I woke up quickly on Sunday morning, which is a feat for me since I NEVER wake up quickly. I jumped into the shower thinking about all I had to do and started getting a little anxious. Could I honestly get to Neuschwanstein and back in time to catch my flight? The last day of the season for the bike tour I wanted to go on was Saturday so I was trying to do this all on my own. Then I came to a new revelation, what if Neuschwanstein wasn’t open on Sundays like everything else? I decided to have breakfast and then ask the hostel desk. Breakfast was interesting. Everyone was all sitting in groups so I sat at the end of a long table.Soon after, an Asian girl came to sit by me. I thought I could strike up a conversation with her, but she looked intently into her Müsli. Then her travel buddy sat right across from me. Before I could say good morning the buddy started talking in some other language about her sausage and I knew then they weren’t interested in meeting new people despite the fact that they surrounded me. After breakfast I asked the desk if Neuschwanstein was open and she looked at me funny and said yes. (I’m sorry I didn’t realize it was a stupid question).
I made my way to the train station and talked to a Die Bahn rep about getting to Neuschwanstein. Apparently they only have a train that will take you as far as Füssen, but she didn’t offer to sell a ticket to me. I believe it had something to do with the German-wide Train strikes. I picked up a schedule and then made my way to the ticket machine. Apparently the cheapest way to go was with a group pass, which means I could have split the cost with up to four other people. Alas it was just me. So I threw my bag in a station locker and made my way to Gleis 29 to catch my 2 hour train ride. The train was already sitting there parked even though we had 15 minutes before it was scheduled to leave. I sat down and started reading some more Harry Potter and before I knew it, it was 15 minutes past the time we were supposed to leave. That means that I’ve also missed the connection. Then a scruffy voice came over the intercom yelling something in German and everyone around me grumbled and started to get up. I asked as politely as I could the older lady sitting across from me with long grey hair and was dressed for a long hike. She smiled and let me know that we needed to move to a different train and it was going to leave in 5 minutes. It was then I remembered reading somewhere that there is a fine of 40 euro if you have an un-validated ticket. The tour book said you had to validate it near the ticket machine. I ran over there and saw a little box with a card slot, but the slot did not fit my card. A gentlemen dressed like he was ready for the MS 150 was about to get on his bike when I asked him how to validate his ticket. As soon as he opened his mouth I remembered that a group ticket just needed a name from our trip to Bad Honnengin.
He confirmed that for me and I raced back to the train where I found a seat next to a well dressed man I had sat across from on the first train. He smiled at me, probably because I was out of breath, as the train lurched forward. Then the paranoia sat back in. If everything is in German, how will I know to when to get off? This commuter train did not have the electronic notification signs like the ICE trains. So every time the train slowed I’d lean out of my seat to see the posting on the station. I noticed that there were a few groups in my car doing the same thing. Then I realized, why else would a commuter train to Füssen on a Sunday if they weren’t going to Neuschwanstein? That helped me relax a little. If we got lost, we could get lost together.
We made it to Buchloe and ran to the next platform per the schedule to hop on the next connection, but because the first train was late, we had missed the connection. However the conductor told us that it would be coming, then another Die Bahn officer said it would be on the previous platform. With three trains at the station at once, you saw a bunch of tourists running from one platform to the other trying to find a train that wasn’t coming. After all the trains departed, the boards were updated and we had a ½ hour to wait for the next train. It gave me an opportunity to observe my travel companions by common destination. There were two large groups of Asians, a group of three Italian girls, and me.When the next train arrived, we all boarded with relief. The train was already pretty full, so I went and sat in the car that is used for commuters with bicycles. There was already a group of young people laughing in the car and I thought this would be more fun than sitting quietly in the previous car. There were nine of them in what appeared to be a small tour group for students. It was amazing though because I was definitely hearing multiple languages coming from the group. They were sharing pictures and candy and pointing out interesting sights along the way. There was one girl who was very quiet and the others tried to talk to her but she wouldn’t respond. I felt bad that maybe she was in a bad mood.
About ½ way through the journey, the supposed ring leader came and sat by me and started to ask something of me in very fast German. I told him I didn’t understand and he tried using hand gestures that didn’t make much sense to me. Frustrated, he turned to his group and asked if someone knew English. A bright, cherub-faced girl responded. They wanted to know when the train would arrive in Füssen. I politely said I didn’t know as I was a tourist too. They all were very curious why I was traveling alone and I didn’t have a short answer for that. They were happy to know that I spoke English because the quiet girl was South African and didn’t know enough German to really converse with the rest of them. So I struck up a conversation. I soon found out that she was an Au Pair working for a München family for a year to earn money for school. She wanted to go into Biotechnology. In fact, the whole group was just a bunch of Au Pairs who decided to take a trip together. They invited me to join them on their tour and I happily accepted.
In the end there were 2 Ukrainians, 1 Spaniard, 1 Russian, 2 Italians, 1 Frenchman, 1 South African and me. Each one had a name that I had not heard and regretfully, can’t remember now.
We got off the train and hurried to a nearby bus. This bus was packed with people and all had only one stop in mind. We made it to small tourist village full of little shops and restaurants eager to take your money. I was surprised to learn that there were actually two castles to see in this small area. However, due to the time of day and the impending doom of possibly missing my flight, we decided Neuschwanstein was enough. We were told by the ticket office person that the hike from where we were to the castle took 40 minutes so our tour times were made for 2 ½ hours after we got there! Since I had to catch a train at 4:07, I was a little nervous about a 35 minute tour starting at 3:15! No matter, I could at least look at the outside.
We started our hike and the scenery was breathtaking. The air was nice and crisp with the autumn smell lingering. The sun was warm on our faces and shown brilliantly on the leaves of all color. We made it to the castle in 20 minutes. We then strolled around the castle to a nearby waterfall and stream that made its way to the crystal clear lake. The waterfall was quite tall and landed in a gorge well beneath the path. Some of the Au Pairs thought it was a good idea to climb down. Normally I am just the person to suggest this, but today I wasn’t feeling like risking my neck for something I could see from the path. One of the Au Pairs paid for it a bit by falling and getting her leg dripping wet with Alpine water.
As it got closer to starting the tour, I said good bye to the Au Pairs. After being slightly nervous the whole day about traveling so far to catch a flight, I couldn’t stand it anymore and needed to start my journey. So I ran down the hill snapping quick pictures as I went. I’m lucky I got to the bottom when I did because there was a long line to catch the bus. You would think it was a line for the Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens or something. I waited in that line thinking to myself, “ok, time to be an obnoxious American and make sure you’re on this bus to make the train.” The bus finally arrived and I charged forward as best I could and was one of the last people to make it on the bus before he pulled away with the doors open! My mom told me never to stand in front of the yellow line on the bus because I could get hurt. Well, if I missed my flight, my boss would hurt me instead. I ran from the bus and ran onto the train just before it started pulling away “Phew”.
The train ride to Hauptbahnhof was uneventful. However, I was mentally preparing for my next interchange. I would get off the train at Gleis 29, run to my locker to get my bag, and then run to Gleis 1 to catch my train to the Flughafen that was leaving 4 minutes after my arrival.
On my way back I noticed that I was taking the S-Bahn. S for sub. They were on a different track system beneath the Hauptbahnhof. Luckily I only had a few more minutes to wait before I caught the next S-Bahn to the Flughafen. In the end I used a bus, train, subway, airplane, car, and feet to get to my apartment. I then rode my bicycle from the doorway to the bedroom just to add another one. The only thing I missed was a boat. I would have tried to fit it in, but I was just too exhausted. I literally crashed as soon as I hit the pillow. It was quite an exhausting journey, but well worth the ride.
No comments:
Post a Comment