It was just short of 2000 last night when I had a blinding flash of the obvious. I didn’t have to pack liquids in my suitcase. I was taking the train. Yes, I know that it should have been in my mind early on but you have to remember that I normally take the train to the airport so train in my mind is normally an intermediate form of transportation, not the definitive one. In this case it meant that I could toss my toothpaste, sunblock and hand lotion in my backpack without fear of loss at the first security point. What security point? I am taking the train. Or rather – trains.
Today I am headed to Maastricht in the Netherlands for the ISTM Conference on Travel Medicine (19-23 May).
Just in case you cared – by road it is 343 km which means Google maps estimates driving time around 3:10 ( I will spare you the 23 steps of the driving distance). By public transportation (now also there complete with numbers of changes) the estimate is around 5:19 from Google.
|
|
Heidelberg
|
| Heidelberg Hbf |
 ICTrain IC 2216 towards Stralsund Hbf
|
| 8:25am – 11:15am (2 hours 50 mins, 5 stops) |
| Köln Hbf |
|
ICE High speed train ICE 16 towards Bruxelles-Midi
|
| 11:43am – 12:16pm (33 mins, 1 stop) |
| Aachen Hbf |
|
RB Train RB 11912 towards Heerlen
|
| 12:32pm – 12:59pm (27 mins, 6 stops) |
| Landgraaf |
 Walk to Landgraaf
|
| About 1 min (7 mins to make transfer) |
| Landgraaf (Platform 1) |
|
Stoptrein Train towards Maastricht Randwyck
|
| 1:06pm – 1:44pm (38 mins, 10 stops) |
|
Maastricht |
 |
Maastricht
The Netherlands
|
This is what the Bahn had to say:
| Heidelberg Hbf | Sa, 18.05.13 | ab | 08:25 | 5 | IC 2216 | Intercity Bordbistro |
| Köln Hbf | Sa, 18.05.13 | an | 11:15 | 5 | ||
| Umsteigezeit anpassen | ||||||
| Köln Hbf | Sa, 18.05.13 | ab | 11:43 | 6 | ICE 16 | Intercity-Express Bordbistro |
| Aachen Hbf | Sa, 18.05.13 | an | 12:16 | 9 | ||
| Umsteigezeit anpassen | ||||||
| Aachen Hbf | Sa, 18.05.13 | ab | 12:32 | 1 | RB 11912 RB 11962 |
Regionalbahn Fahrradmitnahme begrenzt möglich |
| Heerlen | Sa, 18.05.13 | an | 13:06 | |||
| Umsteigezeit anpassen | ||||||
| Heerlen | Sa, 18.05.13 | ab | 13:16 | 4 | 32044 | Regionalzug Fahrradmitnahme begrenzt möglich |
In actuality, it is going to take me slightly more than 6 hours because I have to take an alternate method from Koln on since all the seats are sold out on ICE 16 and I need to take a regional instead.
obviously, I am over the border into Holland
It doesn’t bother me – I save money and enjoy the the Bummelbahns. Besides, it leaves me more time to knit.
Speaking of same – I finished the simple cotton scarf to go with one of the hats knit in March.
Allegedly the hotel has WiFi.
1600 Update
Yes the hotel has wifi – no charge! I am ensconced in a most comfortable room after having trucked across the city (ok, only 1,4 km) to get here. I am about to go out and wander around including finding some supper, but first wanted to finish up this note. Now I have to just decide what is next on the project list for those between lecture times….
