Polish First Class: Insane on the Train

On Wednesday, I needed to take a train from Warsaw to Gdansk. So, in the morning, I walked over to the Warsaw Centralna station and after a few tries, found someone who spoke English and could print out a schedule of possible trains and fares. From there, getting my ticket was as simple as circling the correct train number and paying. I decided to go first class since I figured this would simplify things and might be more comfortable for the 5-hour trip to Poland's northern coast. The ticket had a train number and a car and seat assignment.

Before I left, I decided to place most of my luggage in a locker and just take my small backpack with a minimum of clothes since I'd only be gone two days.

When I boarded the train, the first trick was figuring out where my car was. I tend to wind up going to the wrong part of the train and having to backtrack. Even with my small amount of luggage, it was a little difficult getting around since most Polish train cars have most of their space taken up by cars that seat 6 or 8 people in two rows of facing seats. The walkways are pretty narrow and lots of people are trying to get on or off or to their correct car in both directions. Also, there are sometimes service carts, which are impossible to get around with a backpack on.

Finally I wended my way to the right wagon and soon found my car of six seats. I was supposed to have a window seat, but there was a man in the cabin with two big paper plates of food essentially tying up the trays on both window seats. He looked a little older than I and a little scruffy. He had a dark knit stocking cap, like dock workers wear, and had on an olive grey shirt that looked patterned after military uniform. As I started to sit down, I noticed he was not just eating from the plates, he was eating the rice dish with his hands and letting the food tumble down from his mouth back onto the plate. He was also muttering a constant stream of verbiage, but since I don't speak Polish, I couldn't tell if he was saying anything coherent.

Given the situation, I decided not to take my assigned seat and sat a seat down and across from him and kept ahold of my bags. He didn't seem particularly threatening, just mildly deranged. Every now and then, he must have said something amusing because he would punctuate his mumbling with a loud set of laughs. Also, as he finished portions of his food, he'd greatly amuse himself by throwing the last chunk of food or food containers out of the window of the speeding train. I was tired and was looking forward to sleeping on the train, but there was no way I was going to doze off with this guy in the car.

My first thought was to wait for the conductor and see if he actually belonged there. She came after a half hour or so and checked and punched his ticket; so, he had the same type of ticket as I did. He left the cabin within 15 minutes after she came, and I took out a book of Polish phrases and started practicing. He came back in after another half hour and kept muttering and laughing and throwing things out the window.

We stayed that way for a couple of hours. At the three hour mark or so, he left again. 15-20 minutes later, I'd tired of my companion so I retired to the dining car to get something to drink. And I learned where my cabin-mate had been going -- he was at a bench shoveling away food, still muttering up a storm.

I got a cheap coffee and sat back a few benches from him. He eventually finished and left; I stayed in the dining car for the rest of the trip and figured out how to get to my hotel from the Gdansk rail station.

I watched as we went over the Vistula river bridge and saw the large Malbork castle. The "Lonely Planet" guide warns that most long-distance trains to Gdansk actually finish their trip 20 miles or so north in Gydinia; so one needs to make sure one gets off promptly at Gdansk. As it got darker outside and the train neared the Gdansk station, I gathered up my pack and plastic bags and moved near an exit. As the train slowed, guess who showed up? Evidently my new muttering friend was getting off at Gdansk too.

So we both got off the train and walked relatively closely through the tunnel from the station under the bordering thoroughfare. At the end of the tunnel was a small mall where I saw a cinema with a cafe. I stopped to get a latte and my travel buddy blended into the crowds in the Gdansk gdusk.