Today we travelled to Zurich and most of the day has been spent on the train. The train leaving Prague was scheduled to leave at 9:04a.m., so we got to the train station at 8:30 to give us plenty of time to find the platform and not be rushed. The first thing you do when riding the rails is check the big board of scheduled trains to locate which platform yours will be. At 8:30 no platform was listed next to our train. At 8:45 no platform was listed next to our train. At 8:50 and 8:55 and at 9:00 still no platform number. We were really starting to get nervous because trains typically leave right on time and wait for no one. Well at about 9:02 the platform was listed and the mass of people that were standing and waiting for this magic number to appear showed us the way to the train. We just got on the train and then walked through several cars to get to our car. We didn’t want to risk finding the right car when we were still on the platform if it meant the train might start moving. The ride to Zurich included a 1 1/2 hour stop in Munich, so after being on the train for 6 hours we got a break in Munich. Here we ate at a traditional rail station restaurant called Burger King, and had enough time to stop in a Eurail Information center to ask a couple questions. We were hoping to get ahead of the game and make reservations for a train from Zurich to Rome, but were told we really should wait until we get to Switzerland to do so. I was given however, a Eurail Pass Timetable book that show the schedules for all participating cities and trains. Gosh that sure would have been helpful if I had that say, 2 weeks ago! I think it was supposed to come with our pass, but it didn’t and this was the first time we had actually seen a Eurail Information center. Oh well, next time we’ll be so much more informed. As I’m writing this we are sitting on the train from Munich to Zurich with a couple more hours to go before we get there. I’ll finish the entry and post after we’re settled in for the night. The train finally got into Zurich at 9:35p.m. (it had been delayed due to some work on the track). The nice thing about coming in a little later was that we didn’t have to wait very long to make our reservations for our train to Rome. I am really glad however that I did take the time to reserve a room. After getting directions to our hotel and about a 15 minute walk we were here. It was drizzling once again, so we are praying that we get the perfect weather for tomorrow as it is the only day we will have to explore the city.
