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6.02.08
Zurich was amazing. But thank God it’s over – specifically, thank God I’m back in Tübingen, and that I was back in time for work. You know you’re interested now.
After the beauty of the tour and the shops on Saturday. After my first night in a hostel. After wandering the city, absorbing art in museums and buying chocolates in shops in the mall under the Hauptbahnhof. After all that, there was the train trip home.
Now, when I went to Stuttgart, I had two train connections. On my initial plans for my trip to Zurich, I was set to leave at 10pm, arrive at 4am with 3 connections. My trip back had 4 connections. So, I the first two went off without a hitch. But on the third one, I didn’t realize my train (a Swiss one) was arriving late, because, oh yeah, I don’t speak fucking German, and could not hear the announcement. I should have had 5 minutes to get over to the next platform. So, I got in line to get off (instead of being in front), walked quickly (when I should have ran), and got to the platform. There was a train down the tracks, but I figured it was another one. About 5 minutes later I began to strongly doubt this.
So I approached the night guy on – and he said, that indeed, that was my train, and I had missed it. So I asked – in voice-shaking German – if there was another train. He checked. Nope. I asked if there was one with any connections to Tübingen. Nope. Enter complete and total terror on my behalf – and a concurrent switch to speaking English – forget even attempting German. So he helps me book the first train out in the morning (5:51) which gets me to Tübingen at 8am – just enough time to run from the bahnhof to my flat, change, and catch a bus to work.
Now, where to stay, I wondered? Is there a hostel in town? Nope. A hotel? Yes, one. So he pointed me in the right direction – ‘down the street, it’ll be on your right after you pass a few lights’ and warned me €59.99 a night.
So, I get to the hotel, get a room (the woman at the desk was AMAZINGLY kind) and spent the night unable to sleep due to the fear of missing another train. But it all worked out. Hectically, intensely, but it all worked out.
What did I learn about train travel this weekend?:
Don’t book overnight trains – the stress and lack of sleep will make the city you are visiting (especially if only for a weekend) less enjoyable – if you can stay awake for it.
Swiss trains run late. German ones don’t. Run to your platform either way.
When booking a train, make sure you aren’t taking the last connection home.
