Thoughts on the train

We are on our second train of the day, in Croatia headed for the town of Split. We will spend 2 nights there and then pick up the boat for our sail on the Adriatic. Bev and I were discussing some of our impressions and thought you all might be interested in some of our observations.
First, toilets. It has been quite an adventure trying to figure out how to flush. Each toilet, even within the same country, seems to have a different mechanism. Some on the floor, some on the lid, some on the wall, some on the back of the commode itself. There have been more than one occasion when one of us has not been able to figure it out. Also, each country has different labels for the women and the men, which we all would expect, but (and we can’t remember which one now) either Poland or Hungry has a circle for the ladies and a triangle for the men. Thank goodness for Rick Steves and his thorough explanations! Some places charge for the privilege, Kenny just paid 80 cents, which he felt was outrageous. In Vienna, in the subway, there is a pay toilet which plays Opera for you – Bev and I could not pass that one up, we even got a picture, no not the inside, but right outside which was quite decorated up. All countries have used the universal, at least in Europe, WC (water closet) which makes locating the spot easy.
Second, languages. In each country we have been in, everyone speaks at least some English. As our hotel proprietor in Budapest said, “You would not have much opportunity to practice Hungarian.” English is taught in all the schools and we have noticed on tours where different languages are offered, many people who are not native English speakers choose English when their language is not offered. It certainly makes our travel easier, but Ken and Patti especially, make an effort to learn a few words, that always gets us at least a smile, if not a little better connection with the people.
Third, money. We have used five different currencies, with five different exchange rates, so we are constantly doing the math trying to figure out how much the beer costs. It is a bit like play money and you have to remind yourself it isn’t. Only Austria is on the Euro and was also the most expensive countries we have visited. Poland, Hungry, the Czech Republic and Croatia are all still using their own money system even though they are part of the EU. Poland has been the least expensive place we have been. Patti, as usual is our purser and is doing such a great job one of our waiters dubbed her “the Minister of Finance”. We are coming home with pockets full of change from all those places; you can’t exchange coins, just paper money.

Rolling along on the train through Croatia. Not much to do but read and blog. The small cities in Croatia were not appealing, too many ‘burbs full of last housing blocks that were pretty depressing (Soviet Socialist Realism?) but as we climb into the mountains the countryside is beautiful and the little villages picturesque. Lots of big woodpiles indicate a cold winter. Corn fields and kitchen gardens with cabbage and pumpkins, sheep, goats, geese, chickens. Each village has a quaint little Catholic Church.
The blue sky is full of fluffy clouds.

Another observation.. This train is no smoking but the car is full of smoke because we are right behind the train cab where the train staff is smoking like crazy. The Croatians appear to be big smokers. No dining car on this train or the one this AM. As Ron observed, they could be making money selling the passengers food, coffee and beer. However, later they did come around with a tray selling sandwiches and beer. Beer was good; sandwiches not so much.

Diane, Bev and the Crew.