Dispatch from Vienna

[kevin_standlee]

I haven't been writing much about Lisa's trip because parts of it were not that great, but as we head into the last couple of weeks, I'm happy to report that something has gone well. Lisa asked if I could get her a hotel reservation in Vienna, which is convenient to Munich. It turns out that IHG has two hotels in their Garner brand (relatively new brand, Europe only, and I think they're using it for their acquisition of existing hotels unlike the new-builds like Holiday Inn Express). After some study, I found that I could book a room at the Garner across the street from Vienna HBF for a lot fewer points than the ill-starred HIX in Lucerne. (IHG thankfully refunded me the points from that stay.) Lisa reports the hotel is nice — much nicer, including nicer staff, than that one in Switzerland. She's visiting a local railroad museum and other attractions, and sounds happy.

She may do one more trip before flying home in a couple of weeks. She has an ambition to visit the smallest country in the world that does not have a railway station — at least an active station attached to the rest of the adjacent railway network. We'll let you know if that turns out. Meanwhile, I'll leave you to puzzle over which country we're talking about.

Comments

[calimac]

Surely Liechtenstein has a railway station. I think there's one in the Vatican also, so I'm guessing San Marino.

[kevin_standlee]

Congratulations! Got it in one!

Yes, Lichtenstein, Monaco, and Vatican City all have active railway stations. San Marino's one rail station is a museum piece because the Allies accidentally bombed the neutral country in WW II and the line was never rebuilt. Access is by bus from Rimmini.

[scott_sanford]

As it happens I remembered the San Marino railway removal. (The British eventually apologized, some years after the war.)

Both the Monaco and Vatican railway stations seem very practical, though the latter is harder to visit. I haven't looked at Lichtenstein's arrangement.

[kevin_standlee]

Lichtenstein has a line that cuts across the top of the country between Austria and Switzerland, operated by OBB. The Tim Traveler did a video about visiting all four stations, including the one currently-disused one.

[madfilkentist]

My guess would have been Andorra.

[calimac]

Discounted by me as too far away for Lisa to be likely to visit.

[kevin_standlee]

Also, while Andorra does not have a railway station, it's also not that small. It's the 16th smallest in the world. San Marino is 5th.

Also, I should have said "in Europe" because Nauru and Tuvalu are 3rd and 4th and obviously not rail-served. With that "In Europe" reservation, Andorra would be the next-largest country without a station, as Liechtenstein does have four stations (one of which is out of use).

[cmcmck]

Nice city, Vienna.