We have time...
Plenty of time...
So much time...
We're late.
We're huffing it through the streets, walking too quickly for conversation, and counting down the minutes to each other til my train departs. Seven minutes. "If I miss this train I'm gonna hurt you," I jibe. Bruno picks up the pace. "You won't miss it, and if you do, there's another. It's gonna be okay." Four minutes. We rush through the doors to check the board for the platform. Two minutes. Annnd....my train's not there.
"I thought you said 12:52, right?"
"Yes."
"It's not here...this is not okay."
This from the one who just said it WOULD be okay...not fun. Slight panic starts to boil up, but I push it down. "Let's find someone to ask." We tear through the halls and onto the platform, asking people in uniforms along the way, but no one seems to know. One man tells us the train doesn't exist and he's never heard of the company. Shit. Did I get scammed? Luckily if I did it was only 15 euros, but it stands to cost me hundreds if I can't get to the Baden-Baden airport. We're pointed to yet another station personnel, and as Bruno speaks to her rapidly in French, showing my ticket, and waving his hands, I have to chuckle inwardly as a thought flutters through my mind. This is what I get for choosing to title my trip "Maia's Misadventures". What did I expect?
But finally an answer! The woman turns to me and says that my train has been cancelled due to strike, but there is another one in 20 minutes that I am welcome to board. I worry about my connecting train, since I didn't have much time between, but there don't seem to be many options so I thank her and we head to platform 25.
Bruno checks the train one more time for me hurriedly and drops my bag, soon to be late for his interview after the ridiculousness of the morning. Hugs, kisses, words of thanks and parting. He's out.
I hop off in Apperwier to catch my connection. After a quick observation of the tiny station, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, I assume this is the only platform, but to be sure I ask a young girl leaving the train.
"Yes," she confirms, "this is the only one. All the trains come here."
Thanks.
At this point I've missed my connection by only four minutes, and I shake my head, but what's to be done?
Standing on the platform, wondering my next move, or how long I may be stuck here, I hear a young couple with an adorable toddler speaking English. I look and see they have traveling packs too. Worth a shot.
"Excuse me? Are you going to Baden-Baden?"
"No, but close enough."
"I've missed my train and I need to get to the airport. I'm just wondering if the next train will get me there."
"Yeah, there's one coming soon. You're good, just wait here."
I thank them and breathe a sign of relief. I haven't fallen too far off track.
It's a gorgeous day. Slinging my backpack to the ground, I perch atop it and put my ear phones in. The sun makes pleasant contact on my skin and The Kooks serenade me. "I'm always where I need to be..." they sing in my ear and I relax. Everything's coming up Milhouse. Or so I thought.
"Oh no..." The voice is so full of dread it breaks through my drifting thoughts and I glance up. "I'm afraid I have lied to you. This isn't the right platform and we've just missed the train."
I replay the sentence in my head, making sure I heard right. Crap.
"Are you sure? I asked another girl and she said there was only one platform..."
"I'm sure. We've just missed it. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay," I smile, and am a little surprised to realize how okay it really is.
The couple begins to stress on my behalf and look up trains and buses for the remainder of my journey to the airport. "Really," I insist. "It's okay. There is no need to stress, I can't make the train come faster. Everything is okay."
Eventually we board.
A man comes down the cars checking tickets, and, knowing my ticket is not at all for this train, I open it anyway and hand him my phone. He scans it.
"My previous train was cancelled, so I missed the one I paid-" he cuts me off with a shake of his head and a smile. "You're good." He moves on. Huh. Okay, cool.
I look to the woman of the couple and shrug. She laughs. "You never know when it's gonna matter here," she says.
Baden-Baden Station... I rush off the train and down the stairs into the tunnel, praying this is the right way. There are three women ahead of me with suitcases and I catch bits of English on the wind. At this point, I've lost too much time and feel the safer bet is just to ask. I kick up my pace.
They are friendly and helpful, opera singers living in Germany, on a quick spa day in the next town over. Upon learning my destination, one of them starts in, "Oh man...that is the most pain in the ass airport you'll ever have to get to. There are no trains...no shuttles...did you know it used to be a military base? That's why there was an airstrip there. They just converted it. I suppose from a military standpoint it makes sense you wouldn't want it accessible, but for an airport...ugh. Anyway, you should be able to catch a bus right there. Good luck!"
So close. One more bus and I'll be at the airport, hopefully with enough time. I ask a girl at the stop and she tells me I have to buy the ticket in advance. Okay. But the machine won't work for me...at all...first I stare at it in German for a bit, and, using my amazing powers of observation and deduction, I actually get through the whole menu and order my ticket, but when I insert my money, it spits it back out. Okay...? I find an English button and go through the process two more times, attempting my card, but there's no ticket to be had. I wonder briefly if I've just repeated my payment, but at this point, who cares.
The driver asks me three times where I'm going, but as I speak perhaps five words of German, I realize this only in hindsight when he starts to list the stops. "Oh! Airport, please!" Some women in the front begin to laugh as I pull out a couple euros and offer them to the driver hoping it's enough. He stares at them and repeats the price. I am blank faced. Having spent the last two weeks in France, and before that Italy, my brain is having a hard time with this sudden switch in country and language between breakfast and lunch. He grumbles and pulls a few coins from my hand, leaving some there, and hands me a ticket. I feel exactly like the asshole tourist I'm being. Gross. I take a seat, and 20 minutes later, I've finally, finally arrived at the airport. I wasn't sure I'd make it at all.
The airport personnel are all very kind and polite (not quite what I'm used to), and they gift me with big smiles anytime I say "Danke schoen". I've made my flight in time!
Except it's delayed and at the next airport I'll have to collect my bag, recheck it, and go back through security...will I make the second plane?
"Okay, your bag is good, but I'll need to go with you to get your passport stamped." She comes around the desk and we're faced with a massive line. If she makes me wait in that, I'll never make the flight... But she pushes to the front. People are crowded around the window, shouting and arguing with the personnel, vying for attention and answers. The woman with me pushes forward, holding my passport above her head, and catches the eye of someone through the crowd. She says something that's drowned out, points at my passport, shrugs, and pushes her way back to me.
"Follow me."
Back at her desk she grabs a pen, writes "Visa O.K." on my boarding pass, underlines it and hands back my documents.
"Have a good flight."
"Um...I'm good? That's all I need?"
"Yeah you're fine, the line is too long."
Ha. Alrighty then.
Knowing that I never received a stamp from Portugal upon entering Europe and seeing now that they couldn't care less in Spain, I'm realizing that I'm technically illegal right now. I should have stayed longer on the first round. Can you overstay a visa that you never had in the first place? Damn...
It's best to be honest about it so there's no trouble later on, I know, I know. But still...damn.
I land in Leeds around 12:30 at night, and there's not a bus nor a taxi to speak of. By the time I make it to my hostel, I feel I'll collapse into a heap. The day would have been long enough without all the misdirection, but still I've made it and I'm half-amazed. I arrive now at the final test of my luck...the hostel I've chosen said their check-in ended at 11pm...I emailed already to ask if I could arrive 11:30, but now with everything that's happened, it's 1 in the morning, and without a phone or email, there's no telling if someone will have waited so long.
I stand on the wet pavement, in the deserted street, pull in a breath, and ring the buzzer. Please, please, let someone be awake...it's quiet for a long moment and my brain starts churning to consider my options.
Static and a crackled voice. "Stay right there, Maia, I'm coming to fetch you."
And I let out my first real breath of the day.
"I'm always where I need to be..."
Plenty of time...
So much time...
We're late.
We're huffing it through the streets, walking too quickly for conversation, and counting down the minutes to each other til my train departs. Seven minutes. "If I miss this train I'm gonna hurt you," I jibe. Bruno picks up the pace. "You won't miss it, and if you do, there's another. It's gonna be okay." Four minutes. We rush through the doors to check the board for the platform. Two minutes. Annnd....my train's not there.
"I thought you said 12:52, right?"
"Yes."
"It's not here...this is not okay."
This from the one who just said it WOULD be okay...not fun. Slight panic starts to boil up, but I push it down. "Let's find someone to ask." We tear through the halls and onto the platform, asking people in uniforms along the way, but no one seems to know. One man tells us the train doesn't exist and he's never heard of the company. Shit. Did I get scammed? Luckily if I did it was only 15 euros, but it stands to cost me hundreds if I can't get to the Baden-Baden airport. We're pointed to yet another station personnel, and as Bruno speaks to her rapidly in French, showing my ticket, and waving his hands, I have to chuckle inwardly as a thought flutters through my mind. This is what I get for choosing to title my trip "Maia's Misadventures". What did I expect?
But finally an answer! The woman turns to me and says that my train has been cancelled due to strike, but there is another one in 20 minutes that I am welcome to board. I worry about my connecting train, since I didn't have much time between, but there don't seem to be many options so I thank her and we head to platform 25.
Bruno checks the train one more time for me hurriedly and drops my bag, soon to be late for his interview after the ridiculousness of the morning. Hugs, kisses, words of thanks and parting. He's out.
I hop off in Apperwier to catch my connection. After a quick observation of the tiny station, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, I assume this is the only platform, but to be sure I ask a young girl leaving the train.
"Yes," she confirms, "this is the only one. All the trains come here."
Thanks.
At this point I've missed my connection by only four minutes, and I shake my head, but what's to be done?
Standing on the platform, wondering my next move, or how long I may be stuck here, I hear a young couple with an adorable toddler speaking English. I look and see they have traveling packs too. Worth a shot.
"Excuse me? Are you going to Baden-Baden?"
"No, but close enough."
"I've missed my train and I need to get to the airport. I'm just wondering if the next train will get me there."
"Yeah, there's one coming soon. You're good, just wait here."
I thank them and breathe a sign of relief. I haven't fallen too far off track.
It's a gorgeous day. Slinging my backpack to the ground, I perch atop it and put my ear phones in. The sun makes pleasant contact on my skin and The Kooks serenade me. "I'm always where I need to be..." they sing in my ear and I relax. Everything's coming up Milhouse. Or so I thought.
"Oh no..." The voice is so full of dread it breaks through my drifting thoughts and I glance up. "I'm afraid I have lied to you. This isn't the right platform and we've just missed the train."
I replay the sentence in my head, making sure I heard right. Crap.
"Are you sure? I asked another girl and she said there was only one platform..."
"I'm sure. We've just missed it. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay," I smile, and am a little surprised to realize how okay it really is.
The couple begins to stress on my behalf and look up trains and buses for the remainder of my journey to the airport. "Really," I insist. "It's okay. There is no need to stress, I can't make the train come faster. Everything is okay."
Eventually we board.
A man comes down the cars checking tickets, and, knowing my ticket is not at all for this train, I open it anyway and hand him my phone. He scans it.
"My previous train was cancelled, so I missed the one I paid-" he cuts me off with a shake of his head and a smile. "You're good." He moves on. Huh. Okay, cool.
I look to the woman of the couple and shrug. She laughs. "You never know when it's gonna matter here," she says.
Baden-Baden Station... I rush off the train and down the stairs into the tunnel, praying this is the right way. There are three women ahead of me with suitcases and I catch bits of English on the wind. At this point, I've lost too much time and feel the safer bet is just to ask. I kick up my pace.
They are friendly and helpful, opera singers living in Germany, on a quick spa day in the next town over. Upon learning my destination, one of them starts in, "Oh man...that is the most pain in the ass airport you'll ever have to get to. There are no trains...no shuttles...did you know it used to be a military base? That's why there was an airstrip there. They just converted it. I suppose from a military standpoint it makes sense you wouldn't want it accessible, but for an airport...ugh. Anyway, you should be able to catch a bus right there. Good luck!"
So close. One more bus and I'll be at the airport, hopefully with enough time. I ask a girl at the stop and she tells me I have to buy the ticket in advance. Okay. But the machine won't work for me...at all...first I stare at it in German for a bit, and, using my amazing powers of observation and deduction, I actually get through the whole menu and order my ticket, but when I insert my money, it spits it back out. Okay...? I find an English button and go through the process two more times, attempting my card, but there's no ticket to be had. I wonder briefly if I've just repeated my payment, but at this point, who cares.
The driver asks me three times where I'm going, but as I speak perhaps five words of German, I realize this only in hindsight when he starts to list the stops. "Oh! Airport, please!" Some women in the front begin to laugh as I pull out a couple euros and offer them to the driver hoping it's enough. He stares at them and repeats the price. I am blank faced. Having spent the last two weeks in France, and before that Italy, my brain is having a hard time with this sudden switch in country and language between breakfast and lunch. He grumbles and pulls a few coins from my hand, leaving some there, and hands me a ticket. I feel exactly like the asshole tourist I'm being. Gross. I take a seat, and 20 minutes later, I've finally, finally arrived at the airport. I wasn't sure I'd make it at all.
The airport personnel are all very kind and polite (not quite what I'm used to), and they gift me with big smiles anytime I say "Danke schoen". I've made my flight in time!
Except it's delayed and at the next airport I'll have to collect my bag, recheck it, and go back through security...will I make the second plane?
"Okay, your bag is good, but I'll need to go with you to get your passport stamped." She comes around the desk and we're faced with a massive line. If she makes me wait in that, I'll never make the flight... But she pushes to the front. People are crowded around the window, shouting and arguing with the personnel, vying for attention and answers. The woman with me pushes forward, holding my passport above her head, and catches the eye of someone through the crowd. She says something that's drowned out, points at my passport, shrugs, and pushes her way back to me.
"Follow me."
Back at her desk she grabs a pen, writes "Visa O.K." on my boarding pass, underlines it and hands back my documents.
"Have a good flight."
"Um...I'm good? That's all I need?"
"Yeah you're fine, the line is too long."
Ha. Alrighty then.
Knowing that I never received a stamp from Portugal upon entering Europe and seeing now that they couldn't care less in Spain, I'm realizing that I'm technically illegal right now. I should have stayed longer on the first round. Can you overstay a visa that you never had in the first place? Damn...
It's best to be honest about it so there's no trouble later on, I know, I know. But still...damn.
I land in Leeds around 12:30 at night, and there's not a bus nor a taxi to speak of. By the time I make it to my hostel, I feel I'll collapse into a heap. The day would have been long enough without all the misdirection, but still I've made it and I'm half-amazed. I arrive now at the final test of my luck...the hostel I've chosen said their check-in ended at 11pm...I emailed already to ask if I could arrive 11:30, but now with everything that's happened, it's 1 in the morning, and without a phone or email, there's no telling if someone will have waited so long.
I stand on the wet pavement, in the deserted street, pull in a breath, and ring the buzzer. Please, please, let someone be awake...it's quiet for a long moment and my brain starts churning to consider my options.
Static and a crackled voice. "Stay right there, Maia, I'm coming to fetch you."
And I let out my first real breath of the day.
"I'm always where I need to be..."
 |
| Everything I own <3 |
I just want to take a moment and thank those of you who have pledged to me on Patreon! Your generosity and selflessness is amazing. It goes so far beyond money. It truly means something to know I have people in my life who want me to succeed, even when my ventures are a bit strange. Thank you so much!
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Have a good day, everyone! ✨
keep these updates rolling! i love you!
ReplyDeleteThere is no name attached to this, so I'm not sure who you are, but I'm sure I love you too! 😂♥️
DeleteAll Who Wander are Not Lost...you however.....
ReplyDeleteXOXO
hahaha I'm okay with it!!
Delete