As promised, a few more comments and pictures from my trip to Europe.

Trains: Before we left and once we arrived, everyone raved endlessly about the public transportation. Everyone kept telling us to take the train – “it is so easy”. After testing out the train system, I would say it is nice but not a panacea. If you have never used a train system and if you are unfamiliar with the local language then it is not trivial figuring out which train to take and at what time.

Me Getting on the Train

Once you have ridden the train in a local area (say around London or Munich) then it becomes very easy to figure out which one to ride and at what times. Getting around a large city is easier and quicker by train, but you might have to walk a little to get to your final destination. If you are on a tight schedule at times and need to get across a couple countries quickly (as was the case for us), then go with a flight instead of a train. If you plan ahead, taking a plane is cheaper and takes less time. We took a train from Munich to the Hague and the scheduled time was 8.5 hours, which is most of the day. Even with security and travel to and from the airport, a flight would have been 3 to 4 hours of time. The trains do seem to be very reliable, however, our train from Munich to The Hague did experience “technical difficulties”. Our train ride ended up being almost 11 hours.

Many of our acquaintances we met in Cambridge laughed when we told them that we took a cab from London (Heathrow) to Cambridge, about 86 miles.

View from the Train

The said we were “quite mad” in the finest English accent. However, when I looked back at the cost and time taken there was not much difference. The cab cost $164.00. They picked us up at the airport terminal and dropped us off at our hotel. In order to use the train we would have had to buy 2 tickets on the subway at a cost of $10 a ticket and then 2 tickets on the train at $54 a ticket. When the train dropped us off in Cambridge we would have had to take a cab to the hotel at a cost of about $25. Total cost = $153.

A couple final points about the trains is that they are more comfortable than a plane. Also, you don’t have to go through as much security as when riding on a plane. Lastly, the view is not so great. Sweeping views of the countryside only comprised about 10% of the trips we took.

Health: It is well known that the U.S. has an obesity problem. It really hits home when you travel to Europe. Europeans in general are more healthy, tall, and fit.

Tall and Slender in Munich

The biggest difference was in Munich. It was hard to find anyone overweight. I am not sure why Munich would be the place with the least obesity, but I am aware that the Germans who immigrated to Wisconsin placed a high priority on fitness of the mind and body. Perhaps that ethic persists in the homeland today. We did notice a lot of people riding bikes and walking. Bikes were very prevalent in the Netherlands and Belgium as well. My wife told me I would fit right in.

Landscape: Germany looked a lot liked Wisconsin. Rolling hills and farms fields were quite prevalent.

Nice Stream in Bavaria

My wife took a picture of a little stream and it reminded me of Wisconsin. I told some of our European friends that there are hundreds of streams in Wisconsin that looked very similar and they said they would have to visit Wisconsin someday.

ENSO Update:

I have been covering the developing El Nino story over the last couple months because it usually has a significant impact on our winter weather – typically leading to less than normal snowfall and warmer than normal temperatures. The stronger El Nino is the greater the effect. Right now El Nino is weak to moderate. If it becomes a moderate or moderate to strong El Nino, then I will not be very optimistic for winter sports. One fellow who sells snowmobiles was upset that I mentioned there was a chance that this winter could be a lot like 1997-98 or 2000-2001. He said people will not make any purchases if they think there will be less snow. Being that my job is to inform people about weather, I can’t ignore significant trends. Winter enthusiasts should not get to worried yet. There is still a possibility of decent snow conditions. Another Pacific ocean circulation called the PDO, is in its cool phase and this might mute the effects of El Nino somewhat. There is also a chance that the El Nino could weaken before the winter is over leading to more normal or colder temps. Even during an El Nino winter, there are usually short periods of bitter cold or heavier snow, just that the average temp from December through February tend to be warmer.

Have a nice Wednesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under ENSO Update, Viewer pictures