[d1823]

"Then, when travelling through Poland, the train hooted every couple minutes, because apparently railway crossings in that country don't have automatic boom gates, so the trains just hoot to warn cars."

Some don't, some do, but law requires the passing train to hoot when it's coming near the railway crossing regardless. I'm polish, so that's that. Sorry you didn't get enough sleep, though.

[iqp]

I understand, no disrespect meant to Poland - I've edited my answer to not sound disrespectful. My grandfather on my mother's side was Polish. It was just an awful trip. I guess I had built up this romantic idea in my head about night trains, but the reality is that the they are extremely noisy, so you should at least pack some earplugs. Also, the security warnings by the train staff made me nervous.