive network of trains. Putting off my assignment, I took to the internet and started to find out how to get from Munich to Amsterdam by train. There were countless options: Regional trains, ICE trains, busses, Regional-ICE-bus combos, you name it! However, one stuck out: CityNightLine. I first noticed it because it fit our schedule well - it left Munich late at night and got into Amsterdam early in the morning. My friend and I decided from the get-go that we wanted to do the end of the trip "in style," so we started researching the sleeper car option. Impressed by the amenities of the private compartment and the decently reasonable (actually pretty expensive for college kids, but still cheaper than flying Y), we booked our tickets through the Deutsche Bahn website and patted ourselves on the back before returning to our work.
Departure Day
Our study abroad trip, which was hosted by our University, originated in Nuremburg, then transited to Berlin for a week, and finally relocated to Brannenburg (~1h outside of Munich) for the remainder of the trip. On the very somber, cool, and misty Saturday morning of August 4, 2012, we bid goodbye to the other students we had been studying with for the past three months. There were handshakes, hugs, tears, phone numbers being exchanged, and the like. Although most of us would see each other again at the start of the fall semester back at our university, there were a few others who were graduating or from other universities who we would not see for a long time. Thus, things got very sentimental. We departed our quarters in Brannenburg and headed for the town's train station to catch the regional train. We took a series of trains to Munich Airport, where we bid our friends goodbye, and then took the train back to the Munich Haputbahnhof to explore Munich before our 22:47 departure.
Here, the mood elevated a bit. My friend and I got out and explored Munich, enjoying the many fine sights and beers along the way. We did obnoxiously touristy things and went off the beaten path, visiting the Hofbräuhaus and quaint beer gardens. We even went out of our way to buy chocolate and gummy bears (I really would fly back to MUC for these... for really cheap or with all the miles I've earned thanks to FT^). To finish off our day, we trekked out to the Englischer Garten in order to grab dinner at the Chinesischer Term (Chinese Tower).
While eating at the Chinese Tower we encountered a lovely American couple visiting from Chicago. The husband, who worked in IT for UA, told us about their many trips to Europe and about the plans for their European family vacation this summer. We sat under the tower and talked for quite a long time, with almost nonstop conversation. We enjoyed the conversation so much that we got a little close for time therefore didn't get to experience the DB First Class lounge at Munich Haputbahnhof. But oh well, it was worth it!