Staying at a friend's house in Germany (for 3 days)
- Mike
- 2025年10月29日
- 読了時間: 3分
更新日：2月18日
[October 29th]
I didn't know where the reserved seats were on the train from Saltzburg, so I asked a station attendant and found out.
In Japan, JR trains generally start from Tokyo and the first car leaving Tokyo is designated as car number 1, but unlike in Japan, there does not seem to be any rule as to what number the train car number starts from.
It is important to understand this and also be careful when handling reserved seats.
On express trains, if a seat has an LED display above it saying "reserved seat," you can see where it has been reserved, and if there is no other display, it seems like it's okay to sit there. I say "seems" because you never know when the seat will be reserved.
Also, at larger stations, the platforms are more than twice as long as those in Japan, so for example, when changing trains at Munich station, two train lines were stopping at the same platform.
In other words, the platform is long.
If I hadn't asked the station attendant, I might have ended up on a different train.
Munich Station is a terminal station, so all trains run in a circular motion.
Munich Station is currently undergoing major renovations, so it is cramped, there are many construction sections, and it is difficult to move between platforms.
I got on the train number 556, but even though most of the seats were empty, I was assigned seats where 5 or 6 passengers were placed in one place.
From experience, it seems that in Japan, station staff select seats that are spread out when making reservations.
Maybe they're trying to get everyone to sit closer together and encourage more conversation. Am I overthinking it?
But it was nice to have a short chat with some talkative Italian tourists.
Even though I'm getting used to German trains, they were still a little late, about 10 minutes late as usual, but they gradually made up the time.
However, for some reason the train stopped for several minutes just before the final transfer station, so I was unable to catch the express train I was supposed to take at the transfer station and had to take the next train.
The next train was running normally, so I ended up arriving at Offenburg station, my final destination for the day, an hour late.
I tried to contact my friends as needed to let them know about delays, but since there was no internet connection, we tended to lose contact.
Eventually I was able to restart it and it worked again.
A friend was waiting for me at Offenburg station in his car.
I went to a friend's house to give him a souvenir and enjoyed dinner and conversation in my poor English.
summary
I was able to get by without any problems with the SIM and eSim I purchased, as the provider was always available to give me advice via Line, but one thing I learned was that when you go international, you may not be able to connect to the internet, and in that case, restarting your smartphone will often help you connect.
This time, I purchased a SIM or eSIM from Japan and am using it with my smartphone and a tablet as a backup, which can be helpful in situations like the one in item 1.
Deutsche Bahn's long-distance trains are equipped with Wi-Fi, but there are steps and restrictions to connecting, so it's best to purchase a SIM or eSIM.