Oh, sometimes it hits the fan and sometimes it REALLY hits the fan, and it seriously hit just a couple days ago, although the tourists seemed to have not really noticed, which is the most important.
I had read about upcoming train problems on the DB site over a week ago, but had forgot about it again until we made our way over to the train in the morning and it was a new-style double decker. The only time they put the double decker on is when there are problems. I got the group seated and found a schedule for during the construction which is apparently going on until Tuesday of this week. Luckily, it was the usual thing. I have no idea why, but for some reason about 4 times a year they work on the EXACT SAME SECTION of track and so my “emergency mode” is the same every time. You can either take the train to Traunstein and switch to a bus or you can go to Traunstein and wait 20 min & hop on a 2nd train that goes through to Salzburg. The 2nd train option is faster, but you’re standing on a cold platform for 20 minutes and all bathrooms in the area are permanently closed. SO…I do my introduction to Salzburg speech on the platform and easily kill the 20 min. After that of course, you have to figure out how to get back to Munich. The easiest way in my opinion is to leave 5 minutes earlier than usual and go up to Mühldorf and switch to a second train to come back down to Munich….it’s complicated if you don’t know the area I guess, but simple enough.
ANYWAYS, the main road between the Salzburg train station and the old town of Salzburg is completely ripped up and the buses have to go in very awkward routes at the moment. The entire area looks much more like a large parking lot than a city, I’m still impressed I got everyone there and back with VERY minimal delays. For now, I’m gonna continue to rub all four of the lion’s noses in front of the Residence in Munich.
Through all of the hassle and headaches for me, the tourists were great, happy, and tipping…so…all’s well that ends well.