I am fairly sure I was in sleep deprived hell last night. The AC kept cutting off every single hour, Han tried not to but he snored enough for three weeks and the guest next door paced back and forth on their heels very loudly. It was misery.Got up today with maybe three hours of broken sleep. Twice in the night, I started playing Solitaire. I was bored out of my mind.
We arrived at the bus station “again” on time but much earlier. This time around all went as planned until we arrived at the Swiss border, required to show our passports and there was a man and woman sitting directly behind us, who did not have passports and were trying to enter the country illegally. I was just hoping that no drama would unfold. In the end all was fine, they went peacefully and we shortly began our trip through the Alp Mountains.
During this leg of the trip my day consisted of and succeeding in keeping a panic attack at bay, while riding on a bus that seems to be flying around corners, edges of cliffs and through tunnels.
The longest tunnel we traveled through is called Gotthard and is 10.5 miles long, built in 1980 when it was the longest tunnel in the world. You get extra safety speech from the bus driver on what to do in case of an emergency. This tunnel only has room for two lanes and it is quite small and too close for comfort when a semi passes by. Darn scary I say! In 2001 there was a serious accident between 2 trucks that killed 11 and injured many more. Then if that is not enough, picture this. On your right is vertical mountain sides, with some even overhanging the bus, and on your left are semis and water with very short guardrails that most definitely will not save you from going over the edge in such a large bus. If you reached out to your right, you would be able to touch the mountain walls. I have never experienced anything like this while traveling the States.
The scenery is inspiring but after looking up for an extended time, you might get a touch of vertigo.
Tunnel:
When we arrived in Zurich, it was pouring cats and dogs. We and everyone else got soaked. There was one small shelter for a huge amount of people waiting on their next bus. Han walked through the rain around the entire parking lot to see if he could at least catch a glimpse of the bus that was supposed to connect us to Heidelberg and finding a bathroom. The drivers of these buses hide their destinations until 15 minutes before departure in order not to be harrased by passengers?
Funny anecdote: while looking for public bathrooms, he finds two that of course like everywhere in Europe have paid access, but now has the dilemma that Switzerland is not part of the European Union, hence the Euro coins in his pocket don’t do any good. No place to exchange, he ends up relieving himself behind the bus that will take us to Heidelberg. The bus driver finally let us enter the bus, after waiting for 15 minutes. It was a double decker, Han and I scored one of the two table areas and sat back to enjoy the ride. It was like luxury, after the previous bus ride. That is until a few people boarded at the next stop and smelled like they had not taken showers in days. My nose was being tortured because one of them kept leaning over my seat to see out better. Ugh!
We finally arrived in Heidelberg Germany at around 8:20pm. Damn long day for a bus ride.
The hotel laid wonderfully, less than a minute walk. It was still raining, so we were very thankful.
Checked into IBIS and this is when the fun began. Below is what I posted on Facebook. By the way, IBIS has great hotels and I honestly have enjoyed staying in them
“So what to do when you have been on a bus from 9:30am to 8:30pm, had a couple of real close calls due to other drivers, a little person sits behind your seat that has not take a bath for days, your tired from only four hours sleep last night, no food has been eaten since 1:00pm, you arrive at destination, it is raining cats and dogs as you scury to the hotel with luggage, room is on 5th floor but elevator only goes to the 4th, you open your luggage to find your sleeping pillow is wet from the rain, then as you are trying to close an umbrella you pinch your nipple in the handle to the point of becoming dizzy from it hurting so bad and to top it off the hotel stupidly installs a raised marble threshold in the bathroom doorway that you stub two toes on and end up crying like a baby.
“I cannot even make this crap up.
When you are finished laughing, please send some mental hugs.”
Yep, took a sleeping pill and had confidence that the next day was going to be a little brighter
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