Hamburg to Mannheim to Karlsruhe to Strasbourg to Lyon
I am on an ICE for Stuttgart, though I alight at Mannheim. I would be on a Thalys to Paris, then a TGV to Avignon, but the Thalys was booked, and would have cost me 71€ to board. Instead, I am Hamburg to Mannheim to Karlsruhe to Strasbourg to Lyon. Fortunately, I love trains.
ICE rules. The rail pass gets me first-class service. I boarded my car, walked past a few private compartments, and approached a glass barrier. As I leaned forward to figure out how I was supposed to get around it, it slid to the side. Star Trek!
The bilingual “Ihr Reiseplan” advises me that the Mannheim station has a first-class lounge with laptop work stations, with limited Internet access. I must check this feature out!
