Now(TM) with Travel Advice · 5:51pm Jul 25th, 2018
I'm safely ensconced in my hotel room in Ludwigsburg. Hope to meet at least some of you. To increase the odds of this happening, I offer the following advice:
You will likely land on Stuttgart airport and will need to get to Ludwigsburg. Taxis are an option, but do be warned they are pricey as Ludwigsburg is quite a way away. The bet alternative I've been able to find is to go by the rather excellent S-bahn system (look for the white-S on green circle symbol). What you'll need is a ticket that lets you travel four zones (The airport which is 39, outer Stuttgart, 20, inner Stuttgart 10, and Ludwigsburg, 34) which you can get at the local vending machines for a song. The way not to do what I've done and take an unplanned stroll through the airport area is to realize that the S-Bahn terminal is accessible from _within_ the airport. If you've left the airport looking for it (except for a short jaunt outside, perhaps), you've gone the wrong way. Trust me on this.
Anyway, once there your mission is to get to the main train station (Hauptbahnhof) which just about every line will do. Check the schedules and pick one that goes to the appropriate stop (Hbf is the abbreviation). Once there, again, check the schedules, but S5 to Bietigheim-Bissingen is what I used as it invariably stops in Ludwigsburg. Just get off there and you are in the middle of the town and have easy access to anywhere you need to go.
Hindsight is 20/20. When I went to Disneyland about ten years ago, I was looking at the bus line in front of my hotel and lamenting that it didn't go where I wanted to go, so I took a cab. Next day, I found out that all of the bus lines go *into* Disneyland at one spot, so to go somewhere else, you go there and switch busses by just walking around the circle where they park until you find the correct one. And don't get me started on the arcane rituals involved in the Washington DC subway/bus system. Animal sacrifice is involved in there somewhere. Or tourists.
Another tip some people might find useful - Google directions will helpfully give departure times, train numbers, and platform numbers for your journey. The trains are pretty reliable, and using them is easy. Oh, and I seem to recall that there's a tourist info / ticket counter in Stuttgart airport - they are very friendly and speak excellent English and can sell you train tickets and will answer questions.
You guys all have fun over there!
I am definitely not jealous. Nope, not at all.
4907492
Seconding all sentiments.
4907485
Hindsight is 2020. Galacon is 2018. So we'll only realize all the stupid mistakes we make this weekend two years later.
I concur regarding the advantages of the S-Bahn. German trains are, in my experience, mostly reasonably affordable and reliable. The more daring may of course also try and use the less frequent but faster RB (Regional-Bahn), which also regularly commutes between Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg.
As always, the German idiom 'das Leben in vollen Zügen geniessen' applies; ambigously meaning either 'to enjoy life at its fullest' or 'to enjoy life inside full trains'.
Have fun at GalaCon!
4907541
As a stranger and neophyte to the language, I have to admit that German's propensity to have all words be multitaskers is slowly eroding what little of my sanity's left.
Zug, of course, is one of Those words, like 'set' in English that's just about universal word-spackle. Means what you want it to mean at any given time.
In my spare time I've been working on The Ultimate German Word, one which could be used to mean _absolutely anything_ and which would fit any situation. Currently I have "Zugzeugschaft" but I'm still working on it.
Less flippantly, I considered the RB train: it's certainly faster, but I decided against it because the Hauptbahnhof is the size of the observable universe and the S-bahn platform was right there.
Also I don't know if you have personal experience with the system, but I have to ask: nobody checked my ticket. No mechanism scanned my ticket. There are, in fact, no observable means of preventing just about anyone from riding for free. It'd be discourteous to my hosts if I did cheat them out of the (really quite reasonable) fare, but I have to ask: did I miss something, some gizmo I had to use but didn't? Or does it really work on the honor system?
4907546
Not only is the Hauptbahnhof the size of the observable universe, it's also currently one of the biggest construction sites in Germany. They're putting the main lines ending in Stuttgart underground into tunnels below the City in a fit of mad engineering. Avoid if not familiar.
And the ticket system does indeed rely on the honour system, to a degree. Travelling without a ticket literally translates to 'blackriding' (don't ask). There are sporadic checks by conductors in the trains - and you'll be sorry indeed if you get caught. It's very, very unpleasant thanks to the public humiliation and it's also really expensive, since it'll cost you a minimum of 60€. They don't take 'sorry, I'm not from here' or 'I don't have the cash on me' for an answer. This could become a really long day in the latter case. I've had the 'pleasure' to cringe at this kind of scene several times in my life already.
Don't do it.
Anyway, maybe see you ;)
4907546
As far as I know (purely from observation), there is usually personnel in the trains making the rounds checking passenger tickets, but the S-Bahn might be a special case here, because I think (citation needed) that there's some shared responsibility with local public transport companies here or something, so it's generally more lax there.
Also, 'Zugzeugschaft' is amazing.
I mean, 'Zeug' alone can mean just about everything and nothing.
However, I firmly believe that the Ultimate German Word must also contain the word 'Ding' for maximum vagueness.
4907571
Zugzeugschaftding is indeed very good, a vague description of a weird thingy, a very special mood (sounds mildly despairing) or a derogatory term. Especially in the local Swabian dialect: Du bischd au so'h Zugzeugschaftsding!
Specifying the search for a meaning to the word makes it possible to extend it: Zugzeugschaftsdingverortungsversuch. (Legit way of building German words, by the way).
4907582
...I'm pretty sure Germans do this to words to discourage dyslexic people from living there.
"Pull-stuff-ity" is a good start. In memory of Mark Twain, you'll want to get "schlag" (=strike/hit/stroke) in there somewhere. He remarked on Germans seeming to insert "zug" and "schlag" into nearly everything.
4907812
Please. 'Zugzeugschaft' obviously means 'parade-testimony'.
Is there a way to find you at the con? Is there going to be a place for fic writers, like Quills and Sofas at Bronycon? I'd love to meet you.
Thanks for the travel advice, made getting to my hotel so much easier!
4908729
There probably is, and I'd certainly want to meet you. I just don't know how we'll arrange the logistics of it. I'll see what I can do.
4908753
I feel suitably validated for having written that. :)
Are you going to be at Family Feud or Trixie Wants YOU! (and if so at what time slot)?