It was the best of times, it was the wtf of times
There are days when everything goes beautifully, swimmingly. Then there are strings of days where every door hits you in the ass. Lately it has been the latter. And that means it’s time for a truth in travel post!
We left Montpellier in a hurry. The rumored nationwide protest day was gaining momentum with the labor unions deciding to throw in their support by striking. Inconveniently, hullabaloo day coincided with the start of our Central European train extravaganza. Thankfully, our tickets were easily changed, as was our hotel in Paris where we’d planned to spend the night before our night train to Berlin, so we bumped everything up.
We arrived in Paris too early to check in to our hotel. We’ve stayed there before. It’s in our old neighborhood, the 11th. Clean, comfortable, basic. As the desk clerk left his post to go see if our room might be available, a vagrant crossed Mark’s eye through the window. He beelined in, cornering and threatening us. The clerk heard the commotion after a couple of minutes and came and threw him out, as our thug was spewing insults and spit. But hey, on the plus side, our room was ready! Adrenaline at 10, we tried to relax. Nothing doing. So we went out for a sandwich at our old favorite boulangerie. The clerk recognized Mark and asked if he’d been on vacation. He said yes, for a few years.
We had no plans for Paris other than walking around the old stomping grounds to see what was new and what wasn’t. We saw some of the usual suspects from the hood, then meandered into the park which runs up the boulevard just in time to see 5 guys beating the crap out of a guy on the ground, who had appently insulted one of them. We didn’t stick around to inquire. Back to the boulangerie to scrounge up more food to eat in our hotel room because I was done with the day. A friend texted saying something about my glamorous life. I texted back a picture of my dinner.
The next day was mercifully uneventful. We saw friends and whiled away the day. Got to our tiny train compartment for 2 that evening, followed by a guy who said he’d reserved the 3rd bunk. No offense, you seem like a perfectly upstanding young man, but nooooo! Ok, whew, he had the wrong car. I had a moment of genuine panic thinking I’d screwed up our hastily rebooked departure. The tiny house on wheels was all ours. It ostensibly sleeps 3, but that strains the imagination, not to mention civility.
Our train was delayed due to a accident further down the line. Our 14 hour ride turned into 17, but I didn’t care. We had food, books, and not a care in the world.
The stop in Berlin was a necessity of the trajectory, not a destination in itself. I’m not Berlin’s biggest fan, but I loved it this time. We stayed in a neighborhood outside of the center and spent 2 days walking around marveling at little kids walking to school by themselves, at bikes parked with only one lock casually thrown around the frame, not to mention at the cars and bikes that stopped for pedestrians in the walkways. These are cultural wonders I can get behind. 2 days in Berlin was not enough time and we talked about coming back for a longer stay.
Then came the news and another adrenaline rush. Russia violating Polish airspace; in the US, maga on maga violence. All with the backdrop of Berlin and its sobering history. I like to take a news break when we travel but clearly this year’s word of the year is “looming”, so I’ll be keeping a wary eye open. Northern and eastern Poland are our next stops. Call me crazy, but I like to stay out of conflict’s way whenever possible.
I was mulling over this brinksmanship state of the world as we were leaving Berlin. At the train station, I left Mark outside with the bags and went in to reconnoiter our platform. Suddenly, alarms were blaring, and everyone’s phones were too. People were looking around, some hurried to the exits. I ran back to Mark who was as alarmed as I was. All information being in German, it took a few minutes to get the ⚠️⚠️⚠️ translated. It was Federal Emergency Day and this was a test. I texted a friend saying happy Federal Emergency Day to those who celebrate. Loomingness indeed.
We’re only one week into this excursion and I could go on and on. More late trains and nearly missed connections, running down train platforms, random medical weirdness and getting rained on. But travel and life is never a choose your own adventure story. You roll the dice and take your chances. So far, I’m pretty chuffed that we can roll with it. Touch wood and touch grass my friends.
Onward to Gdansk!
Maer
The Let's Get Lost Game 