I made it home tonight, FINALLY! It was a nightmarish day though. I forgot to turn on my alarm and luckily woke up only a few minutes late, rather than noon (which is when I normally wake up on days I don't set an alarm). I went to check out of the hotel and found out the Hamburg airport was scheduled to reopen at noon, but the receptionist just laughed at that. Got to work and found out that the Amsterdam airport had still not rescheduled any flights and my co-worker there decided to drive 13 hours to get to his home in Nice, France. He waited in the rental car line for 1 1/2 hours and got one of the last cars, which was a POS. Several others were just extending their stay.
My flight in Hamburg had still not been cancelled and my co-worker volunteered to drive us home. NO WAY IN HELL!!! So, we looked at the train schedule...this was 10 AM. There was a train leaving at 12 something that would get me into Morges (town next to ours) with one switch at 9:20 pm. Finally decided to just go ahead and book it. About 10:30, they cancelled our flight. Grabbed some Subway at the train station (and of course some yummy cookies) and got on the train. Found a seat that was reserved for someone else after I was supposed to get off the train. And, luckily, the co-worker prefers 1st class for all train trips, so he paid the extra himself to sit there and I didn't have to be on the train with him. The train was rather full, as basically everyone in Germany (really all of Europe) was on trains today trying to get home. It was rather productive...got some work reviewed, some reviews written and then read an entire book, all in 9 hours. About 2 hours before I was supposed to switch trains, I noticed the train somehow got a little behind schedule along the way and I was not going to catch my connection in Basel. Somehow they made most of the time up and was only a couple minutes behind when we got to Basel. However, the train was no longer going to continue on to the next destination so EVERYONE had to get off the train and go up 1 set of stairs or 1 escalator. Most people had 5 minutes or less to catch their next train. I had about 7 minutes and had to transfer platforms. On top of it, I REALLY had to go to the bathroom. I went before leaving, but didn't want to go on the train and take my purse and backpack into the tiny, nasty bathroom that is barely big enough for 1 person. And, it was 7 pm and I was starving. I had already decided that if I didn't make it, I was going to the bathroom and getting dinner before I caught the next connection and that would have meant 2 more switches instead of none. I was one of the last people on the train!!! Again, the train was really full, but found a seat and finished my book. I got to Morges a little late and Gene picked me up. :) So, I'm home, emptied my bladder and ate dinner. Now time for bed...my bed!!!
Found out when I was writing this that all German airports are closed through Saturday morning at least. So, just hope my flight on Monday morning is not affected.
Oh, and, if anyone is interested in reading about India and the life, culture and overall surroundings then you should read White Tiger. I really felt like I was back in India. Fictional book, but really descriptive and I could just imagine everything that I saw a few months ago. Very good, considering I finished it during this train ride!!
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