OK, I'm a tiger for punishment, so here goes.
1* Among the many things the station agent might tell you, the fact that there is no provision for sale of food and drink on a REGIONAL train probably would not occur to him: he might assume that you would know that to be unlikely.
2* 'Milk run' trains stop a lot: At every station there are signs which give the name of that station. What I do to determine how close I am to my stop is to look at the name of the station at which the train has just stopped, then walk down to consult the route map so that I can ascertain when I might need to be ready to disembark. The need for a knowledge of German, either written or aural, is thus negated.
3* If all I want is a bottle of water, then a five minute changeover between trains is ample time to get one from a stall or a trackside machine. I seem to have managed that on a few occasions when necessary, and I'm 73 and not as agile as I once was.
4* It was your first time travelling on German trains. You didn't know the routine, and you made a few mistakes. Apart from the late train, those mistakes can't be sheeted home to D-Bahn. Next time you will be more experienced.

OK, I'm a tiger for punishment, so here goes.
1* Among the many things the station agent might tell you, the fact that there is no provision for sale of food and drink on a REGIONAL train probably would not occur to him: he might assume that you would know that to be unlikely.
2* 'Milk run' trains stop a lot: At every station there are signs which give the name of that station. What I do to determine how close I am to my stop is to look at the name of the station at which the train has just stopped, then walk down to consult the route map so that I can ascertain when I might need to be ready to disembark. The need for a knowledge of German, either written or aural, is thus negated.
3* If all I want is a bottle of water, then a five minute changeover between trains is ample time to get one from a stall or a trackside machine. I seem to have managed that on a few occasions when necessary, and I'm 73 and not as agile as I once was.
4* It was your first time travelling on German trains. You didn't know the routine, and you made a few mistakes. Apart from the late train, those mistakes can't be sheeted home to D-Bahn. Next time you will be more experienced.

OK, I'm a tiger for punishment, so here goes.
1* Among the many things the station agent might tell you, the fact that there is no provision for sale of food and drink on a REGIONAL train probably would not occur to him: he might assume that you would know that to be unlikely.
2* 'Milk run' trains stop a lot: At every station there are signs which give the name of that station. What I do to determine how close I am to my stop is to look at the name of the station at which the train has just stopped, then walk down to consult the route map so that I can ascertain when I might need to be ready to disembark. The need for a knowledge of German, either written or aural, is thus negated.
3* If all I want is a bottle of water, then a five minute changeover between trains is ample time to get one from a stall or a trackside machine. I seem to have managed that on a few occasions when necessary, and I'm 73 and not as agile as I once was.
4* It was your first time travelling on German trains. You didn't know the routine, and you made a few mistakes. Apart from the late train, those mistakes can't be sheeted home to D-Bahn. Next time you will be more experienced.

a triple post! Might be a world record! Sorry about that!

If it makes you feel better then do it. It seems all anyone is really saying is that it's too bad you suffered but these things happen. It's good experience for the future.

Thanks for sharing.

ttt