Departure: Prague

Our return journey was just a single train - Alex from Prague to Mannheim (it's actual destination is Basel, Switzerland). So, we were relaxed, as after finding a good seat, we need to worry till we reach Mannheim.
And boy, weren't we made to eat those words like hungry people without food for a week!
This time around, We were with 2 other Indians (from Telugu and Tamil backgrounds) who were sweet, and we didn't realize how our time went by.. We observed that till the Czech Republic was not crossed, the hospitality and service were excellent.
The moment we crossed over to Germany, nobody cared for any hospitality! We already had checked-in sometime after we left Prague (well before crossing the border), but somehow the TCs didn't seem satisfied with their jobs, and rechecked as soon as we crossed over to Germany (Strange guys). Till Czech republic, we got the luck of hearing announcements in Czechia, English and German (announced slowly and clearly, with great mood), but the moment we crossed over to Germany, suddenly they started feeling we would understand German like we drink water when thirsty.. Announcements were made just in German, never repeated, when announced was unclear (Germans have that habit of including a lot of noise when conveying any information, except in the professional environment), and way too fast to even comprehend a word they said.
Once the announcement was made, we saw few people squirming, and on asking we got to know that the train would be split up in Leipzig- one half of the train would be go to Münich and other part to Basel. And we had no clue which bogie was going where. There were many things that I liked about the Alex train (speed, punctuality, swat comfort and spaciousness, seat could be bent over to the front completely, and we could make it as a bed, etc) but the only main disadvantage: No real displays that would convey any information. As the other two had to get down at Dresden, they didn't care to change the seats (not required for them, as Dresden came before Leipzig)
I got to know from the other TC whom I caught finally after searching 5-6 bogies, and he was willing to share just the information on which bogies would go where, and the current bogie number. He was not interested in letting me know which would be the next bogie number in front of me or which bogie number behind my back. When I encountered other TC near my current seat, he blurted out the information about which bogie number would be in my front, and which behind my back. So we started our task of finding a new bogie, with sufficient seats in a cabin.. We found one and shared it with the Germans . They were good, and were calm and able to help us understand announcements and things in this train better. Infact they were the ones who showed us how the seats could be converted into a bed. They got down at Leipzig and we bid them good-bye. We continued on our journey back home hoping from now on, our journey would be pleasant ....Leggi altro