Zermatt-Wien (Vienna)

Today was another long travel day that once again nearly ended in disaster. I was going from Zermatt in Switzerland to Vienna in Austria. My original plan was to take the Glacier Express from Zermatt to Brig, a train from Brig through Bern to Zurich and a third train from Zurich to Vienna passing through Innsbruck and Salzburg (Yellow line on picture). I had been told by a few other travelers that they had trouble getting from Austria to Switzerland because of the rains and flooding the previous week. I went to the train station in Zermatt the night before specifically to ask about any closures or changes. They guy said there was no problem.
On Sunday I left Zermatt before 7am. I got to Brig without any difficulties and on a hunch went to ask another ticket agent if there were problems with the route. She said the track between Zurich and Innsbruck was closed and I would have to go through Munich instead. I would theoretically still be able to get there tonight, but I would have to take 5 trains instead of 3 which means if any were late I would be out of luck. I wasn't too worried because we were dealing with the Swiss and the Germans here who are renowned for being extremely punctual.
The train to Zurich was on time, but I also had 45 minutes to catch the next one. I tried to change my 0.50 CHF ($0.40) to euros at a money changing place before I left Switzerland, but they said it was too small.
The train from Zurich to Munich was nice. I talked to some Americans who were sitting across from me for much of the trip. Part of the trip went next to Lake Constance which was pretty scenic. Again I had 45 minutes or so to change trains in Munich. This train however was more than 30 minutes late. The people across from me had a shorter layover time and I think they only made their next train because it was also late.
The tight squeeze of the day would be in Salzburg where I only had 6 minutes between trains. I was very worried I would miss my next train as I would have to get off the train I was on, scramble to a monitor to figure out what platform the Vienna train was on, and board that train all in less than 6 minutes. Checking the schedule in Munich I discovered that my train was already 10 minutes late arriving in Munich. The ride to Salzburg was slightly longer than an hour so I was worried. The train to Vienna was the last one of the day and if I missed it, I would be out of luck. Fortunately, the train made up all that time within about 20 minutes of leaving Munich. The German train system (Die Bahn) is very well organized. On each train there are little pamphlets in the seat back pockets that tell the exact route of the train, the amenities on the train, every stop the train makes, the exact times (to the minute) that the train is scheduled to arrive and leave each station (usually something like 2 minutes at a station), and most importantly for me, the platform numbers of connecting trains at each station. On any other train I would have been worried, but with the guide I knew that the train was back on time and that the Vienna train would be just across the platform when I arrived. Arriving in Salzburg, everything went smoothly. I got on the train to Vienna and three hours or so later I was there.
I was staying with my friend Roman in Vienna. Because Roman was sick, his parents picked me up at the train station which was very nice. They live about 30 minutes South of Vienna in a suburb. It was a long travel day that started before 7am and ended after midnight. I was pretty tired. I did save a bunch of money using my Eurail pass though. It was nice to sleep in a comfortable real bed after the hostel in Zermatt.