Train to Munich
Such is the life of a Eurail pass holder: today was another "day on the tracks" for me; this time, from Dresden to Munich. After saying goodbye to the terribly-located Herberge der Jugend hostel, this morning I packed up my stuff, and hopped on the tram into the city centre. I was hoping to catch the 11:56am train out of Dresden Hbf (central station): however, I didn't have a ticket to ride on the tram; and since it was my misfortune that a ticket inspector jumped on halfway through my journey, I had to rapidly jump off, and wait for the next tram. By the time I reached the station, I'd missed the train by an excruciating 2 minutes. Stupid biatch inspector!
The trouble on the tram this morning wasn't even my fault: there was no ticket machine at the teeny suburban stop near my hostel, where I boarded (and none on the tram either); and although I bought a ticket for last night's tram-hopping, that had expired by this morning. Anyway, it was just lucky that I managed to jump off before the inspector woman reached my end of the tram: she saw me alight, and I'm pretty sure she knew I had no ticket; but the tram continued on without me and with her, and I avoided what would have been quite a hefty fine. Also, I shouldn't even have taken the tram into town: in retrospect (having now studied the Dresden transport network in slightly more detail), I should have only caught the tram to the nearest train stop in Dresden's north, and then taken the S-bahn the rest of the way to the Hbf. Not only would this have been faster, but I also would have been able to legitimately travel without a ticket, as my Eurail pass actually covers S-bahn trains in most German cities.
Anyway, it was all good in the end: I had no hurry to leave Dresden; and after waiting around in the station for a bit, I managed to get the 12:55pm train out instead. It was a nice enough ride: 5 hours or so, with a quick change in Leipzig; and fast, comfortable ICE service all the way. The ride was uneventful: the weather outside was cloudy; the landscape was boring and (towards the end) frosted over with snow; and I had a good book to keep me occupied. By the time I arrived in Munich, it was quite dark, and I wasted no time in heading straight for my hostel.