Last day in Salvan
We had a leisurely last day in Salvan, walking around, shopping for souvenirs and just hanging out with Jack. Here's one of the many, many gardens we saw throughout Switzerland and Germany, often on hillsides and invariably neatly planted and weeded.
Another of Salvan's water fountain/troughs being put to good use by Jack and Kin-KIn. It's hard to see here, but chiseled into the lower part is "1891" and under the flowers "1960."
One of several trains we took on our way to catch the night train to Amsterdam. The first train from Salvan was surprisingly ten minutes late, but we made our connection with a few minutes to spare.
This train wasn't particularly fancy, but still was pleasant, perhaps a bit nicer than your typical Amtrak train. The night train, on the other hand, would be different...
Sunset, leaving the Rhone Valley and heading to Basel where we'd board the night train.
City Night Line to Amsterdam
About 10 pm we arrived in Basel where the train was waiting in the station. We looked for coach number 173 and it turned out to be all the way down the platform, right behind the engine. We walked as quickly as we could down the platform and got in at the back of the car. Our seats, of course, were at the other end, meaning we had to squeeze our way past everyone else trying to get settled in.
This was without doubt the least enjoyable trip of our vacation, one that made me think that Amtrak isn't so bad after all. The battered fluorescent-lit blue and gray interior was depressing. The air-conditioning—if it was anything more than open windows—wasn't very effective, and the train was noisier than any but the mountain train we rode earlier. The seats, despite their pod-like appearance, weren't all that comfortable.
Add to this a middle-of-the-night wait in a station for well over an hour, and I'm thinking "bad idea." We chose this train to gain more time to visit Amsterdam by traveling at night, but I barely slept—2-3 hours, tops. A day train would have been a couple hours shorter and significantly more pleasant.
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