5 Hour ride back to Trier turns into a horrible 10 hour trip

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Yeah, so what went wrong yesterday with the train ride back to Trier? Better question, what didn't go wrong. From the very get go things went wrong. Katrin and I were gonna take the Train from Arnsberg to Hagen, Hagen to Koblenz and Koblenz to Trier. We left at 2 and were supposed to be back here at 7. We even figured that we could take turns sleeping (as neither of us had gotten much sleep the night before). Well, it was a nice idea anyway. We rushed to the train station in Arnsberg thinking we were either gonna be late, or just be in time to catch the trian. Of course, the train came 8 min. late. (Not good when you only have 10 min. to switch trains in Hagen). As soon as our train arrived in Hagen, Katrin and I booked it down the stairs and up the stairs from track 2 to track 9. Of course our train was delayed half an hour. We sat down and waited and waited. We talked to a guy who worked for the train station to make sure we were in the right spot. We also were paying close attention to announcements being made (in case our track got switched) and we double checked with the sign above the track to make sure it was still showing info for our train. A half hour after our train was supposed to have arrived a train came. The info above the track was still showing info for our train (meaning the train was supposed to be ours), so we got on. After we passed several stations, a lady came by to check tickets. She looked at ours and clicked it (meaning it was ok) and went on. It's also supposed to mean we were on the right train. So, we settled in for the 2 hour or so ride to Koblenz. Unfortunately it wasn't the right train. The train route ended in Aachen (no idea where that is). We still have no idea how that happened! So now it was dark, probably about 6:00 or so and neither Katrin nor I had any idea of where we were or what we should do. We were supposed to be in Koblenz catching our train to Trier, not in Aachen completely lost.

Katrin then called her boyfriend (in Trier) and asked him to look up where we were and how we could get ourselves to where we needed to be. The only solution... find a train that went to Köln and then take it from there (Köln was about 45 min. in the direction we had just come from). We looked on the plan and went to the track that we were supposed to be at. We waited for a half an hour. In that time there were supposed to have been 3 different trains that came through that went to Köln. Of course with our luck, none of them came. No idea why that happened either. We then had to go to a different track and wait another 45 min. for a different train.

We finally made it to Köln... I was happy we made it that far. Then we had to look for a train that was headed to Koblenz (by this time it was getting late enough that we were worried there weren't going to be any more trains from Koblenz to Trier.) We found one and waited for about a half hour in Köln. Of course, that train was late leaving Köln (but at least we knew we were on the right train 'cause on the front it said Koblenz.. as it was the end station. Shortly after leaving the train station the conductor announced that there was some kind of technical difficulty and they would have to fix it but weren't sure how long it would take. Of course, what else could go wrong? Luckily we didn't have to wait very long. We arrived in Koblenz at like 9:45 and crossed our fingers that there was a train we could catch into Trier. We had just missed one by like 15 min (what we easily would have caught if our train had been on time). At first the only one we saw left at 11:15 (it was still about an hour n' a half train ride from Koblenz to Trier) Neither of us were really excited about having to wait till 11:15. Luckily we found another one that left at 10:20. Of course when we got on the train they announced that they were waiting for another train to arrive (it was late) so that some of the passengers could make the connection. Now I was getting worried about arriving in Trier to late to catch the last bus up to the University. (of course at this point it was the last of my worries). We finally made it into Trier a couple min. before 12 and I was able to catch my bus just as it was about to leave. All I did when I got to my place was fall into bed and went to sleep.

What a great way to start the semester (we start classes today, and I have my 3 hour placement exam). Yuck... I also forgot to set my alarm clock back an hour last night (never crossed my mind), so I ended up getting up an hour before I had to and that's why I'm now here killing time before my first class. I really really can't wait for the party tonight. Yesterday was so stressful and nerve wracking. I still can't figure out how so many things could go wrong or how in the world we ended up on the wrong train when the sign said it was our train, the guy working at the station said we were in the right place, that other train came at the time ours was supposed to arrive given the delay AND the lady that checked our ticket didn't tell us we were on the wrong train!!! Oh what a day! Anyways... at least we made it here and I was sooooo glad I wasn't alone.

Well, I'm off to class now. Wish me luck! I have German political system and International politics in European nations today. Hope this day is better than yesterday. Take care! Ciao

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