Berling→Graz–Jun. 1, 2025

I tried to check out of the hotel using their automated system. It wouldn’t respond to the touch screen. One of the hotel staff finally was able to get it to cooperate, and I entered all the information, and then, at the very end “Sorry, you did not enter all the required information.” And sent me right back to the starting page. The staff person said not to worry; they would check me out. I asked, “How do I know that I’m really checked out and the hotel won’t charge me 500 € per day for late checkout?”

The staff person said, “Don’t be scared. We won’t do that; we are a big company.” I responded, “That’s exactly why I am scared.”

So, like an idiot, I trusted them, and I am 100% sure that I will regret it. Oh well; off to the train station I went.

I got to the train station early, in time to see a group of five police officers chasing down some guy and leading him away. I have no idea what he did wrong, but it did add some further excitement to the day.

While waiting for the train, some lady came up to a group of us, trying to sell us some sort of newspaper. We all said no, and she started insulting the two black women. Everyone else gave the newspaper lady a hearty FU (not in those exact words) and she went away.

At any rate, I had a great conversation with the two ladies, who were from Toronto and were originally from the Caribbean. Berlin had been their first stop, and they were off to Prague, Vienna, and Budapest. I asked them if there was any particular food they liked in Berlin, and they said “currywurst”. One of the ladies said that she was worried it might make her sick, but she decided to try it anyway. They were both surprised that it wasn’t in a curry sauce, but had raw curry powder sprinkeld over the top. “But it worked,“ they said. When they asked about Austria, I recommended Bosna 🇦🇹 and told them that Leberkäse was OK, but not something I’d like to repeat. They also asked if Germany had a national dish, and I had no idea.

Another couple in the group was from Chicago, so I told them I was from the Peoria area (almost guaranteed they would know about Peoria) and asked if they had heard of Pekin. It turned out they had.

They were wondering where they were supposed to wait to get on the train; none of them was aware of the display that shows which wagon (train car) numbers will be on the platform when the train arrives. See this page (scroll down to Miscellanea) as well as this page for examples.