Barely define the shape of this moment in time
Just a warning, this is kinda long, I wrote most of it on a 10 hour train ride to Berlin.
Here it is, Monday morning, and I am off to a bad start. We hit a bit of traffic on the way to the train station, and I missed my train. I watched it rolling off down the track as I ran down the stairs. Damn Swiss rail and their perfect schedules!!!
I was luck enough though to be able to get a second train, about an hour and a half later, so I am not completely in panic mode yet. I really didn’t want to call the hotel in Berlin and tell them that I wasn’t going to show up, although I am sure that the kids would be very happy if I had come back to the house.
I am going to miss the kids, they where very unhappy about me going, poor little Adrien was in tears last night going to sleep because I made sure I said my good byes then. They even got up early to make sure that they got their final hugs in before I left. It was quite funny, both of them still mostly asleep, wandering in to the room like Night of the Living Dead or something. But, they got one more good bye from me, and that made me feel better.
So now I sit and wait, after all that rushing around this morning, I could have just slept in a bit and let Leanne sleep a bit longer too. She is still on Indian time, so it wasn’t too early for her.
Since I am typing this in the train station, and I really don’t feel like paying for internet right now, I will add this later today, and probably a bit more about my journey to Berlin.
I made it on to the next train, so here I sit on the way to Bassel where Switzerland, France and Germany all meet. If I remember correctly, Bassel is a big station, and it is there that I have to find my train to Berlin. I am taking an ICE train through Germany, something that I have never done before. Well, going to Berlin is something that I have never done before either. =) Last time I was in Europe, there was two Germany’s, something a lot of young people never knew. It is amazing how much the world changes.
It is nice to look out the window of the train and watch the Swiss country-side flying by. Very green, grey and wet; ya it is raining. It is supposed to be nicer in Berlin, just overcast but no rain. That is okay, I don’t mind the rain or the sky being grey, I have had a lot sunshine this summer. Switzerland is so…umm, perfect. Everything has it’s place, and everything is in that place. This is a HUGE change from southern France where everything is a mess.
Something else I will need to remember very soon is my German, it has been 15 years since I was last force to speak it, and I think that I forget most of it. I will be spitting out French when I want to speak German!
Hmmm, just past a castle, nifty!
Well, enough writing for now, I think I will sit and enjoy the scenery for a while.
Next train!
I am now on a German ICE train, traveling about 160km/h through southern Germany, and can I say, what a nice train! Very nice inside, very smooth ride and even some pretty German ladies to chat with. Since I missed the first train (I looked at that a bit more, there was a mix up of the itinerary and the tickets, the itinerary said Geneva, and the ticket said Geneva Airport, so the train that I was supposed to be on was actually already at Geneva Main by the time I got to the airport station.) I am now arriving in Berlin about 19h00 or so. I just hope that the hotel that I am in will have staff available when I get there, unlike the hotel in Aix where they go home at 20h00. It would suck to not have a room when I get there!
We have just stopped at Freiburg, in Deutschland and it is still pouring outside. Autumn is definitely here. I hope that the rest of my trip isn’t going to be wet, I really don’t have the correct clothing for rain. I keep hoping that Berlin isn’t going to be raining, it is still a ways away and we are heading more north than east right now so I am also hoping that the direction change to east will make a difference.
Enough for this leg of the trip, time for a little snooze. Train rides always make me want to sleep.
Cool! I just looked up and the train is doing 250km/h, not to shabby! I am guessing that I am in what was once East Germany, I didn't see any old border crossings or anything. The train stations are a lot more spread out now and this means that we can go faster, which is good because we are running late. I have been told that it is normal for DB trains to be late, while the Swiss trains are never late.
Bit of a jump now, I am in Berlin, survived the multi-level nightmare that is the Berlin Hbf (train station) with it's poor directions and lack of info. Considering all the tourists that come through there yearly, you would think that things would be a bit easier. I saw many with backpacks looking lost in there (me included). another stupid thing was luggage trolley's, you could get one on the train platform where the train arrives, but there was no place to leave it other than that platform, so I lost a Euro when I left it where I had to get my Metro train. Scam??? I think so.
Eventually, thanks to a good Metro system, I made it to the station near my hotel, about 6-8 blocks from the station, which isn't that bad but I am carrying about 60-70 kilos of stuff in three bags. It was a long walk, only to find out that somehow my reservations had been screwed up and I wasn't supposed to be here until tomorrow! Luckily, the girl at the reception siad there was a room available, and that it was now mine.
So, I made it, I am here, and although I am really tired, I am excited to see Berlin. I don't know what I want to see, but I want to see it. =P
Here it is, Monday morning, and I am off to a bad start. We hit a bit of traffic on the way to the train station, and I missed my train. I watched it rolling off down the track as I ran down the stairs. Damn Swiss rail and their perfect schedules!!!
I was luck enough though to be able to get a second train, about an hour and a half later, so I am not completely in panic mode yet. I really didn’t want to call the hotel in Berlin and tell them that I wasn’t going to show up, although I am sure that the kids would be very happy if I had come back to the house.
I am going to miss the kids, they where very unhappy about me going, poor little Adrien was in tears last night going to sleep because I made sure I said my good byes then. They even got up early to make sure that they got their final hugs in before I left. It was quite funny, both of them still mostly asleep, wandering in to the room like Night of the Living Dead or something. But, they got one more good bye from me, and that made me feel better.
So now I sit and wait, after all that rushing around this morning, I could have just slept in a bit and let Leanne sleep a bit longer too. She is still on Indian time, so it wasn’t too early for her.
Since I am typing this in the train station, and I really don’t feel like paying for internet right now, I will add this later today, and probably a bit more about my journey to Berlin.
I made it on to the next train, so here I sit on the way to Bassel where Switzerland, France and Germany all meet. If I remember correctly, Bassel is a big station, and it is there that I have to find my train to Berlin. I am taking an ICE train through Germany, something that I have never done before. Well, going to Berlin is something that I have never done before either. =) Last time I was in Europe, there was two Germany’s, something a lot of young people never knew. It is amazing how much the world changes.
It is nice to look out the window of the train and watch the Swiss country-side flying by. Very green, grey and wet; ya it is raining. It is supposed to be nicer in Berlin, just overcast but no rain. That is okay, I don’t mind the rain or the sky being grey, I have had a lot sunshine this summer. Switzerland is so…umm, perfect. Everything has it’s place, and everything is in that place. This is a HUGE change from southern France where everything is a mess.
Something else I will need to remember very soon is my German, it has been 15 years since I was last force to speak it, and I think that I forget most of it. I will be spitting out French when I want to speak German!
Hmmm, just past a castle, nifty!
Well, enough writing for now, I think I will sit and enjoy the scenery for a while.
Next train!
I am now on a German ICE train, traveling about 160km/h through southern Germany, and can I say, what a nice train! Very nice inside, very smooth ride and even some pretty German ladies to chat with. Since I missed the first train (I looked at that a bit more, there was a mix up of the itinerary and the tickets, the itinerary said Geneva, and the ticket said Geneva Airport, so the train that I was supposed to be on was actually already at Geneva Main by the time I got to the airport station.) I am now arriving in Berlin about 19h00 or so. I just hope that the hotel that I am in will have staff available when I get there, unlike the hotel in Aix where they go home at 20h00. It would suck to not have a room when I get there!
We have just stopped at Freiburg, in Deutschland and it is still pouring outside. Autumn is definitely here. I hope that the rest of my trip isn’t going to be wet, I really don’t have the correct clothing for rain. I keep hoping that Berlin isn’t going to be raining, it is still a ways away and we are heading more north than east right now so I am also hoping that the direction change to east will make a difference.
Enough for this leg of the trip, time for a little snooze. Train rides always make me want to sleep.
Cool! I just looked up and the train is doing 250km/h, not to shabby! I am guessing that I am in what was once East Germany, I didn't see any old border crossings or anything. The train stations are a lot more spread out now and this means that we can go faster, which is good because we are running late. I have been told that it is normal for DB trains to be late, while the Swiss trains are never late.
Bit of a jump now, I am in Berlin, survived the multi-level nightmare that is the Berlin Hbf (train station) with it's poor directions and lack of info. Considering all the tourists that come through there yearly, you would think that things would be a bit easier. I saw many with backpacks looking lost in there (me included). another stupid thing was luggage trolley's, you could get one on the train platform where the train arrives, but there was no place to leave it other than that platform, so I lost a Euro when I left it where I had to get my Metro train. Scam??? I think so.
Eventually, thanks to a good Metro system, I made it to the station near my hotel, about 6-8 blocks from the station, which isn't that bad but I am carrying about 60-70 kilos of stuff in three bags. It was a long walk, only to find out that somehow my reservations had been screwed up and I wasn't supposed to be here until tomorrow! Luckily, the girl at the reception siad there was a room available, and that it was now mine.
So, I made it, I am here, and although I am really tired, I am excited to see Berlin. I don't know what I want to see, but I want to see it. =P
posted by Travelcedric at 22:29
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