Kempten Wall Plaque
Leaving Kempten was one of
the hardest partings I can remember in many a year. Perhaps
only second to when I first entered the U.S. Navy just weeks after graduating
high school so many years ago.
The night before I left, the Blaschke Family presented me with this 6" pewter wall plaque depicting, in relief, the Kempten Town Hall and other buildings.
The boys were to leave
school early so they could see me off at almost noon.
Peter had been expecting a call from David to be picked up at school on our way to the
train station, but the call never
came. I could see the worry on his
parent's faces as they awaited his call. Finally,
unable to wait any longer, we were going to have to leave without him. I was very sorry that I would not be
able to actually say "Goodbye" properly. But, as we were loading the car, he came
running up the street. Seems, being
a typical teenager, he let the time slip away from him.
We arrived about 15
minutes before the scheduled departure of the train. As I've said, European trains are
punctual - especially the German ones. They
have set the time standard for train travel.
We knew that Thomas was going to drive from school to the station and
would just meet us there. Thomas
was indeed waiting for us when we arrived.
While awaiting the train,
we closed out my visit with goodbyes, hugs and said many things that needed to
be said at a time like this. There never seems to be enough time to say all you want to
say.
Thomas helped me board the
train by carrying one of my bags. Once they were stowed, he gave me another long, hard, loving
hug. Remember, these trains stop
only 2-3 minutes to let people off and on.
When he turned to leave, David jumped on to the train. He wanted another hug from me as well. By now, the warning bell was sounding
indicating the doors would be closing in 5 seconds. They had to jump off rather quickly to avoid the closing doors. I had never felt so good as I did at
that moment, or so I thought.
As the train started to pull from the station, a last glance out the window gave me a sight I will long remember. A "Kodak Moment" for sure, but no camera ready for the picture. The whole Blaschke family was holding hands in a tight group. Christine appeared to be wiping a tear from her eye. What else can I say about this family except that I really did not want to leave. This departure started a long 12-hour ride to Copenhagen. I guess I finally earned the title Thomas gave me the first day in Kempten - "My Friend, The Crazy American". Because, if nothing else, why would someone take a month off to see Europe and only spend a week in Bavaria? Maybe I should have skipped Paris and Zürich as Thomas had suggested.
This was the most
concerning part of my overall European holiday travel. I needed to change trains 4 times over
the next 12 hours. David wanted to
accompany me to Augsburg, the end of my RE train travel where I connected with
the ICE to Hamburg. Maybe he
just wanted to make sure that I made it through all the connections necessary to
start the long ride north, or did he want to confirm his thoughts about coming
to the States to school. Either way, he
was unsure if he would be finished with a major test he was taking that
morning. The subject was dropped almost before any discussion was made..
Starting
out from Kempten on the RE-21233, I made all the connections
perfectly, which was not a total surprise to me by now. I had to change trains at the second
stop of this first train. At
Buckloe, I found the RE-21713, my connecting train at the station, exactly where the timetable said
it would be. I had 5 minutes to
leave one train and walk across the platform and board the next one, plenty of
time.
This train took me to
Augsburg where I had to go downstairs, cross under some tracks and return to the
surface on the adjacent platform. I waited for about 7 minutes for the high-speed ICE-586 train to
arrive from Müechen (Munich) to pick up me and about 60 other people waiting on
the platform.
Video
of an ICE High Speed Pass
Courtesy DB Museum, Nürnberg, Germany
(Close the new browser window when finished
viewing to return here.)
This was to be the final
high-speed rail travel of my holiday. I
had already traveled about 1.5 hours on the RE to get to this point. From Augsburg to Hamburg is about 6 hours.
Then a 4.5-hour ride on the EC-39 to Copenhagen, part of which turned out
to be by ferry.
The ICE is Germany's
answer to all high-speed rail travel worldwide.
Using mostly existing rail lines, the ICE is able to achieve speeds of
150mph. This is done using
"tilting" technology. The
carriages tilt to compensate for the high speed turns encountered.
The ICE-586 (The Rudolf
Harbig) was the most
luxurious travel yet. Quieter and
smother still than the Eurostar or TGV somehow.
Most First-Class seats had video screens where you could choose from 3 on
board movies, several local radio stations as well as some ICE created music and
news programs. Again, your own headphones will work perfectly. First Class again did not have meal
service, but a restaurant car was just ahead.
I found the meals to be very affordable and filling.
I found Germany to be very
beautiful as the terrain began to flatten from the rolling Alpine foothills. What I didn't
expect was the number of tunnels encountered over the next few hours. I gave up counting at 20 something. Some were very short, while others were
in excess of a kilometer long.
I also noticed a distinct weather change. Starting out with heavy overcast and light rain, about midway of the travel, the skies cleared revealing the beautiful detail of the countryside. Then, further north, the clouds moved back in. Don't forget, I traveled over 500 miles on this one train alone.
One thing that I couldn't
help but notice was the abundance of rail lines that crossed the countryside. Off in the distance, I could see the
overhead wires of yet another route. Frequently,
they would merge with the ICE mainline and then split off a bit later. On occasion, I would see a small one, or
two-carriage rail car traveling across the rolling hills. There is hardly a place in Germany that
is not reachable by rail, or bus. The
use of private cars for transportation is not necessary for daily commuting. Bicycle paths parallel almost every road
and street keeping the cyclists and walkers away from vehicle traffic.
On the stop at Hanover,
the site of World Expo 2000, hundreds of school kids were waiting on a train
that was due to arrive on the adjacent track.
Judging by the way the kids were dressed and reaction to standing in the
open air, the weather changed to what looked like a very wet and cold afternoon.
Thomas and his class had
made this journey a couple months earlier.
They only had a couple of days to explore all of Expo 2000, which is
something of a mini World's Fair. Financial
support had been very hard to obtain. Many
advertising campaigns just did not get off the drawing board, so the World
really didn't hear about Expo 2000 until just prior to its opening. Even their website still has many areas
"Under Construction". The
exhibition closes in October.
The long ride gave me
plenty of time to think about what had just happened in Kempten. There was so much that it was hard to
sort it all out. The first images
were those of the Blaschke family on the train platform and Christine wiping a
tear. That brought a tear to my
eyes as well. I had left behind
what had become a part of me in such a short period of time.
However, looking back, I
had been having problems getting the Blaschke family out of my mind since our first
meeting in Orlando way back in June 1999. Then the many e-mails that crossed the Atlantic between
Thomas and myself. Thomas exerted
intense pressure for me to come to Kempten.
Then he planted suggestions that I completely bypass Paris and Zürich
and head straight to Kempten from London. Well,
I gave in to the first one, but I wasn't going to pass up a chance to see Paris
and Zürich, since I was in the area. Kempten would just have to wait.
What I now realize was
that my real mission, if you will, to Kempten was not to see Thomas, but I feel
it was David that was the one I was to help.
Both Peter and Thomas told me that David wanted to go to the States next
year, but was very shy and uncomfortable with his spoken English. At first, this seemed to be the case. But after a week of nothing-but-English
in the house, David's English became very easy to understand. And, I don't think he was having to
"translate" into German as much to talk with me.
The night before I left,
David came to my room. We sat there
and talked for some time. At one
point, he said that he had decided to go to the States for his 11th grade year. I ask him what changed his mind; he
indicated that it was me. I guess
having to speak English to someone who speaks it naturally was the little boost
his ego needed to overcome his shyness.
Thomas and I had several
quiet times to ourselves as well, just to talk.
Much to our surprise, we had more in common that either of us would have
ever expected. Many of our ideals,
inner thoughts and concepts were very similar.
I will cherish these talks for a long time to come. I only hope Thomas will as well.
Over the next several
hours, I tried to figure out how all this came to be. There were just too many variables that
would have made our "First Contact" impossible. To look back, the first one was the
t-shirt. Thomas said it was the
only one left clean. Why? Why did
all of us end up at Universal Studios? I
could have gone anywhere as I had tickets for both Universal and Disney. Was it the covered parking? Why that particular time of day, during
the intense heat? Was it my love for ice cream?
Why that isolated concession stand? For me, it was the only shady, ice cream vendor I remembered. Why did Thomas decide to walk in front
of me when a more direct path, to the concession stand, was behind me? Why was there no trashcan near me but
next to the bench they were sitting on?
As for asking about the
t-shirt, well, I am just naturally curious.
I've met many people from all over Arkansas at WDW or Universal, just
because of the t-shirts we may be wearing that advertise something familiar to
Arkansas residents. Some people have even recognized me by hearing my voice. I guess that tells me that I talk too
much, or that people actually listen to what I am saying. Scary, either way isn't it?
I finally came to the
decision that it must have been the hand of God that brought us together for
some reason. Because, fate,
accident or desire could not have done all that needed to be done. Was my real reason to go to Kempten to
see the area? See Thomas again? Enjoy a break from the travels I had
already completed? Get free room
and board for a few days? Or was it
to help David overcome his fear of speaking English? The answer to all of these questions must lie deep within
each of us. I, for one, do not know
the full reason for what did or did not happen, but I'm extremely thankful for
the warm welcome, hospitality I received and what I hope will be a lasting
relationship with the Blaschke family. I'm
so glad that I did not take the plane. There
would have been no way that I could have had the time to think through all of
this in just 2 hours with someone sitting right beside me.
I needed to get out of
this "trance" that I had been in for several hours, just thinking
about Kempten. Now, I must make the
last change of train for this journey. Hamburg
has a large, busy train station. On
the second level are many shops and eateries.
Here I had the longest wait of my travel, if you discount the late
arrival of the Eurostar to London. This
was a forever 22 minutes for my train. However,
if I missed it, there would not be another until the next day around noon. This was much to long to hang around a
train station, even for one who loves trains.
The EC-39 (The Hamlet) to Copenhagen
arrived right on schedule just as I was downing my last french fry and sip of
Coke. I knew I had over 5 minutes
to make the train, but my pulse was still racing as I walked somewhat fast down
the platform toward the first-class carriage.
This was the smallest train I had been on yet. This trainset consisted of just 3 cars,
two 2nd class and one 1st class. By
the time the train left, it was completely full.
However, many people got off at the first or second stop out of the
station.
A big surprise was the
train was loaded on a ferry for a 45-minute crossing between Germany and
Denmark. It was beginning to get
dark as the time was approaching 10:00pm. Remember, the sun didn't go down until closer to 11:00pm at
this high latitude. The ferry had a
large restaurant and duty-free shopping area.
Several smaller snack bars were already closed, as this was the last
crossing of the night for the rail cars. The
rest of the vehicles on board were mostly tractor-trailer rigs, a few cars and
some bicycles.
My rail travel was has now come to an end. It was everything I expected and more. I had now spent over 30 hours on European rail travel from the super speed Eurostar to the relatively tame speed of the commuter rail service. Any of these would be an asset to travel throughout the States.
Yes, we do have commuter rail server in the Northeast Corridor (New England areas), Chicago, and the Los Angeles - San Francisco areas, but elsewhere, we are left to the Interstates, high gas prices, exhaustive hours behind the wheel and the latest problem, "Road Rage".
The opponents say that rail travel is inconvenient. Well, with proper planning, and good rail service, you can do just about everything you do now, cheaper, faster and easier. The problem still exists, who is going to pay for all this service? The taxpayers will, of course. Therein lies the major problem. From the time a unified rail strategy is formed to the actual first riders, the time frame may be decades. Then, there is no guarantee that service will be as expected. Take a look at the new subway line that took 10 years to build in San Francisco. $10 Billion was spend on 13 miles of underground/surface railway. Since conceived, the areas it covers are now serviced by freeways to downtown. Riders are non-existent. The rail line is rendered almost useless but still the taxpayers are footing the bill from now on.
So, how is the United States going to make the program work country-wide. That, my friend, is the $500 Billion dollar question. I know that I will not live long enough to see anything like the great strides made in Europe, but remember, they have been at this for over 100 years. In Europe, population centers grow AROUND the rail lines, as they have grown around the Interstate system in this country. A good first step, would be to get Amtrak 99% on-time, with the service and destinations the people want. Delays and layovers must become something that happens so seldom, it that it is a news headline.
A trip from Chicago to San Antonio, like the Union Pacific "Texas Eagle" makes, should be measured in hours instead of days. Averaging 65mph on Interstates, the 1250 mile trip should take around 20 hours. Amtrak shows train "21" leaving Chicago at 5:05pm and arrives in San Antonio the NEXT NIGHT at 11:04pm. That's 31 hours with an overall speed of just 40mph. The fare, $185.00 for a "discount coach seat". A high-speed line, such as the slowest ICE in Germany would take only eight hours (non-stop). Add stops in major cities along the way, at two to three minutes each, you should still get there in under 12 hours, rested and refreshed. Now, lets "Eurostar" the route and we come up a travel time of seven hours with stops in Springfield, IL, St Louis, MO, Jonesboro and Little Rock, AR, Dallas and Ft Worth, TX.. And finally, do this on an hourly schedule each way. Chicago to Dallas in 6 hours -- you can't fly it any faster, nor end up downtown at ether location.
OK, I'll get off my soapbox and head to Copenhagen, Danmark for my final stop.
