Friday's weather did not match the worst predictions of the forecast. It was cold, yes, and we did get snowed on a bit. But there was nothing to prevent a bit more exploration of Innsbruck, which is undeniably scenic:












Loooong journey yesterday, Saturday, the first day of spring...


We'd actually booked first-class tickets for this leg of the trip, as it wasn't that much more expensive, and we thought a bit more space would be welcome. It was. You get wider seats, with lots more legroom, and wider aisles.

First stage: Innsbruck to Munich (a little less than two hours). Mountain scenery again, and glimpses of train journeys we'd like to do in the future:







Munich station was manic. But we only had an hour to wait. By the time we'd walked from the first-class end of the train to the platform exit (these German trains are REALLY long), queued for Milchkaffee at one of the super-busy snack snalls, and wended our way back to the far end of the platform for the next first-class experience, it was pretty much time to get on.

Next stop: Cologne (4.5 hours). One of the privileges of upgrading is that you can have food and drink brought to your seat. I didn't know that initially, and hoofed off to the dining-car to get us sausages-in-a-bun for lunch.

Three asides here:

1. German sausages were an inseparable part of my time in Germany. They're wonderful. Very simple. Just a sausage, stuffed in a nice, crispy Broetchen, a lick of mustard, and you're good. The train's sausages were a bit more sophisticated -- and, of course, a bit more expensive -- but they were very tasty, and fed that sausage craving nicely.
2. The dining-car offerings actually looked really appetizing. Next time we'll plan to eat in situ, with a proper table and the whole works.
3. Having spotted other people ordering from the attendant, we had some coffees brought. You can either do some complicated thing with a QR code, or accost the guy as he goes past.

A lot of the route to Cologne was a ride down memory lane. Ulm and Augsburg I visited a long time ago, when I was a student in Erlangen. Stuttgart was the jumping-off point for the second Europe trip of 2023:




Cologne holds a specially nostalgic place for me. The first time I ever went to continental Europe on my own (which was only the second time in total that I'd been overseas), Cologne was the first place I encountered. Train to Dover; night ferry to Ostend; then the sleepy journey through Brussels and Aachen to Cologne, where I changed trains to continue to Bergneustadt. Back then, it was all very scary-exciting (addictively so, it turned out). Subsequently, every train journey to Germany seemed to go through Cologne. Its distinctly non-British-looking cathedral was always the first sign that you were Somewhere Else. Later, I spent a couple of weeks in Cologne, the orientational prelude to my first teaching post.

So, given that we had a little over 90 minutes in Cologne, before the third and final train to Liege, we thought we'd dump our bags for a bit, and go and (re)visit the Cathedral, which is literally just across the forecourt from the station:



I almost regretted this decision. If Munich station had been manic, Cologne was worse. What's up with the Germans this weekend? Is no-one staying at home? And the left-luggage facility is terrifying (the Man in Seat 61 said it would be, so we were warned...). You stuff your bag into the cavity opened up by the drawbridge, and then it DISAPPEARS... Trundled away somewhere underground by the baggage-goblins. You worry it will never come out again...


The Cathedral is also manic, because everyone does what we're doing... But it's absolutely stunning. I'd forgotten (well, it is 44 years since I was last there...) how amazingly lofty it is...







Worth doing, then, even if ever so briefly.

We fought our way back to the station (as if the weekend crowds weren't enough, there was also a demonstration wending its way through the centre of the city), and eventually found, at Dean & David, a very good sandwich, with a table to eat it at.

After persuading the baggage-goblins to spit out our rucksacks, we plodded off for our last train of the day.


This last connection would take us to Liege, our next temporary destination. It was scheduled to take an hour, but actually took an extra 20 minutes because of engineering work.

I'm by no means a dog fan, but I was quite taken with the little doglet riding just across the aisle from me. Her accompanying human spread a fluffy dog mat on his lap, and she curled up quite happily. No barking, no bouncing, no trouble... Every now and then, she'd curl up the other way, or he'd pour some water into the little dish he'd brought with him, and she'd shlup-shlup-shlup it all up, still sitting on his lap, in very lady-like fashion. She's used to it, he told me when I commented on how amazing she was. They travel a lot together. She probably insists on going first-class, though.

It's just after 1900 by now, and the next challenge is to fight our way out of Liege station, which has adopted a "no clues" signposting policy.

With Saturday closing-time looming, we thought we'd better stop and shop on the way to our accommodation. We needed something for breakfast. Also, the little dog's human had had a bottle of wine brought to his seat, and that suddenly seemed like a really, really good idea...


Which brings us to this morning... Sunday morning... Pretty frosty.