Sleepers, sauerkraut and shouty policemen

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After a nice relaxing time in Brussels it was time to start the proper journey. We had a bit of a lie in and off to get a lovely brekkie of pastries - repacked again (trying unsuccessfully to reduce weight!) and then off to the station. Lovely efficient smooth Deutsche Bahn trip to Koln through some beautiful Belgian and German countryside and stepped out the station to find the enormous Cathedral towering above us. Thor got in some hearty German sustinance of Bockwurst and Sauerkraut while I wimped out with a sandwich! Finally on to our first sleeper train (36h, 2 nights) - in separate carriages thanks to Polish Law (men and women can’t sleep in the same carriage) and settled in. Somehow managed to get the oldest and dirtiest carriage on the train - only realised this when wandering to find the restaurant car - ours looked like it had been in use since the war with pungent steel toilets that sprayed you back when flushed, water flooding the floors and all surfaces and never any loo roll (so pleased we brought loads!), triple decker beds which were impossible to get in or out of and were so solid your limbs went to sleep before you did and an aggressive tiny Russian carriage attendant who seemed disgusted at our presence and yelled at us at any opportunity...I was in a room with 2 girls from Belarus who didn’t want to speak to me and stared at me all the time. Thor shared with a nice Russian man who lived now in Germany and who later proved to be a great help with translation and procedural information. After a wee moan we went to bed.....

...Only to be woken at 4am with loud knocking and calls of ‘Politzei’ - we’d crossed the Polish border! A pretty terrifying experience with the German border police shouting at everyone and refusing to let me pass to get my passport from Thor’s room - followed by the nicer mild Polish Border Police (all smiles!). After settling my heart rate back down it was back to bed and slept quite well (the rocking helps a lot!).

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