You knew that there was a train strike in Germany, right? Ending at midnight tonight.
Notice that we docked today in Copenhagen and had train tickets to get to Heidelberg with only three (or was that four?) transfers. No sweat. Or at least it wouldn’t have been except for
1) seems that both Cheré and I had accumulated enough extra items that we needed more packing space than we had on hand with our suitcases.
2) somehow I hadn’t properly calculated how much time is always involved in loading a tour bus. What is supposed to be a three hour tour can end up making you feel like a participant with Gillian [Island] and run a risk of not making your train.
3) lastly, it is simply not cool to give up on the tour, take a cab to the main train station where you find that your train has been canceled. In fact, there are no trains at all going to Hamburg. Not this morning, not at 1222 when we were scheduled. No way, not today. But there was a bus…..
And it cost since it wasn’t the Danish Railroad’s problem that the German one was being struck.
So bus to ferry, bus on ferry, bus on road to Hamburg where we hung out on the platform for about 30 minutes. There were only two more trains of all normally scheduled that had a possibility actually showing up.
ICE 1171 actually appeared on time, with plenty of seats available. The conductor, rather than point out we were on the wrong train, wrong compartment and wrong seats just stamped our ticket.
George bailed us, suitcases, extra bags and all out of Mannheim.
Home, fresh spargel and strawberries….
