I took the InterCityExpress train non-stop from Berlin to Hamburg. The train was quite comfortable and well-designed—significantly nicer than the Acela, the fastest and nicest train in the U.S. Automatic sliding glass doors separating the cabins and sleek recessed lighting gave the train a contemporary look, and LCD screens announced how fast we were traversing the landscape – 229 km/h at one point, or about 142 mph. (All these features made the train feel a bit like riding a new airplane.)
The downside of going so fast is that just looking out the window made me a bit dizzy, and at high speeds the train would wobble a bit on the tracks, which was also a bit nerve-wracking. By the time we arrived in Hamburg I was a little motion-sick.
