I left last night for a 1 week trip to Europe. This is longer than I usually like to be away from my family, but I decided to spend a few days with my relatives in Germany, in particular my grandmother who is 96. While on the road I will post some travel observations. Arrival at the Munich airport is a stark contrast with arrival at JFK. Not only is the airport clean that you feel you could eat off the floor, but the passport lines are short and the controls seem cursory at best. Not suggesting that’s a good idea necessarily but it sure makes for a pleasant and speedy arrival. The high speed train to Nuremberg now takes only 1 hour because there is a new route via Ingolstadt. It cost billions to build but cuts out 20 minutes of travel time on a key segment that is frequently traveled. The train itself runs super quiet even at very high speed. I was standing on the platform when a through train went by and even though it was going probably three times the speed of a Metro North train there was barely a whisper of air (whereas with a Metro North Express flying by you have to turn away because there is such a gust). Also impressive was that I had perfect cell reception including EDGE data through every tunnel. So Day 1 observation: While there is a lot ailing in Germany, the infrastructure is gorgeous (and makes me wish we had something even remotely similar in the North East).

I left last night for a 1 week trip to Europe. This is longer than I usually like to be away from my family, but I decided to spend a few days with my relatives in Germany, in particular my grandmother who is 96. While on the road I will post some travel observations. Arrival at the Munich airport is a stark contrast with arrival at JFK. Not only is the airport clean that you feel you could eat off the floor, but the passport lines are short and the controls seem cursory at best. Not suggesting that’s a good idea necessarily but it sure makes for a pleasant and speedy arrival. The high speed train to Nuremberg now takes only 1 hour because there is a new route via Ingolstadt. It cost billions to build but cuts out 20 minutes of travel time on a key segment that is frequently traveled. The train itself runs super quiet even at very high speed. I was standing on the platform when a through train went by and even though it was going probably three times the speed of a Metro North train there was barely a whisper of air (whereas with a Metro North Express flying by you have to turn away because there is such a gust). Also impressive was that I had perfect cell reception including EDGE data through every tunnel. So Day 1 observation: While there is a lot ailing in Germany, the infrastructure is gorgeous (and makes me wish we had something even remotely similar in the North East).