Saturday, June 08, 2024

Day 4 - Munich to Prague

it isn't working
I'm a tidal wave of question marks
Dive - Olivia Dean

This song was playing as I was waiting for the elevator to bring me down so that I could check out from my hotel and I thought the song sounded familiar then I realized, oh it's in my playlist :D I was ready to leave Munich. I was feeling positive, I was telling myself we could do this, we're going to take this train to Prague. Side note: planning for this trip, my anxiety level was not as high as usual which I don't know maybe because after executing the Iceland trip last year, my mind was more in the zone of we could do this and we have been doing this for a number of times. That being said, there was that concern of getting myself to the different countries using trains, like could we do this? The last time I went to this many countries on a single trip was back in 2017 and that was by planes. I remember the trip of 13 years ago navigating the train stations, lugging a heavy luggage and storing them in the train, and staircases. So there was a bit of anxiety there, but that morning I was like, we can do this. I prepared well too. I bought my ticket quite in advanced due to visa application that seat reservation wasn't available then, so I checked the web again that morning to locate where the empty seats were. I also did not miss the departure time change email so I knew the train would depart earlier. The journey would take around 6 hours so after breakfast I had gone to the train station to get some snacks. Bottom line, I was prepared. I knew what the platform number was and though the station was just in front of the hotel, I was at the platform around 20 minutes before departure.

The train wasn't there, but I was like okay maybe it would come within 10 minutes. There were other people at the platform too though not a lot, but I thought nothing was amiss. Then I happened to see this running text on the sign by the platform. It's in German. Curious, I went to Google Translate and it said, the train was not running today. I was like, is it real?!?! What?!? What's happening??!? Oh my God!!! Yep, I was freaking out. I was in denial so I went off the platform with my luggage to go to the big board and it had the same text and it happened for some other trains too. I was like, no, this can't be happening. What am I supposed to do now? I didn't even consider going to the service center for advice because they already sucked so bad the day before and I also bought my ticket through Czech Railways because it's cheaper so I doubt they would solve my issue. I checked the Deutsche Bahn app and it did say the trip would be impossible, also for other train that was departing later in the afternoon. No email from Czech Railways though. I think there was some urgent maintenance because that day was a public holiday in Germany for Ascension Day. What's Ascension Day, you ask. It's the day Jesus rose to heaven. Not many countries have this as public holiday but Indonesia does; I think it's because of the Protestant Dutch influence during colonization. When I was a child, I was so confused that the calendar showed Jesus rising up to heaven, but the text said the ascension of Isa Al-Masih. I think it was in high school when I found out it's the Islamic name for Jesus, because the muslims believe Jesus existed too.

So anyways what was I going to do? Should I go back to the hotel and figure out a plan there. I ruled out staying another day though. I would still try to get to Prague that day. One thing that I do have to hand it to German trains and trains stations is that they have free wifi so I stayed in the station. In my denial, I didn't stand too far from the platform in case the train would magically appear. The only thing that popped into my head was that we need to take a plane. Skyscanner somehow couldn't load on my phone so I just chose Lufthansa. Found the flight, almost bought the 12 pm something flight when my brain worked and said you wouldn't be able to make it there because it takes around 40 mins from the train station to the airport. 10:21, the time where my train should have departed came and went and there was no train :( So it's real. I ended up booking 2 pm flight which was not direct, had to transit in Frankfurt :( All this done while standing with my luggage in a busy train station. I questioned myself a lot on this decision. The train from Munich to Prague stops at several stops; the maintenance affected several stops from Munich. So should I have gone by other train to get to the train station after the ones that were affected? But, I couldn't be sure there would still be a train because Munich is a terminus, so if the train was not departing from Munich, would it still be there at the stop? Also throughout my days there I observed train delays so if I missed connection time, I would have been in more trouble. There were other train options that's not direct, but it's a no for me because lugging my luggage to different platforms in some stations I'm not familiar with is not a good idea. I also wondered if my flight was the cheapest and best option. At 360 euro, I'm still pissed about it. The honorable Czech Railways did refund me without much hassle, but because of card exchange rate, I was getting less than what I paid :( Seriously, the card exchange rate is so lousy, that in a way paying for cash is better than using your card. The train ticket by the way was around 50 SGD. So to go from that to 360 euro on a flight that's not even direct, yeah I am still pissed even now.

Pissed and annoyed, I made my way to the airport. Then a new level anxiety began because when I bought the train ticket to the airport, I think my ticket wasn't validated and I couldn't find the machine to validate it on the platform, but the train was coming soon. So I spent the train ride feeling very scared nervous that more bad things would happen to me and a staff would come checking the ticket and I would get a fine. Luckily, the Lord still looked kindly on me. Arriving at the airport, I stopped by some seats to organize my stuff before checking in. A chinese man was sitting nearby and talking on the phone and suddenly he was crying. That made me realize that sadder things could happen. I recognized how fortunate I was to be in a position to just pivot and execute a new plan. I was okay, I was fine, and that is a great blessing. Nothing much to say about the flights. Spent my transit time in Frankfurt watching the latest episode of Survivor. At least wifi was reliable. All throughout the ordeal, I was like don't cry, you're okay. When I updated mom as I was about to board the flight to Prague, our time zones difference was manageable that her reply was immediate. She said be patient and don't forget to pray and I had a few drops of tears then :'(

Arriving in Prague, my luggage took a long time to appear on the belt. I still didn't see it when the notice that the last luggage is on belt appeared. I was like worse thing could happen and was I about to have this worse thing happening to me? It did appear though, I think I let out an audible Thank You Jesus! In Frankfurt, I managed to google on how to get from Prague airport to the train station where my hotel was located. Exiting the baggage area, I immediately saw the visitor information counter so I went there to ask for information. The guy said the bus would be leaving soon, I might be able to make it if I hustled. I smiled at this, the knee was still hurting and my luggage was heavy. It's in the other terminal and he pointed me the way and I tried my best to hustle. I did make it, thank God! I guessed I was fast. When we're about to leave, another 2 girls also came with their heavy luggages and we're off after the girls were settled. Arriving at the stop in Prague main station, I was thankful it wasn't foreign. I have studied the location of the station and my hotel, so I was able to figure out my way without much drama. I had plan to explore Prague a bit on my arrival, but my flight arrived later than the train would have been and the next day I had a hiking day trip and I should most probably take it easy on my knee, so I decided to call it the day. Didn't even have the energy to walk further for dinner that I just bought some snack from the train station. Believe it or not, what happened that day in Munich was not the worst that happened to me in Germany. Well it was the worst financially so it was perhaps the worst, but something bigger happened and shook me even more. That is a story for another day. I arrived in Prague, I was okay - gratitude be to God.

:) eKa @ 10:21:00 AM •