The train ride to Hamburg: What was it like to spend 2 hours on a train? Why do you think Germans take trains? What are the dis/advantages of taking the train?

I personally loved taking the train. I liked being able to see the countryside of Germany out of the city, and it seemed we arrived at Hamburg very quickly (the ride back seemed to take much longer, however.) Germans take trains for a number of different reasons as far as I can tell. It is much quicker and cheaper than driving a car. Germany is such a small country when compared to the United States, and everything is much closer. There simply isn’t that great a need to drive everywhere is Germany like there is in the US when everything is so spaced out. I honestly don’t see any disadvantages of taking a train. Maybe having to schedule ahead to make sure your trip falls into line with the train schedule, but the trains run so frequently here you don’t have to plan very much. I wish we had a system as good in American because it is so easy to get around where you want to go here. In the few days we have been here in Berlin, I know it and can get around much easier here than I ever could in Nashville or Knoxville, and I have multiple trips throughout my childhood and adolescence in those cities. It would also be much easier to go from city to city with a train instead of having to drive, and I personally would be much more willing to go if I could take a train.