6th January 2018 - Onwards and westwardsSaturday 6th January 2018 A slightly earlier start today as we had a long journey (around 528 miles) to Zürich for the final leg of this trip. We started off with the 7:38 to Wien Hbf with about 50 minutes there before catching the main train of the day, a Railjet service from Budapest to Zürich so time for a tea top-up in Ströck. The ÖBB on-line planner had indicated that the service would be busy so we had decided to reserve a couple of seats previously at Bratislava which were a good buy at €3 each, last time we’d purchased a seat reservation in Austria the were four Euros a piece. The Railjet had two portions within Austria, the main train to Zürich came from Budapest and was joined at the Hbf by a second portion which ran between Wien Flughafen and Feldkirch. The through portion arrived first and we discovered that the seats next to the luggage rack were unreserved so settled down there in order to keep an eye on our suitcases with a family of four following us on and taking the seats opposite. Our fears of a long journey being disrupted by squalling children didn’t materialise as Dad had brought a laptop loaded with children's programs and two pairs of headphones which kept the youngsters quiet apart from the odd outburst which was only to be expected given they were aged around two and five. With the computer placed with its back to the window, we too could be silently entertained by Peppa Pig and Cbeebies, the latter provided a deja-vu experience when we glanced across at one stage whilst it was showing a section on fossil hunting – it had been filmed on a beach near Barry in South Wales, an area which we know very well indeed, the Islands of Flat Holm and Steep Holm in the background being instantly recognisable. 1116 223 at Siebnen-Wangen10th January 2015. RJ360 7:40 Innsbruck Hbf to Zürich HB. The dreary murky weather which had continued from yesterday gave way to bright sunshine on the way west which made the scenic journey on the Arlberg route an enjoyable one, only slightly spoilt by a group of noisy young men who got on at Landeck for a couple of stops. There were six minutes booked to reverse at Buchs just after crossing the Swiss border and some minor entertainment was provided by a group of four who suddenly decided that they wanted to get off after the train had already been standing for five minutes, we hope they didn’t forget anything in the frantic scramble to alight. We arrived at Zürich HB one minute early and went straight downstairs to the Low Level platforms to catch a train to Hardbrücke where we were staying in the Ibis Budget. This is in the same block as a “normal” Ibis and a Novotel, we would have preferred to stay in the Ibis (or even the Novotel if there had been a special offer) but the Budget was a lot cheaper, an important consideration when staying for a whole week in Switzerland. Dinner was had a short walk down the road in “Brisket”, somewhere that we’d walked past dozens of times but never tried. It was very nice but we considered it rather expensive for what it was though that might be down to us having got too used to Slovakian prices.
Keywords:
Austria,
Switzerland
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