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Stephen McCarty

Talk about thieves in the night.
The compartments’ connecting door slides open, stopping with an unintended crash. Shouting some groggy expletive, this correspondent half-falls from a bunk and jumps into the suddenly empty adjoining room.
Trousers on, fast. Dash down the train sleeper carriage to alert the attendant.
SM: “What the hell just happened? Our door was locked from the inside but somebody burst in!”
Attendant shrugs.
SM: “Are there thieves on this train?”
Attendant: “Yes. Thieves.”
SM: “What, on this train? Now?”
Attendant: “Yes. Now.”
SM: “This happens often?”
Attendant: “Yes. Often.”
SM: “I’m going to find them.”
Attendant: “Better go back to your luggage.”

On cue, two men appear down the carriage. At the risk of stereotyping a pair of possibly innocent gentlemen out for an early-morning, bags-free, steps-boosting stroll along an international train, they could have answered a casting call for “thuggish extras with as much girth as height, crew cuts, pockmarked faces and a whiff of prison experience”.
Neither makes eye contact as they pass, but the attendant’s unwillingness to act is suddenly understandable.
Agatha Christie fans shouldn’t confuse the realities of nocturnal, pan-European train travel with romantic notions of murder mysteries. Travellers seeking Orient Express refinement should ride the Orient Express.
Austrian capital Vienna touts ‘life-seeing’ tourism for wealthy visitors
The “guests” have appeared, somewhere near Bratislava, Slovakia, on Austrian ÖBB Nightjet’s 13-hour jaunt from Berlin to Budapest, two highlights of a 14-day trek across Europe by train.
The whistle-stop, 3,425km (2,128-mile) route: London-Brussels-Berlin-Budapest-Vienna-Munich-Amsterdam-London. The aim of the adventure is to dodge dehumanising, mass air transport and avoid late December’s abrasive Christmas concoction of commercialism and fake bonhomie.
Pre-departure news headlines were inauspicious: a shooting rampage in Prague; possible Islamic fundamentalist attacks in Germany and Austria; and Channel-crossing-scuppering industrial action in France.
However, first stop Brussels, Belgium, is seamlessly attained via Eurostar from St Pancras station in London – surprisingly rubbish-strewn, plus wet and cold as dictated by the time of year.

Bruges, a Christmas Day side-trip treat an hour by train from Brussels, is wet, cold and still popular with tourists, but chock-full of high-end chocolate shops, not street garbage.
Then comes the first setback.
European Sleeper, a crowdfunded Belgian-Dutch start-up, should be applauded, with other companies, for reinstating a relatively green mode of transport by rescuing the sleeper carriages of older networks from retirement.
But several hours before departure from Brussels, bound for Berlin, Germany, a text message announces a reservation downgrade, from two-passenger sleeper compartment to couchette, with €50 (HK$430) each compensation. The meaningless explanation from European Sleeper is “technical issues”.

We are given a six-bunk room, for two, which, although an improvement space-wise, means no private bathroom. It also means trading shiny, updated accommodation for careworn digs, in which the lower seat/bunk springs wearily “doing”, the heater control is jammed, the fluorescent strip light might have been from an ex-government benefit office and the door latch is broken.
European Sleeper operates the Good Night Train. This, though, is a bad night.
Overnight trains screech, scream and scratch at the rails, the relative quiet also amplifying the rhythmic slamming of every distant door left ajar and every rumble, bounce and judder. That can be true of any sleeper train – and our carriage dates from the 1960s.
Which means, on arrival in Berlin at 6.20am, paying for an extra hotel half-day to sleep.
The good, bad and ugly sides to Berlin for tourists
Berlin preparation was an en route reading of John le Carré’s peerless novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963), so beyond exterior admiration of the Reichstag (booking essential for visits) and the Brandenburg Gate (fenced off while a New Year concert stage is being built), the itinerary is assured.
The German Spy Museum proves a thrilling repository of outlandish espionage gadgetry born of political paranoia of Cold War vintage and beyond.
The nefarious uses to which some of the exhibits were put then becomes clear in the brooding tower blocks of the Stasi Museum, across the now invisible, post-wall dividing line, in ex-East Berlin.


In its untouched offices and meeting rooms, the aptly depressing former headquarters of the implacable, omniscient secret police remains bang up to date – for 1975. Nearby stands the Stasi prison, cells similarly preserved.
And still globally mesmerising is Checkpoint Charlie, now a tourist feeding frenzy populated by jostling visitors trying for that one souvenir photograph that doesn’t feature strangers’ faces.
Nevertheless, historical magic (black or white) swirls around the spot, even if the famous hut is a replica and the original, movie-totem “You are leaving the American sector” sign isn’t on the street, but in the adjacent museum.
Does Berlin have a Chinatown? No – it has something better: Kantstrasse
Surprisingly eventful Berlin-Budapest journey complete, morning dawns crisply on the ornately garnished, neo-Gothic Hungarian Parliament building.
Tours are sold out for the day, but its beauty is best appreciated externally, on a stroll along the Danube – and in this case, in it, recent floods having left the river dousing the road between the two.
Crossing the renovated Chain Bridge from horizontal Pest to hilly Buda precedes a walk up to the Fisherman’s Bastion. We’re with several hundred new friends, but the views towards Pest compensate handsomely.

We take dinner back in bohemian Pest, where there’s a big choice of places to eat.
Notable among them are cosy-kitchen-style Élelem Étterem – startlingly, the prime minister’s office is a neighbour – and Vegan Garden, which pulls off the trick of feeling rustic despite its city-centre location.
One night in Budapest allows for three in Vienna – the other nexus of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Both recall the power and the glory of pre-World War I Europe, radiated in Vienna by St Stephen’s Cathedral, the Kunsthistorisches Museum (open and visited), the Opera House, the Belvedere Palace (tickets sold out), the Museum of Military History (closed) and countless other monumental edifices.
Graham Greene’s ghost follows us to Prater Park for a stately ride on the Riesenrad, the Ferris wheel star of film The Third Man (1949). The postscript is an essential glühwein, in the park’s Christmas market – which, like its Berlin equivalent earlier, proves that Christmas is sufferable when not obligatory.

Because New Year’s Eve coincides with Vienna, a deluxe dinner was booked (before leaving home) at Michelin-star restaurant Tian. Finer vegan gourmet dining is difficult to imagine.
Bags packed again, Munich materialises.
Like Vienna, the southern German city is reached by day train, both journeys enjoyed in spacious business class – a welcome luxury on two congested services.
As The New York Times recently reported, Europe is experiencing a “rail renaissance” – a stand-out attraction is the Paris-Berlin sleeper, which has resumed after almost a decade – although it warns that long-distance trains are full and demand exceeds supply.
Munich includes a walk to the world’s largest science and technology museum, the Deutsches (ticket queue too long), and Wonka, at the Museum Lichtspiele, the city’s oldest operational cinema, famed for its never-ending run of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975).

Most edifying are the dizzying views of the city’s baroque and neoclassical architectural splendours from the tower of St Peter’s Church.
For analogue devotees, Munich offers a daily mechanical miracle. At 11am and noon (plus other seasonal performance times), the Marienplatz clock tower becomes a stage for historical scenes re-enacted within its 116-year-old, 43-bell glockenspiel – by 32 life-size, cavorting figures, including jousting knights on horseback.
With all sleeping compartments fully booked, lodgings for the 11-hour night run from Munich to Amsterdam are a private couchette, with fold-down seats allowing full reclining. The comfort is surprising but the sleep patchy. Another ÖBB Nightjet service, this one arrived with a squatter in our compartment, summarily evicted by the attendant.
Ahh! Amsterdam, where even dismal drizzle doesn’t depress. There is no time on this visit for the familiar comforts of the Van Gogh, Rijks- or Stedelijk museums, but hours aplenty to wander the earthy side streets of Chinatown, with an Asian restaurant at every turn.
Time, too, for train number nine: the Eurostar to London, with lunch served and wine poured at one’s business-class seat. Extravagant – but a symbolic rejection of all that airport herding.

The inside track
Oddly, a cross-Europe reservation with a particular train company doesn’t necessarily indicate the company with which you’re travelling at any given moment.
While expressing its commitment to passenger safety and regret at the mid-journey intrusion (see above), ÖBB commented: “We cannot provide any information on the specific case as the incident took place in the Czech Republic [sic] and the Budapest-Berlin connection is not an ÖBB train. The train is under the responsibility of the Hungarian railway MAV.”
MAV was contacted for comment for this article.
Surviving potholes and venal police on a motoring holiday in Azerbaijan
Keep valuables and smaller bags hidden and away from all compartment doors. Take out travel insurance. Take earplugs. Take drinks and snacks: most sleeping-berth bookings come with breakfast but other night-service catering is scarce.
European Sleeper alone offered a short, part-complimentary list of food and drinks.
Book museums and other attractions in advance.
On the question of accommodation from Brussels to Berlin, European Sleeper candidly replied: “The sleeper coach was in maintenance because of flat spots on the wheels, which is very uncomfortable for passengers,” adding that about 3 per cent of bookings are downgraded. Like other companies, it continues to invest in “more and better coaches”, either rented or built from scratch.
So with increased rolling stock, plus more day and night routes opening, Europe is indeed embarking on a rail revival.


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Tourism

A bad night on the Good Night Train: low points and highlights of a planet-friendly tour of Europe by rail

A sleeper downgrade on the first night leg was not the best start to a 14-day journey by rail through Europe, but the magnificent architecture on view, and some business class luxury, more than compensated for such low points. Photo: Stephen McCarty

A private couchette with fold-down seats on the ÖBB Nightjet from Munich to Amsterdam. Photo: Stephen McCarty

Bruges, on a side trip from Brussels, was wet, cold and still popular with tourists, and chock-full of high-end chocolate shops. Photo: Stephen McCarty

Our correspondent and his travelling companion were downgraded to a six-berth couchette compartment on the European Sleeper bound from Brussels to Berlin. Photo: Stephen McCarty

The warning sign from Berlin’s Checkpoint Charlie is now in the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, in Berlin, Germany. Photo: Stephen McCarty

Gadgets (including minuscule microphones) at the German Spy Museum, Berlin. Photo: Stephen McCarty

The ornately garnished, neo-Gothic Hungarian Parliament building. Photo: Stephen McCarty

The Blumenrad Ferris wheel in the Prater amusement park, Vienna, Austria. Photo: Shutterstock

Munich Cathedral (centre) and Rathaus (right), from St Peter’s Church clock tower. Photo: Stephen McCarty

A business-class compartment on the OBB Railjet. Photo: Stephen McCarty

How a Hong Kong university campus reveals a darker past of war and imprisonment

Block C jail cells at Victoria Road Detention Centre Site in Pokfulam. 14DEC23 SCMP / Jonathan Wong

The jail cells in Block C at the former Victoria Road Detention Centre, which can be accessed via the University of Chicago’s Hong Kong campus in Pok Fu Lam. The site also tells the story of the city’s wartime defeat to the Japanese. Photo: Jonathan Wong

A World War II gun emplacement in the grounds of the University of Chicago’s Hong Kong campus, in Pok Fu Lam. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The No 2 gun emplacement on the site. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The front gate and guard post at the former Victoria Road Detention Centre. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The original timber staircase in Block A. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The original fireplace in Block A, built in the 1930s. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The remains of jail cells at Block C. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Cafe in Vienna that hires mostly over-sixties is a hit with its cakes and traditional recipes, and makes a statement against elderly poverty and loneliness

Staffed mostly with people above 60, the Vollpension Cafe in Vienna, Austria, offers homemade cakes and traditional recipes in a setting that feels like a grandparents’ living room. Photo: Shoaib Shafi

The cafe’s interior is full of knick-knacks including porcelain animal figurines. Photo: Shoaib Shafi

Customers enjoy drinks and cake at the Vollpension Cafe. Photo: Shoaib Shafi

A wall decorated with framed old photos and other items at the Vollpension Cafe. Photo: Shoaib Shafi

David Haller is one of the co-founders of the Vollpension Cafe.

A worker grates pepper on a dish with help from customers at The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders in Tokyo, Japan.

Merchandise for sale at the Vollpension Cafe. Photo: Shoaib Shafi

Beyond Lunar New Year: 26 must-see festivals, from Notting Hill Carnival to a camel fair

Waitresses of the Hofbraeu tent pose with 1 litre beer mugs on the opening day of the 2023 Munich Oktoberfest in Germany. Photo: Getty Images

Camels at sunrise during the Pushkar Camel Fair in Rajasthan, India, one of several global festivals that celebrate animals, fish and the natural world. Photo: Shutterstock

A participant in the Notting Hill Carnival, the largest in Europe, in London, which takes place over two days every August. It’s one of an alphabet soup of celebrations around the world to put on your bucket list. Photo: Shutterstock

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico. Photo: Shutterstock

Where K-pop meets mud: the Boryeong Mud Festival in South Korea. Photo: Shutterstock

March 27 marks Cherry Blossom Day across Japan, although in Okinawa (above), cherry blossoms can be seen in January. Photo: Getty Images

Dark Mofo and the Ferris Wheel of Death at Dark Mofo, in Tasmania, Australia. Photo: Shutterstock 

Edinburgh Festival Fringe, held annually in the Scottish capital, is the world’s largest performance arts festival. Photo: Shutterstock

Fuji Rock takes place at the Naeba Ski Resort, Niigata, Japan, in July. Photo: Shutterstock

The UK’s Glastonbury Festival has evolved from a small event in a field in Glastonbury, Somerset, to a huge televised event. Photo: Getty Images

Frozen fun at Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival in China’s northern Heilongjiang province. Photo: Shutterstock

Peru’s winter solstice celebration: the Inti Raymi Festival has been held since 1412 in Plaza de Armas, Cusco, Peru. Photo: Shutterstock

An event at the ‘greatest literary show on Earth’: the Jaipur Literature Festival. Photo: Getty Images

Sadhus (holy men) take part in a holy bath and offer prayers at Kumbh Mela, a festival that rotates among four cities every three years. The last time it was in Allahabad (above), it attracted 120 million visitors. Photo: Shutterstock

A young woman puts her krathong [a decorated basket made of banana leaves, incense sticks and candles] into the water during the Loy Krathong Festival, at Jodd Fairs DanNeramit Night Market, in Bangkok, Thailand. Photo: Getty Images

Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana, is a mass celebration of street parades and wild parties. Photo: Getty Images

The Notting Hill Carnival, Europe’s largest street carnival, is held in West London every year over the August bank holiday weekend. Photo: Shutterstock

Waitresses in the Hofbraeu tent at the Munich Oktoberfest, show how many litre glasses of beer they can carry at one time. In 2022, 5.6 million litres of beer were drunk at the festival. Photo: Getty Images

A man trains his camel to dance at the Pushkar Camel Fair in Rajasthan, India. Photo: Xinhua

Students clean tombs at the Chinese People’s Volunteers martyrs’ cemetery during the Qingming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day) on April 5, 2023 in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China. Photo: Getty Images

A street parade at the 2023 Rio Carnival, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo: Getty Images

Three tons of sardines were eaten at last year’s five-day Sardine Festival in Portimão, Portugal. Photo: Getty Images

Revellers at the annual Tomatina festival on August 30, 2023, in Buñol, near Valencia, Spain. Photo: Getty Images

A giant whale statue at Jangsaengpo Whale Cultural Park, in Ulsan, South Korea. Photo: Shutterstock

The Venice festival can be traced back to the Middle Ages and the masks allowed citizens to mingle with people from other classes. Photo: Getty Images

The Whangamata Beach Hop, in New Zealand, celebrates the best of the 1950s and 60s, with rock ’n’ roll, hot rods, classic cars and motorbikes. Photo: Shutterstock

Yunnan’s Xishuangbanna Water Splashing Festival is similar to Thailand’s new year Songkran festival. People from the Dai ethnic group (above) splash water on each other to celebrate New Year. Photo: Getty Images

People release lanterns during the Yi Peng Festival in the Doi Saket district of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Photo: Getty Images

The Matterhorn in the background of the main tent at Zermatt Unplugged music festival, in Zermatt, Switzerland. Photo: Getty Images

When triad gangs went to war in Hong Kong: 2 murders in 2 days as 14K and Wo Shing Wo clashed in tit-for-tat attacks

A fight between 14K and Wo Shing Wo triads in a billiard hall in Mong Kok, Hong Kong, in 1975 left a 18-year-old man dead. A man was killed the next night in a revenge attack. Photo: SCMP

The Post report on the triad murders. Photo: SCMP

Hong Kong Governor Sir Murray MacLehose commuted Li’s death sentence to life imprisonment. Photo: SCMP

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Seven cities, nine trains, 14 days and nights – we survive sleeper downgrades and lap up business class luxury as we take in some of Europe’s historical sights


Magnificent architecture and menacing reminders of war sharpen the senses on a journey around Europe by rail, from London to Brussels to Budapest – as does the arrival of thieves in the night.


A bad night on the Good Night Train: low points and highlights of a planet-friendly tour of Europe by rail

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Seven cities, nine trains, 14 days and nights – we survive sleeper downgrades and lap up business class luxury as we take in some of Europe’s historical sights

Seven cities, nine trains, 14 days and nights – we survive sleeper downgrades and lap up business class luxury as we take in some of Europe’s historical sights