To Deutschland ! Insane enough that the voyage gets its own post =P

Now, for the ultimate in lateness, I bring you  news of my trip to Allemagne...nearly a month ago! We had a Thursday off for holiday, so I skipped Friday, arranged to take an exam two days early, and packed my bags to visit a lovely friend and fellow University of Alabama student studying this semester in Mannheim. The trip was a mix between awesome and complete fiasco; I should have realized more of my funky luck was coming when my train Thursday night (supposed to depart at 11:20) ended up getting to the station nearly two hours later, finally departing at the grand hour of 1:30 a.m. Didn't bother me much since I had brought gummy bears, baguette/brie, and some tunes, but trouble was on the wind. Ended up missing all my correspondences, sadly, but this resulted in me having more time in one of my stopovers, Strasbourg! I only had a couple hours so not a true visit of the city, but I did get to explore, suitcase in hand, and see things like this:

 Fall colors, and just a bit of nip in the air!

 Now I know what these buildings are supposed to look like! I always tried in the Sims and it never worked...

The Rhine!

 La maison des tanneurs.

So, what happens next? I catch my next train and, thanks to the kind gentleman at the service desk, a list of the next train I'll have to take. They said since I already had a ticket they didn't need to give me a new one, even if it was late. I think I'm in the clear, hop off the train once we get into Germany and get ready for the next one. Fifteen minutes into the train ride the conductor comes around; I apologize for having no German and explain the situation in English.

I am commanded to leave the train at the next stop and told to find another one. According to her, this "wasn't the train I reserved." (No, really???) So, after being insistent didn't work and feeling the blood pressure rise, I decide that telling the woman she was an idiot probably wouldn't solve anything. So off I went, somewhere between A and B, thankful for my foresight to have brought enough food for a full day (since apparently I ended up needing it?)

So I find myself, once again, having to scramble around and sort all this out, namely, where am I, when's the next train, and how can I get on it for free. Long story short, it eventually worked out and I got myself (and all my affairs - why can't I be this responsible all the time?) to Mannheim around 15 hours after my initial departure time. (In case you were curious, this voyage was supposed to take around 10.) I even managed to pull out my sewing kit and fix a button on my jacket while munching on some gummies. How's that for resourceful?

More to come! Until next time, here's hoping for no further transportation debaucles :)