The girls and I went to Europe in 1990 to visit Jimmy was he was in Italy. We landed in Frankfurt and stayed a few days with my brother and sister-in-law in Germany.
While there we traveled overnight on the train to Paris. German trains are clean and pretty comfortable for the most part. No glitches at all and we spent the day walking the city and taking in all the tourist sites. Shopping was expensive but we enjoyed looking.
The Parisian restaurant we ate at was very nice, too. For a day trip it was fun but would have been better had we had a few days to explore the back side streets and local lifestyle.
Leaving Frankfurt we traveled by train to Munich. It was a treat to zip along the tracks and gaze out over the acres of sunflowers in the fields. Lunch in the dining car included white linens and a formal place setting complete with a flower ina bud vase. What a nice added touch it lent to the experience. The porter was courteous and smartly dressed in a uniform.
Munich's main train terminal is huge! It has a large open area where all the trains arrive and depart. There must be at least fifty tracks. Overhead is a monstrous board that
has the trains final destination and time lit up. Trying to survey the board in another language you are not fluent in is harrowing. Especially since we had only moments to spare until our train left the station. Of course our train was at the very last track! We ran as fast as we could and made it in the nick of time. We were on our way to Naples on the overnight train. The vestibule was full of travelers and luggage. Finally after a period of time the conductor guided us to our sleeping berths. It was a tiny compartment with three stacked beds on the left side. There was an itty
bitty sink in the corner. Bathrooms were at the end of the car.
Our luggage was old. I chose an old one on purpose because I knew it would take a beating on the trip. We had one large bag for all our clothes. Not an easy feat traveling with preteen girls! I felt comfortable making the trip overseas with them as I had lived in Germany as a teen and could still remember enough German to get by.
We settled down and I fell asleep immediately. The girls were beat, too but stayed awake. I remember waking up in a startle. "Girrrrrrls, stop jumping on the bed! That was an impossibility since they were a triple bunk style without much headroom! We were going through the mountain range and through tunnels so I suppose that is what woke me up. They laugh at me to this day about that!
In the morning we were pulling into Rome. Looking out the window I saw a city that hadn't changed much in the twenty years since I had last visited. Old structures. Massive congestion on the highways and a variety of bustling people on the sidewalk.
The station was a chaotic mass of people. Some in a huge hurry and many yelling
to others for something in a multitude of languages. We stuck out like sore
thumbs! I was finally able to get to the ticket window to secure our connection to
Naples. It was supposed to be more fun than this!......cont'd
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