[Theme song from "Rawhide." You know, "Rollin', rollin', rollin'...."]
So you know how much I enjoy the ICE by now, right? Well, I now have a bit of an issue with them. Today I was scheduled to enjoy ICE 124 from Fern 7 at the Frankfurt airport train station (the fernbahnhof, for those at-home players following the Deutsche Bahn timetable) to Düsseldorf with no connections. My pre-assigned seat was seat 73 in car (aka "wagen") 28. We paid €3 for the privilege of having an assigned seat. Anyway, a good start.
The car number is displayed on a digital panel on the outside of the car and there is a particular way in which the cars are arranged within the train. When you arrive at your track, there is a large poster displayed in one of the display cabinets that displays the letter point (A, B, C, etc .) corresponding to a location on the platform where your car will stop and you will board. Very convenient once you figure this out.
So I was standing at location F when the train rolled in. Hmmm. That's actually car 38. Hmmm.... Is it possible that the car is going backwards and 28 is at the other end? Um, not so much. Now, sometimes two separate trains are linked together and then split at a particular location (for example, one goes to Brussels, the other to Amsterdam), but it doesn't matter since you know which car to go to. Except when that car doesn't show up.
There was no car 28. I asked several Deutsche Bahn employees (who I later referred to in the made-up word, Wagenmeister, not to be confused with Hausmeister who is the Schneider of my apartment building -- you know, Schneider from Three's Company) where 28 was and they essentially said that that train (the ICE 124) was not along for this ride, just the ICE 14, so I could try to find a seat that wasn't already reserved. Oh, and I'd have to disembark at Köln and switch to a regional train to get to Düsseldorf .
Um, what? Did I mention I paid €3 for that non-existent seat? There were, of course, no assigned seats on the regional train, either. I was a bit cranky by time I arrived (late) in Düsseldorf , only to discover that what had been described as a 5 minute walk (apparently by an Olympic speedwalking contender) was actually 18 minutes in office shoes and in the full light of the blazing sun. Grrrr.....
The return trip was also disappointing. I ordered a, um, "refreshing beverage" somewhere around Bonn. It was delivered approximately 3.5 minutes before we arrived at the fernbahnhof. Seriously?? On the positive side, for the portion of the trip from Düsseldorf to Köln (before the train reversed direction), I was directly behind the engineer in his glassed-in cabin. Interesting to watch, though not nearly so suspenseful as being directly behind (no glass wall) the pilot of a single-propeller plane in Costa Rica. There are a few screens and a few levers that I suspect basically say "Go," "Stop" and "Size of the bump we just flattened at 300 kph?"
Nevertheless, I am home. I am a bit freaked out, though, as I left Hudson in the parking garage near my client location overnight. I feel this distance between us.... That distance will feel much bigger tomorrow when I am forced to take a taxi from home to the client.
It is hot here. Dinner upon late arrival home? Cold homemade mashed potatoes. I am pretending they are really bland potato salad.
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