“Entschuldigung Sie”

I took the InterCityExpress (ICE) train from Frankfurt Airport into Bonn. It was fast (280 km or 173 mi/hr), quiet and clean. Its greatest disturbance was (unfortunately) me, because I could not fit my suitcase behind one of the seats. My balance was thrown off by my heavy backpack, which caused me to smack another passenger’s seat from behind. Despite having practiced my best “entschuldigung sie” (“excuse me”) on the plane, I could not manage to form my first six syllables of publicly-spoken German on this silent, efficient train. I accepted help from the porter and sat down.

Once the train got moving, I got my first exposure to a lush, German landscape. I did not expect so many trees.