July 4th – Today was Independence Day in the states with picnics and fireworks. We did not have fireworks, but we did have the most amazing barbecue dinner with Nik and his family. I did not miss the fireworks, since we were in the best company with delicious food to enjoy.
Katherina (Nik’s mom) brought the food. She made this garlic sauce to go on the lamb but we all put it on every single item on our plates, it was THAT good. We had the lamb, garlic sauce, steak, potatoes, yummy warm bread and a favorite dish of theirs called ??????? Oh and Peter’s favorite cake that Katherina made, which I had no room left in my stomach to try, but everyone else ate a piece. I have no idea how the managed it? LOL
So fortunate to have “family” in Austria and I treasure their love and friendship.
Many hugs and warm wishes later, we made an early night of it and turned in.
July 5th – Woke up and began our boring job of washing clothes and packing. Got some work done.
I did have a piece of cake for breakfast. Yep, fantastic and even better when I put some fig preserves on it.
Later in the evening Nik arrived home, then Peter (his dad) came by to pick us up for the trip to the train station.
Had a short meaningful talk with Niki. Will miss him like crazy and love him dearly.
Started our overnight train journey in Meidling Austria to Heerlen Nederlands at 8.35pm.
I walked through the station wearing my pillow like a turtle shell. LOL I have gotten to where comfort comes before anything, even possibly looking ridiculous.
We grabbed a quick bite of food then went to find our train.
I was not sure what to expect, as I have never been on an overnight train trip, but when I walked into our tiny room I was wondering where we would store our stuff and move around. Then like “how do I get into the top bunk?” I found the ladder and quickly figured out where to place it. Ta-Da!
There were welcome bags of sangria, slippers, towels, mints, water, ear plugs and such waiting for us.
There was no AC and it was hot. Had to open the little window to catch a breeze, but you also end up catching LOUD noises, tunnels that vacuum your ears out, country animal smells, city smells, non-stop flashing lights and stops at different train stations with loud people noises. The wind kept the window flapping loudly too. Then there is the movement of the very fast train.
So I might be the pickiest person in the world where it comes to sleep. I need a fan for white noise. I need my pillow. I need quiet. I need it dark. I need…I need…
I sure surprised Han, but myself even more so, that I was asleep within a short period and slept an undisturbed deep sleep. The train was like a lullaby to me. I am still dreaming of riding one again soon.
When Han shook me at 5:00am, I was not ready to wake up, but no choice as we had six minutes to get our butts off the train at 5:37am at Frankfurt International Airport. In the meantime the stewardess brought us our to-go breakfast and quickly evicted us off the train, because of course another train was soon to be entering behind us.
The rest of the train changes were seats and we changed trains three different times after that.
In Frankfurt we jumped on the train our train to what we thought would be Herzogenrath Germany, but we ended up in Liege Belgium because the clerk issued the wrong tickets. Figuring out the train system is something of a maze, even for those who work in the system, because there are so many connection options inside the many timetables. As a result we were in struggle mode as to how to get to our planned destination. (travel is always an adventure and expect the unexpected) In Liege we found a train heading to Maastricht Nederland’s, and jumped aboard without legitimate tickets and hoped for the best, we lucked out and no one checked. The train systems here are on an expanded honor system, but if you are caught without a ticket, there is a fine.
Once in Maastricht we located the train traveling to Heerlen (Han’s hometown), jumped on board but Han thought better than to push our luck, so he asked the conductor about tickets. The conductor realized the mistake that was made and even though he worked for another railroad company, he welcomed us aboard without having to purchase an actual ticket. People are so dang cool here.
Arrived in Heerlen two hours late at 11:30am, Marlies picked us up and we went to their home, chatted some, ate some then rested.
The rest of the day was spent talking about our adventures and ordering Chinese take-out babi pangang.
Hint: Pillows also come in handy when you are overcome by others BO smell and need to breath. Two guys on the track from Liege to Maastricht were also spraying their cologne around. Worse to date. People please take a shower before entering the confinement of a bus or train compartment!
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