Ken and Elise's trip

DAY 5: On the train to Munich

  It seems we are not to have a single day without some incident. Disaster struck today--the worst thing we had feared (aside from rape, pillage or murder). We got separated at a train station.

 It all started out so well. We easily figured out our early morning train from Copenhagen to Munich. It was an 11 hour journey, but we didn’t mind at all.  Our rail pass entitles us to first class and believe me it is comfortable. The seats are leather and generous. There is an overhead monitor that tells you the stops and how fast you are going (which Ken was fascinated with). A waiter comes by and  gives you snacks (pretzels or mints) or a jug of water. The ride is so comfortable! We easily made our change at Lubeck and were feeling quite savvy as travelers.

  I had booked us into a hotel 20 minutes out of Munich as it was far less expensive and the hotel looked gorgeous--a family run small hotel which I was really looking forward to spending time at. The staff had suggested that if the train ran through a town called Pasing, we should get off there and take the subway to Aubing where the hotel was. We discovered that our train did indeed go through Pasing, so when we arrived there we were at the door, bags in hand.

  And there, the disaster struck. Every single other train we had taken had had the doors automatically open. Nothing happened here. No doors opened. Ken frantically tried to figure it out and started punching buttons. Suddenly bells went off (alarm bells) and I was sure we had caused a major incident. The door did open though, and Ken got off. I dallied though, worried that we should wait for the conductor to come and explain that we didn’t know what we were doing. While I waited, the door closed. Ken was on the other side frantically telling me to punch the button. I started hitting the button with my palm, but nothing happened. He was yelling for me to hit it, hit it, but I couldn't make it open. I figured out later that you have to use your finger, not your palm. Anyway, the train took off while I’m crying, “I lost my husband, I lost my husband.” People, seeing my plight, leaped to help. “Call him,” a young girl cried out to me. “I can’t, our phones don’t work here,” I cried back. She immediately tried to hand her phone to me to use, but I told her that his phone didn’t work either. Everyone sat there, not sure what to do and believe me I didn’t know what to do either. Here we were, thousands of miles from home, separated.

  Finally I calmed down and realized that prayer will do what panic won’t. It seemed to me that the best course would be to travel on to Munich and try to get back to Pasing from there. I arrived in Munich 20 minutes later and started asking for help. I was directed to the manned ticket station where the man told me I needed to take the subway back. He directed me to go down 2 flights and take any train from Platform 2 as all but one went to Pasing. He gave me a chart.

 I did find my way down the two flights, but didn’t have a clue which was Platform 2. Once again strangers came to my help. I told them how I had lost my husband and it became a matter of German pride to get me back with him. They all got me on the right train, consulted together how many stops I would have to go through, and kept me up to date as we traveled as to how much further.

  Of course my main fear was that Ken would have leaped on the next train to Munich and he would be headed the other way to find ME.

  Eventually, we pulled into Pasing, and everyone started calling to me that this was the station. They were patting me on the back--all so very kind to the frightened American. And then--how good God is! I looked out the train window, and there was Ken! Standing on the platform watching for me. “THere he is!” I cried out and everyone cheered. I thanked them all most gratefully and fell into Ken’s arms. He, too, had had his adventures, trying to figure out where the best place for him to be when I came back so I could find him. He had had help from strangers as well. All I can say is God was with us!

  Our adventures were not over yet, though. We did find Aubing, but had no idea where exactly the hotel was. Aubing is not a big town and I had expected that we would have internet capability so that we could use Mapquest or something to direct us. However, the Telestial roaming package I bought hasn’t worked at all (NEVER buy from Telestial) and so there were were, 10 p.m. without a clue as to where to go. We asked a girl, but her English was very limited (better by far than our German though). She tried her best, but all we could get was “turn left”. Which we did. And we started walking--and walking--and walking. Through the streets of Aubing with our heavy suitcases. I finally got so desperate I went and rang someone’s doorbell. They didn’t answer. Two girls went by on bicycles. I cried out, “Can you help us?” They gave me a frightened look and pedaled faster away. We stopped a man who tried and tried to understand us, but it seemed that the limit of his English was “taxi”. He said he could show us where the taxi was. I knew Aubing wasn’t big enough for a taxi to be feasible, so we thanked him and kept trying. At last we passed a tavern where there was a man outside on his phone. I walked up to him and just asked! He shook his head with amusement, pointed up the street and said, “Go on, go on. Two blocks!” And sure enough, there it was. We walked in just before the 11 p.m. closing time and explained that the reason we were so late was that we couldn't find the place. The clerk looked astonished. “All you had to do was ask anyone,” he said. “Everyone speaks English.” “We did, and they don’t,” I told him.

  We were starved and without a Euro to our names. I asked if there was any place to eat, but of course everything was closed at that point. I asked if we could at least get a cold drink and he said there were vending machines. That’s when I remembered we didn’t have any Euros--we had planned to get some at an ATM at the train station but what with all the upset at getting separated, we hadn’t had a chance. “You don’t even have ANY Euros?” he asked. I told him we had nothing. He kindly advanced us 10 Euros so we could at least have a cold drink.

  We went to our room--and it was simply fantastic. The little hotel was everything I could have hoped. We collapsed into the soft, comfortable beds and slept like the dead.

End of Day 5

The water that was passed out to 1st class passengers

Our very comfortable train cabin

Ken was absolutely fascinated with the screen that showed how fast we were going. We have many photos with him taking quick shot as the speed went up. He thinks we reached 251 km, but he couldn't capture that one.

The beautiful little terrace at our beloved hotel outside Munich