2/n Conducteur loopt fluitend en zingend door de trein “ik ben ben een beetje moe, een beeeeetje down, dida la la lalala la”
#Treinleven #Train #Trein #NS #Travel #TrainTravel #christmas #Christmas2025 #NS
3/n very cold at Utrecht central station, but Albert Heijn is open so I got a coffee. Just took the first sip and realised that, despite it being so in coffee machines of TU Delft, oat milk is *not* the default in most coffee machines. I have been spoilt.
Also it’s snowing on the travel information signs and employees are wearing Xmas hats and hairbands and such.
4/n Mini library at Utrecht central station is a vibe.
5/n Just got on an international train to Germany!
My mouth tasted of moo juice and the girl next to me was loudly smacking her way through a box of mini bell peppers, so I decided that to take advantage of the fact that the train toilets are probably going to be as clean as they get until I reach Switzerland, and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth.
Just returned and the girl is busy taking selfies, using her own spit to style her hair in pursuit of the perfect shot.
Couple in front of me has stopped yapping, so the silence is only disturbed by the couple yapping on the other end of the carriage.
#Treinleven #Trains #Train #DeutscheBahn #AnnaOnATrain #TrainTravel #Travel
6/n The couple in front of me is yapping again and spit girl is making a phone call, complaining loudly about how she is not in her reserved seat because she couldn't figure out the carriage numbers and seat numbers and everything is very confusing.
#Trainleven #Trains #DeutscheBahn #AnnaOnATrain #Travel #StilteCoupe #QuietZone #KanHetWatZachter
7/n Train manager repeats his request to please put your skis in the Bicycle Carriages 30 and 31, and not in front of exits and bathrooms. Also says that if you wanted to have a seat, you should have booked one. He can't help it. Trains are full during the holidays.
Yapping couple got off in Düsseldorf. We left Düsseldorf with 1 minute delay. Is this cause for celebration, or a dark foreboding of what is to come? Only time will tell.
Woman behind me is the ideal fellow passenger. Would love to chat about what she's reading, but this is the quiet zone, so I won't disturb her.
#Treinleven #Trains #Travel #AnnaOnATrain #DeutscheBahn #TrainTravel #Christmas #Christmas 2025
8/n Took another bathroom break and pondered the concept of Braille on a no-touch flush.
Happy to report that the train toilets are still very clean.
Spit girl drank a can of red bull and passed out. Ideal fellow traveller behind me is still fab.
#Accessibility #Braille #Train #DeutscheBahn #Travel #AnnaOnATrain #Treinleven #Trains
10/n Time for a sight-seeing break! I had a 52-minute (ahem, 46-minute) layover at Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof, so I took advantage and went geocaching. It's an absolutely gorgeous day!
#Stuttgart #Germany #Tourist #Sightseeing #Geocaching #Train #Travel #TrainTravel #AnnaOnATrain #Christmas #Christmas2025
11/n The delay of my previous train meant that I didn't have time to buy a snack during this layover (obviously I'm not going to sacrifice geocaching time), but that's just as well, because yesterday evening I had a big slice of this cake I baked for dessert.
12/n Anyway. I made it on my next train with if not a snack, then at least a low-calorie drink. Had a few minutes to remember bwegt for making me miss my train by just a hair back in February 2020, when I was travelling back home from Titisee. Otherwise I'm enjoying the views!
#AnnaOnATrain #Train #Travel #TrainTravel #Treinleven #DeutscheBahn
13/n When I book my seat, I often cannot get my preferred seat. I'm always curious to see who got that seat, wondering if they are similar to me. In this case it is a German guy in his forties(?) with a green scarf. After evicting the people who had taken his reserved seat, he folded the scarf very carefully and put it in his backpack. He then ate a cream cheese sandwich that smelled very garlicky. He's now reading a book called "Dirtbag Billionaire". When I initially looked it up, I misremembered the title and searched for "Dirty Billionaire". Turns out that's also a book. Massively different vibes, tho.
#Reading #Bookstodon #Train #Travel #Books #TrainTravel #AnnaOnATrain #DeutscheBahn #Treinleven
14/n The evicted woman, who is wearing what looks like a hand-knit jumper, is knitting something that, judging by the pattern, might very well also be a jumper 🤩
#Knitting #FibreCraft #Treinleven #AnnaOnATrain #TrainTravel #Travel #Trains
15/n Green Scarf Guy has been replaced by a woman who wears oversized tights. I had Sweet Caroline stuck in my head, caused by reminiscing about last year's NYE. Now listening to my favourite Tori Amos album (Boys for Pele) in an effort to get rid of it.
Hand-knit Jumper Woman seems to have gotten through a particularly tricky yoke-shaping phase and seems more relaxed now.
#AnnaOnATrain #Trains #Travel #TrainTravel #DeutscheBahn #Knitting #FibreCraft #Treinleven #Music #ToriAmos
16/n The guy next to me is wearing absolutely fabulous Christmas socks and is using his phone to play a game that my 7-year-old nephew loves to play also!
#Christmas #Gaming #Train #TrainTravel #Treinleven #AnnaOnATrain #Christmas2025 #Travel
17/n Okay, gang, we’ve had some certified *drama*!
30 minutes or so before arriving in Zürich, the train was boarded by a big group of Asian tourists in some kind of organised trip (some of them were holding blue flags with yellow stars and a something like “let’s go Europe” or maybe “let’s do Europe” on them, trying to get people to stay together etc).
Anyway. It was pretty uneventful, at first. A lovely lady wearing a very impractical coat and a strong perfume sat down next to me and started cleaning up her inbox and scrolling insta. Knowing that I had only 10 minutes for my next layover and two pieces of luggage to handle, in the midst of all those tourists with all their luggage, I decided to get up and gather my things 4 minutes before arriving in Zürich.
I was on the top level of a double decker train, and as I dragged my luggage down the steps, I saw that the hallway was pretty full with tourists and their luggage. I squeezed myself and my luggage in between them and was immediately pushed aside by a man who ran from the lower level, up the steps, to the upper level I had just come from.
#Train #Travel #TrainTravel #Drama #Treinleven #AnnaOnATrain
18/n He was immediately followed by a train conductor who asked us in Swiss German if we’d seen a guy run away (I think). A couple of confused tourists, a local guy and Hand-Knit Jumper Woman all pointed to the upper deck, and the conductor ran upstairs.
What followed was a proper chase scene, with a train conductor politely excusing himself as he jumped over pieces of luggage and squeezed past travellers, trying to corner a man who, unlike the train conductor, did not seem to be above knocking over other people and their things. People soon figured out that jumping out of the way and pointing to where the fare dodger? Pick pocket? Scallywag had gone was probably a good strategy for self preservation, so that set the tone until the fleeing man eventually moved to the carriage behind ours. There, he suddenly walked normally when he saw a second train conductor, who was immediately notified by the first train conductor, by yelling at him from the lower level of our carriage.
He was finally cornered, and awaited on the train platform by people in high-viz jackets. Did not see what happened next as I was too busy finding my way through all the Let’s Do Europe flags, so I could make my connection.
#Train #Travel #TrainTravel #Chase #Drama #Treinleven #AnnaOnATrain
19/n Also, for all “Jet lag: The Game” fans out there: I was just in Zug!
#Train #Travel #TrainTravel #Chase #Drama #Treinleven #AnnaOnATrain #Switzerland #Zug #SBB #JetLagTheGame #HideAndSeek #SchengenShowdown
20/n Handsome train conductor first frowned, then grinned, then asked me how Germany was while checking my ticket. He looked confused when I responded with “uneventful”, then asked where I was from. It all seemed to make sense to him when I said that I’m from the Netherlands, so I guess that’s good.
#SBB #Train #Trains #Travel #TrainTravel #treinleven #AnnaOnATrain
21/n I mean: I’m literally wearing these socks today.
22/n some dickhead is smoking on this train 🤢
23/n btw: this train was really long!
#treinleven #trains #AnnaOnATrain #travel #christmas2025 #SBB
24/24 Merry Christmas from Lugano!
#christmas2025 #travel #AnnaOnATrain #trains #Lugano #switzerland
@caffetino thank you, glad you enjoyed it 😊
Technically, my destination was beyond Lugano, but Lugano is where my friend picked me up with his car 😊
@anna tomorrow we get to take a German train from Lorsch to Berlin. But before that comes a gig with a local band tonight. If we stay out till 4am, will we miss our morning train?! Oh the drama. Also, we are American so trains are very confusing since they are so useful.
Your train adventures fill us with bravery ...
@anna step one was completed at 2am
Now up for taxi ride to the bensheim station...
Dr. Anna Latour
caffetino
noplasticshower
Ben Zanin
Steven Rieder 🇪🇺 🇳🇱 🇺🇦
Anna Miriamsdochter
Marcus Müller