5 June 2008

Route

The big blue information panel shows "Moscow" as final destination of my train. I beg your pardon, my ticket told me this train was heading for Copenhagen.

The lady at the ticket sales office does see the humour in my question. "Well, you can better disembark a bit sooner, as you won't understand the folks in Moscow."

Hm, her answer does not stop my mind from puzzling:

I say bye bye to her with a Russian spasiba (thanks). She enjoys my answer and quickly double checks the platform number for me.
The sign at the platform shows a odd combination of destinations. Now, I can't imagine a sensible route for this train.

When the train enters the station, my confusion only grows. The train is a weird mix of many different carriages. Some carry Russian characters, others show the logo of the German Railways. East and West travelling Europe together as brothers.

The route planning puzzle remains unsolved. But, being a passenger I do not have to worry about it. Somebody else will solve this puzzle.

The night passes and morning dawns. The Russian carriages are out of sight. At some time of night the Russians must have parted and headed off on their own.

One carriage downstream is now a German Railways restaurant. That restaurant carriage originates from Munich.

So this answers my routing puzzle. There is no such thing as a train route, it is just the carriages that follow a track.

Till next nut,
Nut