Trip Report: Eindhoven to Berlin by train, part II
This DB Intercity (IC) car seemed pretty old, and it was not so smooth. Also, I had been warned on my favorite travel site flyertalk.com (yes, they even have a message board for European train travel!), that some seats are reserved, some are not. So people are always asking if the seat next to you is free. And people will not automatically take their belongings out of your reserved seat if they see you about to sit down, since they are hoping you will find another free seat to sit down in. I found this really annoying.
The bathrooms on this train were a most interesting shade of sea green.
We had a long stop in the German border town of Bad Bentheim. This was when the Dutch conductor left (he made announcements in Dutch, German, and English), and the German conductor got on (he made announcements in German and English). On both sides of the border each individually came around checking tickets. I also found this a bit annoying since I felt I couldn't rest; I never knew when the conductor would make his way to my seat, and how many times. I guess I will always prefer flying. Three or four German policemen walked through the cars; not sure who or what they were looking for, but they moved pretty slowly and seemed to really look at people.
Bad Bentheim was also when it really felt like I was in a different country. Why? The typeface on the train station's signs were different from the Dutch. I think the Dutch in general love Frutiger since it is the typeface of both Albert Heijn and NS. The DB signs use the typeface "DIN 1451" according to Wikipedia, which also says that the origins of this typeface is the Prussian rail network from the turn of the 20th century.
I really knew I was in Germany when, in addition to the yellow rapeseed fields, I saw my first HILL since leaving Finland.
