Having ridden on German rail, I will offer this observation. You don’t just show up at some station and buy a ticket for tomorrow, even for first-class, and expect seats to be available. You pay the extra 5 to 10 Euro, and thus you get the reserved seat.
In this case, this kid’s handlers rigged up a 30 to 38 hour railway trip (all first class), without any reserved seats. I can tell you on weekends...even in first class, particularly from Munich to Frankfurt or Berlin to Hamburg, you will be challenged to find a regular seat or a first class seat...so reservations matter.
Also, on the cost factor...a round-trip airline ticket (tourist ticket) from Madrid to Oslo....would have been 170 Euro. But for one-way on the railway, at first-class? She probably paid near 700 Euro for this Madrid to Oslo ticket.
The last thing on Earth that I’d do...is ride 30-odd hours on rail, avoiding a 3-hour airline flight.
That’s a long trip to make via train just for appearances.
I’m sure she has the resources to fly whenever her group thinks they can get away with it.
> The last thing on Earth that I’d do...is ride 30-odd hours on rail, avoiding a 3-hour airline flight.
HOW DARE YOU!!!