Travelers in Train-ing (aka "Board Where You Stand")

May 1, 2010

There is an OBB “train delay incident report” in Vienna with my name on it.  Well, maybe not my name, but certainly a description of a frantic American mom and her three children with scads of luggage who managed to turn a one-minute train boarding stop into a three-minute one.  Those were 120 seconds of sheer stress.   But I digress...

Today we went back to Geneva, Switzerland to see my parents and swap out our cold weather clothes for our warm weather ones before heading south to Italy.  I had happily looked forward to this day -- thrilled to get a bit of help with the children, and to play a secondary role in the excursion-planning and meal-preparing (in a more fully stocked kitchen!) for a few days.   On the flip side, I had also dreaded this day, only because it required us to board and unboard three different trains with all of our luggage.  To make things even more challenging, we had a tight schedule to make our train connection in both Salzburg (14 minutes) and Zurich (12 minutes).  The mere thought of it was enough to make me join Regan in missing our rental car.

After a late evening train back from Salzburg, I managed to squeeze in about four hours of sleep after packing up our two-room hotel apartment.  It was a busy morning, but we somehow managed to check-out and get to the Bahnhof (train station) by cab a full 30 minutes before our 10:19 a.m. train.  We were looking forward to our only first-class train day of the trip, although I was a little bit anxious when the train arrived already six minutes behind schedule.  I became even more anxious when the train’s first- class cars whizzed past us at the front end of the train instead of the back end of the train, as was indicated on the train's posted diagram in the station.  Seriously!?  We started sprinting down the long platform to our designated train car (no easy feat with 12 bags among the four of us-- I had five of them) and the conductor blew the whistle to signal departure.  What!?  I boldly moved across the yellow line right next to the train so it wouldn’t be cleared to go.  We finally made it to the 1st class cars, and I frantically started throwing/handing our bags one at a time up the train car stairs to Cade while encouraging a worried and tearful Regan to keep running those last few yards.  As the train pulled out of the station, I then patiently endured a good tongue lashing from the train conductor who angrily taught me the "Board Where You Stand" rule.   (Note to Rick Steves: I read your books; why don't I know this rule??)  He harshly lectured that he would have to answer to Vienna headquarters about the delay and if every stop exceeded its boarding allowance by two minutes, after ten stops the train would be 20 minutes late and he would be looking for a new job...  Sigh.  You get the idea.   It was one of the rare moments on the trip when I wished I didn't understand German!

But he made some good points.  By the time he came back to punch our train tickets, I had evolved from defensive to apologetic, contrite and conjugating my German verbs correctly, and he graciously accepted my apology.  In fact, when we disembarked in Salzburg with only six minutes to find our next train, he came over to help with our bags and kindly ran ahead to check the train departures screen on our behalf.  (I was greatly relieved when he happily signaled the good news that we could remain on the same platform to board our next train.)  And thus foe became friend.  Phew.  

Having painfully learned the “Board Where You Stand” rule in Bad Gastein, we boarded the next train on the closest car to us when it pulled into the station.  I sent the kids ahead through the train to stake out a good spot in first-class since we didn't have reserved seats.  It only took 40 minutes and seven (!) separate trips back and forth through nine crowded passenger cars to get all of our bags to the right place.  (By my last trip, I passed so many familiar and sympathetic faces that I couldn't help announcing to each car I passed through that I was finally finished.  There were cheers.)  I must confess that after that ordeal, causing a two-minute train delay and enduring a vigorous scolding for it didn't sound so terrible.  On the positive side, my advance team's well-intended seat selection accidentally upgraded us to the roomier and more comfortable "First Class Business" seats, and the sympathetic ticket man let us all remain in the luxurious compartment for a generously discounted upgrade fee (20 Euros) for the five-hour ride...   Sooo worth it.  

There was a good lesson learned here, but I still don’t know exactly what it was.  I do know that “Board Where You Stand” works a lot better for people who pack lightly.  :-) 

11 hours of train time is quite a bit for my travel-weary companions.  In spite of backpacks filled with things to busy and entertain, I was constantly plagued with complaints of boredom which seriously hindered my nap and blogging time.  We did math.  We did spelling.  We watched a movie.  We discussed the American Idol Final Five (which we'd managed to follow transatlantically via YouTube).  We reflected on the trip and talked about our favorite moments and spots.  After talking through the highlights (there were a LOT), Cade concluded that he simply couldn’t pick a favorite… “just like how a parent can’t pick a favorite child.”   Touche.   There were checkers, ipods, markers, crayons and video games.   We planned out Halloween costumes.  We watched the gorgeous scenery out of the windows and took pictures.   The kids repeatedly expressed their love for First Class Business travel.  (What's not to love?)  We commiserated over missing our train connection in Zurich, and rejoiced when we discovered there was another train departing only 15 minutes later.  

All in all, we were grateful to have made it through our last lots-of-luggage train travel day with relatively minor glitches.  We joyfully arrived in Geneva ready for a little rest and relaxation (and a hot homemade dinner!) with Grandma and Grandpa.  Hallelujah.