Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Finally!! Made it to Eutin!

After what was probably the longest 80 hours of my life we finally made it to Eutin!

I think I left off in the travel tale while still at O'hare....oiy. Around 2 pm on Saturday we were finally booked on a flight which would take us to Europe. The schedule was to fly to Philly at 4:45 pm that day, spend the night, and then fly out of US Airways (a new airline added to this trip) at 4:20 on Sunday to Frankfurt. We were all so thrilled to be on any flight at all that we didn't really comprehend that Frankfurt is much further away from Eutin than Copenhagen. No hiccups on the plane ride, except that I couldn't sleep, I watched three movies; far different from what I had originally had planned, but that's alright. I watched "We Bought a Zoo" and loved it! I didn't realize before I watched it that it is based on a true life story. Then I watched "This Means War" which was cute, but your typical rom-com, and the third movie I watched was "The Vow", also good and based on a true story. I was a little concerned that I didn't sleep on the plane for fear that the next day would be terrible, but I figured I would be alright since I had a 10 hour train ride Where I would be able to sleep. Well, I was wrong. We did not just get on a train and ride for ten hours, we transferred to six different trains with all of our luggage. This meant lugging 50 lb bags up and down stairs and in and out of trains very quickly....my body definitely got a work out. The train stations were fun though, we saw the hauptbahnhof in Frankfurt and I experienced my first currywurst!

 

After playing the train switching game for a while, we experienced a small delay of about 1/2 an hour....no big deal right? If we can wait for a day in Chicago I think we could handle a half hour. This of course meant that we missed our connection train at the next station. But there would be another one... so again, not a big deal. The big deal came when we were kicked off of the train due to a tree falling down on the tracks not allowing us to go any further. So once again we got off the train and squeezed on to two buses which were to take us to the next train station on the other side of the tree. This train, however, never showed up. We waited in a small, very cute town, of which I can't remember the name of, for over an hour. So then we piled back on the local city bus, ALL OF US W/ LUGGAGE, one city bus.....just try to imagine it. There are 35 people in our group at this point, the dean of the school of music and a contact from Eutin had joined us, plus some locals who just happen to be unlucky enough to be on the bus. There were suit cases stuffed and piled everywhere... on people's laps and in the aisles. The people were placed strategically in between the luggage. It was a sight. People outside the bus would stop and stare and laugh because it looked so insanely absurd. But it worked! We rode the bus to Luebeck and hopped on a train to Eutin and arrived at 11:30 pm.

By the time we arrived I was exhausted, but a feast had been prepared for us....and it was delicious and neccessary. We were served Goulash and beer, brewed in the brauhaus in town. I had the Rotbier and the Tafelbier, and both were delicious!! I can't tell you how amazing it was to sleep in a bed that night.

Some pretty sweet graffiti on the side of a train!

 

I miss everyone so much! Love you!

 

2 comments:

  1. 80 hours of travel and you still look like a Barbie doll!! classic Madison. xoxo miss you

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  2. Thank God for those comfy, sensible shoes! And Bronte's right -- we're gonna miss at Paradise. We'll have to set an empty glass at your place during the wine tastings.

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