,
In hindsight, it’s a good thing that we didn’t have a
map. Or even a clue as to where exactly
in Germany we were. For, if I had any
inkling that we were headed in the opposite direction, I wouldn’t be in this
roadblock of a predicament, miles off track and nowhere near to where we were
scheduled to be. I wouldn’t have spent
the better part of the day sequestered – more like trapped – aboard a train
speeding south along a tunnel lined path through the mountains.
Before embarking on this journey, I had wasted denizens of
hours surfing the web, double and triple checking whether our planned for route
involved long-distance tunnels. Short
ones could easily be managed with the blink of an eye, yet anything longer than
a few kilometers involved coping strategies of yet another kind. The kind that
involved a whole lot of averted eyes and pitying glances.
“Is your friend not well?”
“Perhaps we should summon the conductor for emergency
assistance? Or, better yet, is there is a medic on board?”
“Don’t they have tunnels in Canada, dear?”
Did I mention that I have a bit on an “issue” with all
things tunnel related?
Words do not do justice to the scene that transpired, so
I’ll leave it to you, dear reader, to just let your imagination run wild.
And, let’s not even mention the handful of passengers, as
well as the living and the dead on both sides of the Atlantic, who were rudely
awakened from their slumber by the not so eloquent and oh so grating screeching of a certain pink sneakered lass (ugh – middle-aged ‘ol Auntie, if truth be told).
Itching to get up and go, I raced along the narrow aisle, in
a futile effort to at least do something.
Anything. Anything but stare out
the pitch-black window into nothingness.
No trees. No clouds. No view.
Just endless rock. And more rock. Trapped. On a train burrowing through granite with no end in sight.
“I can’t get out!
When’s the next stop? Stop this
train now!”
German dictionary in one hand and today’s crossword in the
other, Travel Bud didn’t even bat an eyelid at the ongoing spectacle, more
engrossed in checking off at least one foreign language word, than having to
deal with the cuckoo on the choo choo.
Chalking it up to yet another one of the drama queen’s Academy Award worthy meltdowns, he calmly shook his head, adjusted his glasses and carried on with
his puzzle.
Just another ordinary day in the life of Pink Sneakers on
the Go!
Next post – In two weeks! The weekend of January 27th/28th. Catch up with our never-ending journey to
Esslingen. And yes, we do eventually
arrive at our destination – via detours, wrong trains and a whole lot of roadblocks!
And since I'm on the topic of trials and tribulations, I still can't upload my pics from Germany, so, no pictures AGAIN!! YIKES!! Hopefully soon.....
Ok....was sort of able to upload a few pics, but not all of them, but at least it's a start in the right direction....
Ok....was sort of able to upload a few pics, but not all of them, but at least it's a start in the right direction....
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Koblenz to Esslingen tickets on hand - what could go wrong? |
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| YIKES!! Looks like we're taking a bit of an unplanned detour to Vienna! |
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| NOT a happy face, as I'm TRAPPED!! |
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| The last bit of view before that dreaded tunnel.... |
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| So where are we now?? Nowhere close to where we need to be. |
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| Staring at the departures board - only 4 more hours to go!! |
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| My happy place with my pink typewriter on the Go! |
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