High-speed rail and a mixup

Backblip 5/13

Well, today was a day. I was already pretty stressed over transit the last few days, though we did eventually mostly figure out the Paris metro system. I installed an app on my phone to buy rail tickets around the continent since we aren't renting a car. Today's plan was to go from Paris to Rust, Germany, so we could go to Europa Park tomorrow.

We had a transfer in Strasbourg, France. Funnily enough, we'd be here in a few days for Jill's symposium. But today was just a stop at the train station. We waited for the monitor to show our train; eventually it came up and said it was at platform 1 (or 13; I don't remember exactly). So we went to that platform. A couple was saying goodbye and standing in our train car's doorway. They finally got out of the way, Jill boarded, and I picked up her heavy bag and put it on the train.

Then the doors closed. I pressed the button but they stayed closed. Then the train just rolled away. With Jill on it. And me at the station. I shrugged and waved. Argh.

I looked at the monitor, and the number for our train had changed. I had led Jill to the wrong train! Who knows where she's going!? I got to the right platform and boarded the right train. I was so busy texting her trying to get her to the right place that I missed my stop and got to the terminus. Thankfully that was only one stop from where I had to go.

I got help finding a train and where to buy tickets. It started to hail on me as I bought my ticket from the machine, but I got it and headed back to where I needed to be. I got off at the correct stop.

It was rural and I didn't have a phone signal, so I had to walk a while to steal Wi-Fi from a hotel. Eventually Jill got on a train to the right place and we met up after a few hours. For a while, she was in France while I was in Germany.

This was such a frustrating day! It really made me not want to travel internationally again. I felt like everything I had done wrong on the previous days led to this. Nothing I prepared for online actually helped me do things right. Plus, because of the time change, I think I missed a dose of anxiety medication, so that made things worse.

But we got together and got to our hotel. This evening Jill ordered room service, and we got a delicious dish with shaved truffles on it. I had never had truffles before! We'd have truffle oil at home, but the real thing is amazing. Now I understand why people love it.

Tomorrow we go to Europa Park. It's supposed to be a great theme park. I can't wait to put this day behind me.