One movie I enjoy is Plains, Trains and Automobiles. John Candy asked Steve Martin if he ever travelled by bus before. When Martin replied in the negative, Candy mentioned his mood probably won't improve.
Yesterday I took the bus from Zurich to Salzburg, Austria. A distance over 200 miles for less then $25 Euros. That price was about the same for taking the train in Switzerland between two cities 24 miles apart.(Zurich and Lucerne)
I left Zurich at 10:30 in the morning, and didn't arrive in Salzburg until 8:30 at night.
The first bus ride was 4 hours long, from Zurich to Munich. I was expecting a horrible, horrible ride. I got on the bus 15 minutes before departure, and thought the seat next to me would be empty-only when the bus left, it wasn't. The entire bus was full, with my camera bag at my feet. That said, the ride went relatively fast. I was sitting next to a woman from Virginia who went to college in Montreal (but said she had trouble learning French), and was studying for the summer in Munich (but said had trouble learning German). I slept, and watched some of "Alvin And The Chipmunks-Chipwrecked" on the buses sketchy wifi-the movie isn't one of my favorites-except it was provided by the bus (in German, of course) (the movie was big at work when it came out, because the Carnival Dream is featured). Anyway, as mentioned, I was expecting a horrible ride, and it wasn't too bad.
I had 3 hours to kill in Munich, (I thought it would be 2 hours, but the bus to Salzburg was delayed an hour), I ate lunch at the bus station (of a wrap), walked around the stores (comparing the prices to those in Switzerland, they we're about 1/3 of the prices in Switzerland). While waiting for the bus to Salzburg-I was taking to a 50ish woman who lived there, who told me of places to visit.
The bus finally arrived to Salzburg. This bus was only about 1/2 full, so the seat next to me was empty, and the ride was only supposed to be an hour and 1/2. I assumed that this ride would be quick-but the opposite-this ride was unexpectedly long. With me, if I expect something to be short/easy, it turns out to be longer/harder then expected, and vice-versa.
When I finally got to Salzburg, I took a local bus to the hostel (after asking directions). I had a quick dinner of a salad at a nearby restaurant and went to bed.
