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Dear SPIEGEL, Dad is still asleep and has said, alas, if you woke him up, why do not I write his essay for you today? That's no problem, because I know what he wanted to write about: our holiday trip to Italy.
Daddy has this time something very special thought. This time, he said, we're going by train. "From Berlin to Southern Italy by train", Mama said, "You're crazy."
"No, I'm not crazy, and we do that," Papa said. Because everyone would always talk about climate protection and then get on the plane, but not this time. On principle, he said, and that would not be a problem at all, because we could only go to Munich first and visit the grandmother, which is happy, and then we continue.
Oh, I said. Mom said you can do that, but she flies. And so we did it.
We'll have it comfortable soon
On the 3rd of October we started from the main station in Berlin. This time it was not just a holiday, but also the first day of the autumn holidays, and the whole platform was full of families with a lot of children and suitcases, and daddy said, luckily I got two places in first class early on booked, and soon we will have it comfortable.
But the train did not come for a long time and there was nothing to read on the ad, and all the people got very nervous. Then came an announcement that our train fails, but that there is a replacement train and that there are no reservations.
No problem, Daddy said, in the first class we always find a place, and we've already gone to the place where the first class should stop, namely in section A, it was indicated.
When the train finally arrived, it was much shorter than we expected for the many people. And the first class then stopped at the other end. Everyone ran fast, that was not easy with the many suitcases, and there was a lot of shouting and banging.
When we arrived in the first class, all seats were already occupied. Only two were still free, but next to it sat a man who said they are only for comfort customers, but Dad said he is of course comfort customer, and I should sit down and just do not get up again.
Nobody controls anyway
Shortly after the departure then a fine lady came with her husband and said in English to dad, that would be their places and we should get up. Papa patiently told her that this is not the train she's reserved in, and we do not get up. She did not like that, and if I understood that correctly, she said it would be outrageous and she would never come back to Germany.
She then stood next to us in the corridor and looked at the dad the whole drive over evil. At the table next door were people who drank beer all the time and talked loudly about not having a ticket for first class, but nobody would control that anyway today.
Fortunately, the English-speaking woman did not understand that, otherwise she would probably have been angry with them.
At the grandma's it was very nice and soon we went back to Munich to take the night train to Rome. That was an Austrian train, and maybe it's because the Bavarians do not like the Austrians so much, at least nowhere was written where the train leaves, and we had to run all the way through the station until we found him on the far away track. We have it comfortable, Dad said, because he had reserved us a private compartment with its own toilet and even a shower.
It was comfortable, but also very close. The toilet door did not open because the suitcase was in front of it. So Dad lifted the suitcase all the way to the top of the luggage rack, but that was not so easy because the train was already rolling and everything was wobbling and the heavy suitcase just would not go up and Papa would almost have fallen on his head several times. But at some point he did it and then it was soon bedtime.
Unfortunately I could not sleep so well because the window was not right and therefore it was quite loud. The next morning my dad had red eyes, I think he did not sleep at all. He also had blood on his face because he had cut himself in shabby toilets when shaving, he looked really bad. Luckily, the suitcase did not kill him while he was unloading.
In Rome we arrived half an hour late, so we had to run to catch our train to Lamezia Terme in southern Italy, but we did it. It was a nice trip, we had our seats and in the on-board restaurant there was delicious risotto. "The farther you are from Germany, the better the train works," Papa said, and I think he's right.
Not showered for two weeks
It was very nice in Italy. Mom was already there and we had a great holiday, although the first days I was a little sick, because I had caught a cold during the night train.
After a week Mama flew back to Berlin and we drove to the train station the next morning. Everything worked out wonderfully, but this time the suitcase almost killed Daddy in the night train, and he did not sleep again, I think, because in the secondary compartment an old man coughed all night so that one had to be afraid, he survived the Does not drive.
We then stayed with our grandmother for a while and finally drove back to Berlin. This time, the right train has come and we also had our beautiful seats in a nice little compartment. Unfortunately, it smelled very sweat, because there was also a young fat man who had probably not showered for two weeks. But you soon did not smell that, because another man unpacked a roast chicken right after the departure and ate it with his fingers. Looked very delicious!
At home in Berlin Mama was already there and looked very relaxed. Whether he would do that again, with the night train to Italy, Mama asked him and smiled mockingly.
"In principle, at any time," Papa said. But now he needs a holiday.
