We woke up early on the day of our departure and thought we may as well get ourselves to the airport early as this would allow us time to get to the train station for the half hour train ride to get to the Berlin Airport from Berlin Hauptbahnhof and get ourselves checked in for our flight. Then, we would have a good measure of time to relax and take our time having breakfast at the airport. Our flight time was for 2:45pm, but they always like you checked in a few hours early, so we thought, ‘might as well get there early and just hang out at the airport.’
We got everything packed and went downstairs, making our way to the front desk to let them know we are checking out and that we would need a taxi to Berlin Central Station to catch the train to the airport. The concierge told us that we wouldn’t be leaving today actually and we asked why.
He said, “Haven’t you heard? Berlin Airport is on strike today – no flights.” The hubby and I looked at each other in disbelief. First the train strike when coming from Hanover to Berlin and now this?!
“Didn’t you know that there is an airport strike today?”
We responded, “How would we know this?” (We couldn’t figure our how to use the TV in our room and even if we did, would we have been able to get this news in English?) “Is it all airports in Germany?”
“No, just Berlin.” …
Our concierge immediately asked us where our connect flight was to get back to Canada and we told him that we have a connect flight that leaves out of Frankfurt at 5:05pm but need to be there by 4:05pm for boarding. He immediately went onto to Deutsche Bahn’s website to see if there were any trains out of Berlin to Frankfurt. There was only one. One. The time was now about 8:50am and the train departure time was 9:26am. The train travel time to Frankfurt would be about four hours which would work out – if we caught this train, we’d be able to make our connect in Frankfurt.
We only had a half hour to check out, buy train tickets and then get taxied over to the train station. We are cramped for time now. So, the concierge worked his magic – got us checked out and bought us train tickets with hubby’s credit card – an ICE train (high speed) with a 9:26am departure time – he had no time to reserve seats for us, which meant we’d be sitting in whatever seats were free – so, that’ll be fun.
By the time our concierge printed off our ticket, the taxi was already waiting outside. The concierge ran with us to the taxi and quickly explained to the driver that he had to get us to the train station as quickly as possible. The time was now about 9:08am and I am thinking there is no way we are going to make this train! So, I do what I do best, I prayed and asked the Lord to get us there on the train. We threw our bags in the trunk and jumped into the back seat and off we went.
It’s a good thing that there is no heavy traffic in Berlin because this driver was zig-zagging down those narrow European streets like a boss! He had to stop suddenly for a pedestrian on the way, who, I’m sure, was cussing in Deutsche as she walked past the front of the car. As soon as she was in the clear, he sped on. As he is driving, hubby gives him enough Euros to cover our ride and then some. The driver got us to the station – it was now about 9:15am (yes, the train station was close to our hotel!) He couldn’t get through an obstruction to drop us at the entrance, and so he swerved over so we could jump out, grab our luggage and run to our platform.
So, now we are running to get inside the station and are looking for platform 10 – its at the lowest level in the place, so down the escalators we go with backpacks and suitcases in tow. I am so glad I chose to pack my purse in my suitcase and put everything I needed in my backpack with all the running we were doing!
And can you believe it?! We got to the platform at about 9:20am and boarded the train when it arrived at about 9:30am.
I am so glad that our concierge on the Meliã Berlin was quick-thinking and was able to help us the way he did – he was so awesome! I wish I remembered his name because I’d mention it here.
I was so glad the Lord was with us because I am pretty sure we wouldn’t have made the train without Him making a way, orchestrating everything the way He did, keeping us sharp and finding the right platform so quickly when Berlin Station was so unfamiliar to us!
Okay, so we are not regular travellers on Germany’s trains, we got on the car we were closest to on the platform and found a seat – we weren’t sure if we were in first class or not, so thought we’d sit where we were until a conductor came by. It wasn’t long before a gentleman came by checking tickets – we showed him ours and he kindly told us we were in first class and had to move up a few cars to get to an economy car. Once we were in one, all the seats which are arranged two by two on each side of the car – each two by two had one person sitting in them. I grabbed one seat and hubby found a seat in front of me, so we were at least kind of together. It wasn’t long before the passenger next to me started getting his things together which was my cue to let him out as I had the aisle seat. Once he was out of his seat to exit at the next stop, I poked the hubby in front of me to move to sit next to me and then I prayed we weren’t sitting in reserved seats because I did not want to move again.
These next two photos are stock photos … the one on the left is the layout of the train we were on to Frankfurt – without the tables. The photo on the right is an ICE train at Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Central Station).
Expected arrival time in Frankfurt … 13:52 or 1:52pm …
The rest of the trip went well and we didn’t have to move seats again. We had a long trip, so I tried taking some photos from the train … I didn’t get a lot of good shots, but here are some anyway that gives you a glimpse of the countryside … (below). Four hours of this beautiful scenery on an electric train calms the soul. I watched other passengers who were traveling for business and they had their laptops out. These trains also have free wifi which was pretty cool – what a way to manage your time – people wouldn’t be able to do this if they had to commute by driving their own vehicle. If I ever decided to travel through Europe, I think it would be delightful to go place to place by ICE train.
This train was going all the way to Zurich with many stops along the way, one of which was our stop – Frankfurt. The train ride to Frankfurt was close to four and a half hours, start to finish. We got off at Frankfurt Central Station at about 2:00pm and we still had to figure out where and what time to catch the train from Frankfurt Central Station to Frankfurt Airport to catch our flight. We were hoping it was not a long train ride!
As soon as we got off the train, we ran to the Deutsche Bahn office where someone saw us struggling with who to talk to about getting train tickets to the airport. A lady overheard us speaking English and she came over and helped us purchase tickets from what looked like an ATM machine for train tickets. She was an awesome help and she directed us to the platform where we could catch the train to the airport. She said that trains leave to the airport about every ten minutes, so we should be okay. We thanked her and off we went running again because, at this point, we still don’t know how long the train ride is to the airport, so we wanted to catch the very next train.
We found our platform and a young woman overheard us speaking English and we helped each other figure out what train we needed to be boarding as she was going to the airport as well, but she was going to pick up her luggage as it was coming in on a later flight (kinda what we experienced when we arrived in Berlin to go to Hanover when we first arrived in Germany). Once we were on the train, this is when we found out that it was only a 13 minute ride to the airport. Hubby and I started breathing again.
So, on our short train ride, we chatted with the young woman and discovered that she was from the United States and in Germany for work. She was with the US military and a court reporter for the military, so we had a really interesting conversation about that. The US military has a base in Frankfurt. Once we all arrived at the airport, we departed wishing each other safe travels.
By the time we got to the airport, I think it was now closer to about 3:00pm. We went to our gate and got ourselves and our luggage all checked in – then we went looking for washrooms and then went to see where our gate was to board our flight. By this time, it’s closer to about 3:30pm and our flight was going to start boarding at 4:05pm. Close to our gate was a kiosk selling bratwurst and so we bought a couple of those with some fruit cups along with a couple … you guessed it … cappuccinos! This was our first meal of the day and we were famished.
We couldn’t believe we made it to Frankfurt to catch our flight!
What are the odds that the two times we were on our way to a new destination in Germany, that they happen to be on the two days where there were strikes – train strikes on the day we were supposed to leave Hanover and then an airport strike the day we were supposed to leave Berlin??
I told the hubby that maybe it was a God-send that there was no flight from Berlin to Frankfurt because the switch once we would have got to Frankfurt was only an hour before having to connect to our Toronto flight – it makes for a very tight switch – and I said to him, “What would be the odds that our luggage missed that flight like it did from Munich to Berlin?”
You just never know, with wild travel kerfuffles like these, what the Lord may have saved us from. Yes, we had plane and train fiascos … but still, the Lord made a way for us to get where we needed to go and for that I am insanely grateful.
It was a long 8-hour + flight to our connect in Canada – Toronto Pearson Airport. At least this long one ‘across the puddle’ was Air Canada and it was not as cramped as the Lufthansa flight was going from Montreal to Munich. The Air Canada aircraft had air at least and a little more leg room. My tailbone still suffered, but not as badly as when on the Lufthansa flight. We didn’t sleep much on this flight either … at least we could watch movies to pass the time. This flight was also packed to the gills.
When we arrived in Toronto, I was so tired and we had to find our way to get through customs as we are now coming back into our own country. Even that is so different from when I was a girl – there are computer machines now where you scan your passport and then you are prompted to answer questions … once through that – what I could remember of it anyway – we made our way to our next gate to make our flight back to Edmonton, Alberta. Another packed flight. Travel details at this point were a complete blur as we were so tired. We arrived at Edmonton International Airport at about 11:00pm our time and we took a taxi home instead of asking one of our kids to pick us up because of how late it was. We got home around midnight. We were exhausted but glad to be home.
Hubby and I decided that if and when we travel again, we will not fly economy again if we can help it – it was just too cramped and uncomfortable and you don’t sleep well. If you are of mature years, you may want to consider at least business class or a pod. I saw a pod when exiting our Air Canada flight from Frankfurt – they looked amazingly comfortable.
Even though our travel plans got a little thwarted, I still loved that I took the trip with the hubby. Life is an adventure and that includes the hiccups and mishaps – it’s what makes life interesting. And when you have the Lord to rely on, you know He can spur things on in such a way that it all works out in the end.
Life can feel really short especially when one is in their later fifties and your life is pretty much the same day after day … the years go by faster and the days don’t seem as long as they used to. Getting away to a whole other country is the breather we needed … maybe it’s because we were somewhere new and we were out of our element with many things to see and new cuisines to try; whatever it was, our time away felt longer and the days seemed to stretch more – it felt longer than nine days. It was nice to feel the body destress after the last three years. It was long overdue and a reminder that taking time out to do new things and enjoy the simple pleasures of life … like cappuccinos on patios … are the things that delight the soul the most.
Point is, whatever you do or wherever you go, enjoy your life and do things that delight your soul, and remember to just stop and b r e a t h e.
Until the next adventure … take joy in each day you have.
Risé Brette
The Weary Traveller 